Winch to pull vehicles into garage

[sajohnson]

I'm in the process of getting a lift and will need some way of getting vehicles that are disabled into my garage.

There isn't enough room to push them straight in, and the apron from the garage floor to the driveway is about 6 feet long and a pretty steep slope. IOW, even 3 or 4 big guys would have a hard time pushing a vehicle from the drive into the garage -- especially since cars can't be rolled straight in, it's obviously much harder with the wheels turned.

My thought was that I could bolt a 120/240 VAC powered winch to the floor and/or wall in the rear of the garage and pull vehicles in that way.

Any thoughts?

 

[hotrod66paul]

Something in the floor might work if set up properly and floor was able to withstand the strain or force placed upon it but it would take a hell of a wall to withstand that kind of pull put on it in my opinion but I'm not an engineer.

 

[Steve in Mi]

Winch should work. Some have a relatively short duty cycle so the particular winch and how far you need to pull have to match. I use my garden tractor for pulling dead weight in the shop.

 

[sajohnson]

Something in the floor might work if set up properly and floor was able to withstand the strain or force placed upon it but it would take a hell of a wall to withstand that kind of pull put on it in my opinion but I'm not an engineer.

Excellent point Paul, I was thinking the same thing. I should have written "floor or floor and wall".

I was thinking that if I attached the winch to a large metal plate, or maybe better yet a "L" shaped piece and use several anchors, that would spread the load out enough.

The walls are 8" thick and the floor is 5" thick and reinforced with fiberglass.

 

[akdiesel]

I have installed a few anchor bolt into garage floors and for the most part they appear to be anchored good, but I have overtorqued a couple and then they would not hold.
You would be pulling at a much lower angle so it may be stronger in that direction. But you will never know how much weight you are actually pulling unless you hook up a weight indicator.
By saying that I would also not use the standard stud wall configuration either.
Now you could go on the outside of the wall that the winch would be pulling from and dig a 4-5' hole and install a 4" sch 80 pipe in the ground with concrete approx 3" from the outside of the wall. Then use two u-bolts to penitrate through the wall and attach a metal plate to mount the winch to on the inside. Then simply caulk the holes.
This way the pulling force is on somthing more solid than the wood studs or the 3" anchor bolts in the floor provided it is a standard slab.

 

[sajohnson]

I have installed a few anchor bolt into garage floors and for the most part they appear to be anchored good, but I have overtorqued a couple and then they would not hold.
You would be pulling at a much lower angle so it may be stronger in that direction. But you will never know how much weight you are actually pulling unless you hook up a weight indicator.
By saying that I would also not use the standard stud wall configuration either.
Now you could go on the outside of the wall that the winch would be pulling from and dig a 4-5' hole and install a 4" sch 80 pipe in the ground with concrete approx 3" from the outside of the wall. Then use two u-bolts to penitrate through the wall and attach a metal plate to mount the winch to on the inside. Then simply caulk the holes.
This way the pulling force is on somthing more solid than the wood studs or the 3" anchor bolts in the floor provided it is a standard slab.

Good idea, I'm sorry I didn't say that the walls are 8" concrete in my initial post.

 

[sajohnson]

Winch should work. Some have a relatively short duty cycle so the particular winch and how far you need to pull have to match. I use my garden tractor for pulling dead weight in the shop.

My garage is built into a hill (doors on west side with lane running north/south, hill on east) so unfortunately I can't use anything to pull through the garage but the garden tractor idea might still work if I could pull a vehicle in far enough (to where all 4 tires are on the level), then disconnect and move the tractor out of the way.

Unfortunately, I don't have a garden tractor (at least not one that runs!) but that's a good idea and would work for a lot of people.

 

[chammyman]

unless the brakes are seized or the things dragging on its belly you won't actually be putting that much force to pull it. You can push very large things easier than you think as long as theres no issues with drag, I used to pull buses over me then back again to get up the stairs in the pit.

A winch on the floor or wall should be fine, I would imagine it would need to be on the wall so its not cutting into the ground where the hills starts. Just brace the mounting properly, get a plate fitted up and mount it to it. They can be had petty cheap on ebay etc now.

