Trailer Winch Project

[AldeanFan]

Need some advice!

I'm tired of pulling vehicles on to trailers with a come-along!

About once or twice a year I go on a recovery mission, this past weekend was rescuing a Jeep Grand Wagoneer my friend bought, last year it was a '62 Willys. I don't have my own trailer so we borrow or rent one, this time it was a Uhaul. The worst part is always pulling the vehicle on to the trailer.
Since I don't own my own trailer I'm looking for ideas on how to mount a winch.

Here's the idea I"m working on;
I fab an extended ball mount with an electric winch mounted on top. The ball mount will go in the hitch on my truck and hold the trailer from moving while we winch the vehicle on. I think the winch will run off of a separate battery, that way I don't need to do any wiring on my truck and I'll have the option of using the winch on a different vehicle. I can also wire up a 7pin connector to charge the battery off of the truck if needed.

I probably wouldn't use this ball mount for towing since the added length would reduce my hitch capacity and add the weight of the winch to the back of the truck, Kind of a bring the winch in the truck bed and set it up if needed.

I'm thinking about a 4000 to 5000lb winch.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[firebox40dash5]

You can buy a hitch adapter that's got a 2" above (or below I suppose) the other that goes straight through. Made for towing while hauling a bike rack, cargo carrier, whatever. Something like that and you can use a regular multi-mount cradle or weld up your own.

I was going to say I'd go with a smaller truck winch (6-8k) over a big ATV type winch... but I might reconsider if it's coming on and off every time you use it. We have a Warn M8000 on a multimount that fits into a tube welded into the tilt tower on the trailer at work. It's a beast and capable of pulling most anything, but you're hefting about 100 pounds there.

Same reason, I'd figure out a way to power it without a battery. A winch takes a good bit of *** to keep pulling, you want a big deep cycle to do it without power going in. I'd get a set of long heavy jumper cables, and add a Powerpole to both ends, the winch, and the battery on your truck. Toss another plug on one set of tge clamps you cut off, and you can power it off whatever vehicle it'll reach.

 

[AldeanFan]

I like the idea of the hitch adapter and a receiver mount, that way I have the option of using just the winch.

I was thinking about buying a set of 25ft 2ga jumper cables to power the winch from the truck battery, again I wouldn't have to wire anything special on the truck and the long cables would be handy to have anyway.