Trailer Winch Advise

[msturg]

Trailer Winch Advice

planning on getting a trailer in the near future and would really like to install a winch on it.

What are your opinions on different winches? Not trying to buy something crazy nice, it's only going to be on a $1000 trailer. Electric vs manual?

Are there any good resources to learn more about installing them or how to best pull using them? Not real sure how it gets wired into the harness for use, I'm assuming I need to put a small battery on with it that will get a trickle charge.

Pics or info would be greatly appreciated.

I tried searching on here and didn't come up with too much, but if you know of a good thread please point me in the right direction.

thanks again

 

[nate379]

Battery and you can wire it to charge off the 12v from the plug. Only thing is if bat is dead and you plug trailer in, it will kill the truck batt if you park it.

For winch, I have looking at getting a HF one. They are slower than molassas at -60*, but better than not having one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automo...lectric-winch-with-automatic-brake-68143.html

 

[35mastr]

A good Warn winch is what I would install.

 

[padronanniversary]

A good Warn winch is what I would install.

+++1

 

[csp]

What kind of loads will it be pulling?

I don't see the need for a brandy new Warn if it isn't going to be used very often. I have a Warn 8274 I plan on installing on my flatbed someday, but it's way overkill. These are getting close to $1500 new these days, but mine came from an auction for $160. They are bulletproof, so I was willing to take the risk on a used one.

 

[Interex]

Battery and you can wire it to charge off the 12v from the plug. Only thing is if bat is dead and you plug trailer in, it will kill the truck batt if you park it.

A battery isolator will take care of this problem. I plan on installing one on my trailer once I redo all the wiring.

 

[Sancho]

My father has a warn, and we have used it frequently to move seemingly immovable objects. They truly are a force of nature.

Mounting was via the bolts on the winch to a piece of flat stock with a piece of angle on it. The angle is drilled and tapped to accept a variety of eye hooks and the winch is then chained to either the head of the trailer or whatever large mass is available (floor eyes, tree, another car, etc) while heavy to move having it portable makes it infinitely more useful.

Last big thing we moved with it was a series 2 bridgeport and it drug that thing along like a champ.

It was bought used for a hundred or so and it was altered to take jumper clamps as it will draw big amps if your trying to move something heavy.

 

[CamarosRus]

Asking for detailed, specific instructions on how to mount, install and wire a battery
inside my enclosed 20' car trailer

I'm thinking winch needs to be elevated (how high??) so as cable going out rear door
doesnt drag over ramp................or do I come up with some kind of roller
to keep cable from rubbing floor/diamond plate aluminum????

Think of using plastic milk crate (used by milk processors to transport cartons to store)
to surround winch and battery so as other crates could be stacked on top ??

My trailer is wired with 110AC system, so I could use small 110 Charger on battery ???

 

[I_AM]

If your only going to use it on one truck, I'd recommend running a cable w/connector to the back of the truck and running off the truck battery. You'll never have to worry about a dead battery. Then you could put the winch on a receiver hitch mount so you could pin it to the truck or the trailer.

 

[Lump]

For my purposes, I prefer a winch with Power In, but a release for free-wheeling out. Otherwise you can spend all day waiting for a cable to spool out 35-40 feet.

The trailer hitch type mount is a great idea. I would like to be able to place an extra mount in my garage, so I can winch a heavy vehicle into my garage when working by myself. With the trailer hitch mount, you could use the same winch on the trailer, on the truck, and in your shop. Nice.

 

[GoodoleBoy]

hand winches work good and are cheap..Weatherproof no batteries to fool with..I only use it on ocassion though 1-2 every few years.