 

[Steve in Mi]

Toxicz28 posted this link a week or so ago, might be one option for a pull point. Your floor in already in I suspect so it would require a core-drill to set it and wedge it.

https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/p-11538-14233.aspx

 

[toxicz28]

He would deffinitely need a core drill to set them.
He could get a short piece of 6x6x 5/16 box tube, anchor to the floor with some quick bolts (4.5" embedment) and put an angle brace on either side quick bolted to the wall (7" embedment). Put a plate on top to mount the winch to, and it's done.

 

[jamm]

If I read this right, your back wall is 8" thick concrete that is buried into the side of a hill. If that's the case you might want to consider using epoxy to anchor your bolts. It will definately eliminate the possiblility of over tightening expansion anchors.

You might consider using a portable winch that you can remove so you're not tripping over it when not in use. You could possibly use a hitch plate with a removable receiver.

 

[bluesman2a]

I do a LOT of work with winches.... Also HEAVY vehicles. I don't care how hard you push, it takes THREE people to get my truck into the garage. Level slope, with just a 1" or so lip. Of course it's around #6500 with 38.5" tires that have a tendency to flatspot.

In your situation I would just mount a FLAT 3/16 or 1/4" plate on the floor with swedge type fasteners (think red-heads). On the plate, put a place to mount a ******-block.

This way you can mount your winch on the trailer or your vehicle and you have more option on how you will pull it. Heck you can even forgo the winch, just get a cable you can hook to another vehicle and pull it through the snatchblock.

Whatever you decide to do, do NOT mount your winch on the L shaped bracket. They are typically designed (with some notable exceptions) to sit on a FLAT plate and pull straight to the front. Unless it's a "feet-forward" design this will not be the proper way to mount the winch and could cause problems if it comes under heavy load.

 

[Mr_fixit]

I'm going to do the same thing, but didn't get to do it yet.
I bought a heavy duty THERN 120 volt winch with about 150' 5/16" cable from a swap meet. It's rated for 2000lbs. . I plan on anchoring a steel plate to the floor under my workbench and want to rig up a quick way to attach the winch to the steel.

I'll also be putting GUY wire type anchors in the ground so I can attach some pulleys, when needed, to pull the car up the hill to where it's level and then (sometimes) turn it to pull it straight into the garage.

As far as securring it in the garage, I plan on using maybe 3/4" anchor studs(thunderstuds) into the floor, like most people use for a lift.

I'm reasonably sure that they will hold since the force will be trying to shear them. And I can put as many as I want to distribute the force.

 

[e-tek]

Bluesman - great idea on the ******-block (by which I'm guessing you mean some sort of pulley). I have a pull-through shop and I pull things in with another vehicle, but it might be nice to be able to do it all from the same side.
In the winter, when I don't want to open the big doors and bring a wet vehicle in to pull a car onto the hoist (switching one project for another inside) it'd be nice to have something to pull a vehcile onto the lift with - of course that brings me back to how to anchor a winch in it with no wall (door in front) and just a 4" floor...I'll have to use one of the previous ideas I guess.

As for a winch on the floor, it makes me think of OldCarGuys trailer thread - where he mounted his winch to the trailer floor - I wonder if it would hold pulling a lame vehicle into his trailer....hmmm.

 

[tatra]

if you don't have floor heat, punch a hole down four feet with a posthole auger, insert a square tube and pour some concrete..........then have an upright of appropo strength with a reciever hitch set up...............as an added bonus, the floor tube can be utilized for other pedestal mounted tools , such as grinder, vice etc..............the nice thing would be that the floor reciever , if finished properly could be floor level with a platecover.........and don't forget to put gravel at the bottom for drainage.

 

[sajohnson]

If I read this right, your back wall is 8" thick concrete that is buried into the side of a hill. If that's the case you might want to consider using epoxy to anchor your bolts. It will definately eliminate the possiblility of over tightening expansion anchors.

You might consider using a portable winch that you can remove so you're not tripping over it when not in use. You could possibly use a hitch plate with a removable receiver.

Good suggestion. I've always used various types of expansion anchors and don't have any experience with epoxy. It seems that epoxy would have to be awfully strong to hold the anchor bolts in the wall since the force on the winch would be trying to pull them straight out.

Still, mounting on the wall seems to make sense for the reason chammyman mentioned -- so the cable doesn't cut into the floor where the floor meets the apron (where the garage door is).

