Cut Down Drum Or Go Shopping?

So I have a Ramsey PTO winch. With the Saginaw PS conversion I have 19" to the passenger frame rail. The Ramsey is a solid 20". Anyone ever cut the drum down and weld it back up? Or should I sell it off and look for something like a Koenig?

 

I'm about to encounter the same thing. Let us know what you end up doing.

 

Did you make a decision? Right now I'm setting up a frame with a Saginaw box that also has a Ramsey. I'm considering frenching the box into the frame rail to make room for the winch. Cutting down the drum doesn't sound like fun, but it might be a slick solution if Plan A doesn't pan out.

 

Cutting a winch drum down doesn't sound like a good idea to me. But, I guess anything possible if it's put back together properly/carefully.

 

There were narrow drum Ramsey's available. Not as common as the wide drum but they exist. I sold one about 5 years ago and had a bit of time selling it as most guys tried to tell me it was a hacked up wide drum (it was factory) because they were "unaware" that a narrow version existed. Eventually sold it to a gentleman who was putting it on a '72-'75 CJ. He'd been looking for one for some time he could set down between the frame rails.