 

[Spareparts]

HF has a 3,500 lb winch with a remote that will pull a race car into the trailer with no problem. Pull the knob out and it free spools out. We put a group 31 deep cycle battery in the front of the trailer and it will load the car several times before charging. weekly race car maintance, the winch battery gets charged, the winch was on sale at HF for $89. and the remote is really handy. We also have a 1200 watt inverter hooked on the battery for lights and some power tools. If you go to a larger inverter and 2 batteries you can run a compressor along with everything else. To be on the safe side we picked up a auger type ground rod and a #4 welding cable hooked to the trailer, we screw it into the ground in the pits.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I use a 8000 pound duke winch (supposedly, the "good" chinese winch). It's about 8 years old now, sits outside on the trailer uncovered all the time, including winter. She still does fine.

I disagree with the warn comment, I just cannot fathom putting a good winch on a trailer, where it will be used a handful of times a year (I'm assuming, in your case), and will sit outside all year (again, assuming in your case).

I'm all for a proper warn (etc.) winch, on a vehicle when your life is on the line. For a trailer winch to drag some junk up with once in a while, when it sits out in the weather the rest of the time?

I'm probably way overboard with what you want to do, but here's my setup:

Mine has a smaller sized car battery on it, the marine master switch is good for 300 amps (if you put a disconnect in, be sure it's high amps for winching), it charges from the + on the vehicle trailer plug (7 pin rv), via a circuit breaker and one of those toggle switches.

I shut the switch off before I start winching, but used the circuit breaker also, just in case I forgot. I do that kind of thing once in a while...

In case somebody is wondering, the volt gauge is there to monitory the battery charge (sure that was obvious), one red rocker switch is for the charging circuit from the truck, the other red rocker switch is for trailer hazards (can be turned on if I ever have to leave the trailer sit on the road and take the truck), the green switch is for the light in the center of the panel, and also turns the loading lights on via relay (lights aren't installed yet).

I don't worry about the winch cable dragging over the back of the trailer. Yes, it would be best not too. Does it matter for the maybe 10-15x a year I use it? No. Do I care if I have to replace the cable once every 10 years? No. Am I ever doing a max pull with the winch screaming and the cable singing? No. Do I worry about it wrapping properly on the drum? No. In short, for *my* usage, it just doesn't matter. I did run a flap disk across the back metal piece to keep it smooth for the cable, that's it.

If somebody was doubling up ****** blocks, and using the max power of the winch to slide heavy objects up the trailer...then yes, I would do everything possible to keep that cable happy.

 

[Aberdale]

It depends on how often you will use it, and how heavy the objects are that you will be winching.

Several years ago, I bought the biggest hand winch I could find from a boat shop. I used this for several years, winching cars, truck and small tractors onto my trailer. It was slow, but I only used it about a dozen times over 5 years, so it was a good cost efficient solution. Total cost was $190.00.

I sold my trailer last year and bought a bigger one, a 20,000 lb. dual tandem. This time, I bought a used 8000 lb. Warn winch off CL and mounted it to a trailer receiver so I could remove it from the trailer for security purposes, and so it wouldn't sit out in the weather. I fabricated a pair of long cables to reach the truck battery so that I didn't need to worry about maintaining another battery on the trailer. Total cost was around $600.00 including the receiver hitch and cables. It would have easily been double or triple that if I had bought a new winch.

 

[ptschram]

I've got a Harbor Freight 8K winch on my trailer. I have never had a problem loading anything I needed to drag onto the trailer.

Carry a well-charged battery and I'm all set.

It's been there a coupla years, outside. When it fails, I'll get another one.

 

[NUTTSGT]

In the tool box on my open trailer I have a come-along. I bought it at Odd Lots years ago for about 15 bucks. Slow ? yes, but it doesn't require a battery or any wiring at all. Just a little physical exercise. It's in the box all year long.

If you're looking at buying an open trailer to haul a car, I'd be more worried about having a dovetail than a winch.

 

[Farmrod]

had a milemarker that pulled some extremely heavy loads onto the trailer then it was stolen i recently replaced it with a smittybilt xrc winch and have only used it once... my winching needs require a large winch so I have 10,000lb winches on everything i recommend not hooking the winch battery to the truck just carry a battery and use it accodingly

 

[ponchopower]

Warn, Smittybuilt, Superwinch - all good. HF may be OK if it's pretty infrequent use and you make sure you keep it covered. Freewheel out is REALLY nice to have. My Superwinch in my 24' enclosed trailer doesn't have it and it's a PITA pulling the cable out 40 35 ft.

 

[bas157]

I bolted a 2" reciever hitch plate to the front of my trailer. (the type designed to bolt under a bumper, its a 2" receiver tube on a flat plate of steel). I've got a 2" reciever winch mount that currently has a warn winch on it (will replace with a superwinch once I get the warn swapped to my jeep). I also have a 6" pair of cables with an Anderson connector on the end that will plug in to a anderson plug at the end of cables running under my truck. Just plug the winch into the cable and I don't need to worry about a dead battery on the trailer. Bonus is that one can cut a pair of jumper cables (near one end) and get another pair of Anderson connectors. That allows you use plug the long part of the jumper cable into the plug on the truck so you can jump someone from the rear of your truck or plug the two parts of the jumper cables together and have your normal set of jumper cables again.

Don't by the price warn or superwinch branded anderson plugs if you go that route, by the anderson ones and you don't have to worry about spending so much. I got mine for ~$7 a set from a forklift place (Helmar Parts).
Also can use a solenoid to turn the power off to the anderson plug at the back of the truck (Warn Winch disconnect set includes this).

I wouldn't spend the money on a Warn if I didn't have a winch. The HF or other cheap import should work fine for trailer use. Benefit of using the receiver setup is you can use the winch in anything that has a 2" receiver hitch if you have a way to get power to it.

 

[APEowner]

If you're moving a variety of cars then you'll want something that powers out as well as in. Unloading a non-running car with no brakes is not a lot of fun without a power out winch. Exciting, but not fun.

 

[msturg]

Sorry for the delayed response. It would be used at most 10 times a year to pull a rolling 69 bronco onto the trailer, not too much weight and shouldn't have any real resistance like a rotted out tire or locked up brakes.

At this point I am kind of leaning towards a hand winch just for reliability since it will be outside all the time and I live in the salt belt. Any input on where to find and learn more about hand winches? Brands, prices, and what to look for?

If I were to go electric could the HF little 3000lb winch work for the bronco? Obviously it weighs more than that but I'm not trying to lift it in the air just pull it along.

Thanks for all the input so far guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Eldogg]

I have a $99 Sams Club ATV winch on my 20ft trailer. It works great! I've pulled cars with frozen drum brakes on it with no problem. I use it at least once a week for the last 5-6 years. Anybody that spends more than $150 bucks on a trailer winch has more money than sense.

 

[ponchopower]

Anybody that spends more than $150 bucks on a trailer winch has more money than sense.

Not always. I'd LOVE to have a wireless controller for my winch rather than the extended wire. If you're loading/unloading a somewhat wide vehicle in an enclosed trailer, and the vehicle has a (very very) expensive paint job, and if you're by yourself, the wireless control would be great. My winch was in my trailer when I bought the trailer but if I were buying from scratch that's what I'd have. Also, if you have a 20' trailer, then you're not frequently pulling vehicles quite as heavy in, so it is "possible" that somebody may want a heavier winch. The main vehicle I haul in mine would simply not fit in a 20' trailer. I've hauled plenty others that also would not fit. Remember, a 20' enclosed has a 17' or less box.

That being said, for most, the winch is not used all that often and a somewhat inexpensive winch can work fine.

 

[ponchopower]

If I were to go electric could the HF little 3000lb winch work for the bronco? Obviously it weighs more than that but I'm not trying to lift it in the air just pull it along.

Thanks for all the input so far guys, I really appreciate it.

A 3000lb winch should pull the bronco in under normal conditions.

 

[Aberdale]

At this point I am kind of leaning towards a hand winch just for reliability since it will be outside all the time and I live in the salt belt. Any input on where to find and learn more about hand winches? Brands, prices, and what to look for?

When I was looking for a hand winch, I Googled "hand winch" and surfed the net. Most hand winches are used for boat trailers, so any marine supply should have them. They come in several different sizes, and for the price, I would get the biggest one you can find.

Alternately, you might try CL. Once in a while I have seen some large older antique hand winches with cast housings that look much stouter than the current boat winches. I'm not sure if anyone still manufactures one, and I didn't see any in my Google search.

Good luck!

Dale

 

[csp]

Not always. I'd LOVE to have a wireless controller for my winch rather than the extended wire.

I'm not sure what wireless has to do with spending $150 or less, but you can get wireless controls for just about any winch.

Even Horrible Fright sells a wireless 3500 pound winch. I use one of these to turn the chute on my tractor's snowblower.

 

[creativecars]

This is what I am going to get for my trailers, I am going to make a universal mount so it can slide into any 2" reciever on my trailers or vehicles.
http://www.harborfreight.com/camouf...ortable-winch-with-roller-fairlead-95912.html

 

[gobeer net]

I picked up a "Champion" brand 8 or 9k winch from Sams Club about four years ago. It lasted 1 year 364 days. Luckily it had a 2 year warranty and I called the day it broke. Go me for not procrastinating! They "trouble shot" it over the phone and sent me new parts, I had to take it apart, replace the magnets in teh motor and reassemble it. The "rebuilt" winch lasted almost exactly 2 years again. I prolly wont buy another Champion winch.

I used the winch prolly once a month average. I can't actually say it was the winches fault as it did pull a few vehicles on a low charged battery. I'm sure that ups the current draw and heat inside the motor. It never had an issue with strength - didn't matter the incline/locked up wheels/etc.

 

[ponchopower]

I'm not sure what wireless has to do with spending $150 or less, but you can get wireless controls for just about any winch.

Even Horrible Fright sells a wireless 3500 pound winch. I use one of these to turn the chute on my tractor's snowblower.

If I'm going to be moving vehicles worth $100K, I want at least "some" quality. Adding wireless controls add cost and clearly put you over the $150 mark.

 

[APEowner]

I used one of the cheap HF winches for a number of years and it was OK. When it wasn't powerful enough I just ran the cable through a ****** block to double the pulling power. It cuts the speed in half and it takes longer to hookup so I wouldn't want to have to do that all the time but for the occasional stubborn load it's not a big deal.

I do have to add though that now that I have a Warn winch with power in/out, freewheel and a remote I wouldn't want to go back to the old HF setup.

 

[csp]

If I'm going to be moving vehicles worth $100K, I want at least "some" quality.

Add that important detail to your argument and I agree with you 100%.

 

[383 240z]

Not to plug they guys sign my pay-check look at this one http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=40271 We have it for $299 with free shipping right now. Good decent winch I have had the 10K version on my little Jeep for 5 yrs now with out a single problem that was not my fault. (I did not put trailer grease in the remote connection and a mud dauber build a nest in it so I had to clean it out) Keith

 

[ponchopower]

Add that important detail to your argument and I agree with you 100%.

So at what price point would you set that more than just the cheapest winch out there is all you need? Serious question. $25K? $50K? $75K?

The reason I ask is because the winch is a tool, right? I prefer quality tools. I agree that a monstrous platinum plated winch isn't necessary. But, for something that is being used to move some very heavy and very expensive objects, I don't think it's crazy to want something of known quality. One car I built and frequently move is insured for $100K but I'd want the peace of mind of a well supported product even if I were moving cars worth $30K.

 

[472scout]

Since I like to play off road I'm toying with the idea of mounting a 8K winch in the rear bumper of my truck instead of on the trailer. That way I won't have to worry about a trailer mounted winch battery going dead for lack of use.

I've loaded manual trans 4x4's by putting them in low range and using the starter. I wouldn't do it that way on a regular basis, but it's a good trick to know.