Do you think epoxy is strong enough for wall mounting, or should I rig up some sort of "L" shaped plate, bolt it to the wall and the floor, and then mount the winch to it (on the wall part of the plate)?

I like the idea of a portable winch -- I'm not too worried about it being in my way (it will be under my work bench) but it would be more versatile. Using a hitch plate with a removable receiver is a good idea!

Thanks for your help.

 

[sajohnson]

I do a LOT of work with winches.... Also HEAVY vehicles. I don't care how hard you push, it takes THREE people to get my truck into the garage. Level slope, with just a 1" or so lip. Of course it's around #6500 with 38.5" tires that have a tendency to flatspot.

In your situation I would just mount a FLAT 3/16 or 1/4" plate on the floor with swedge type fasteners (think red-heads). On the plate, put a place to mount a ******-block.

This way you can mount your winch on the trailer or your vehicle and you have more option on how you will pull it. Heck you can even forgo the winch, just get a cable you can hook to another vehicle and pull it through the snatchblock.

Whatever you decide to do, do NOT mount your winch on the L shaped bracket. They are typically designed (with some notable exceptions) to sit on a FLAT plate and pull straight to the front. Unless it's a "feet-forward" design this will not be the proper way to mount the winch and could cause problems if it comes under heavy load.

Good advice about mounting the winch, thanks bluesman.

I understand what you're saying about mounting a ****** block on the plate in the garage, but then I'd need to mount the winch to every vehicle I wanted to pull in there, right? That or use another vehicle to pull (as you mentioned) but that's not really practical in at my place.

I should probably post a photo or two, but basically we live on the west side of a mountain. The east (back) wall of the garage is in the hill, as are portions of the north and south walls. The 10' wide blacktop lane runs north-south about 6 feet from the west wall which has three doors, each about 8'Hx8'9"W. The slope continues to the west of the driveway -- all the way down to the valley! I built a retaining wall across the lane from the garage which gives us room to swing into the garage, but space is pretty tight, and the drop off the retaining wall is about 6'!

That's why I'm thinking that a winch mounted in the garage might be the easiest thing to do. Even then, unless I rig up one or more points to mount ****** blocks, the angle of the pull will be limited by the width of the garage door -- and the garage is 40' deep.

 

[sajohnson]

I'm going to do the same thing, but didn't get to do it yet.
I bought a heavy duty THERN 120 volt winch with about 150' 5/16" cable from a swap meet. It's rated for 2000lbs. . I plan on anchoring a steel plate to the floor under my workbench and want to rig up a quick way to attach the winch to the steel.

I'll also be putting GUY wire type anchors in the ground so I can attach some pulleys, when needed, to pull the car up the hill to where it's level and then (sometimes) turn it to pull it straight into the garage.

As far as securring it in the garage, I plan on using maybe 3/4" anchor studs(thunderstuds) into the floor, like most people use for a lift.

I'm reasonably sure that they will hold since the force will be trying to shear them. And I can put as many as I want to distribute the force.

What are the GUY wire anchors you mentioned? That sounds like something I might want to do.

 

[rsanter]

a previous house I had had a rather steep driveway. I drilled/broke a shunk of concrete out in the floor and sunk a piece of 2"ID square tubing in the floor . I did something similar to the front tounge of the trailer where I welded a piece of 2"ID standing up and also had an adapter for the reciever hitch of the 4x4.
the winch is mounted to a plate that has a 2x2OD square tube to the bottom so that I can use the same winch in all three locations and I also did not need to leave a winch on the trailer (in the weather).
this worked great and it will allow you to buy a better winch as you will only have to invest in one of them for multiple uses.

bob

 

[tdkkart]

A friend has a 12v winch mounted on a 2" tube that fits in a receiver tube. Has a receiver tube attached to the front of his trailer deck, and another bolted down to the floor at the rear of the garage. Just moves the winch between the 2 as needed, works pretty slick.

 

[e-tek]

This is an awesome thread - most of us can use a set up like this. I'm gonna be getting my stuff together ASAP! Great idea to insert the 2" for the reciever post level with the ground. I like the idea of being able to use it for a grinder etc too, as mine would be in front of a door, so it would make it useable "wall" space.

 

[Mr_fixit]

What are the GUY wire anchors you mentioned? That sounds like something I might want to do.

In the power & phone industry guy wires support the poles wherever there's a change in angle or at the end of a run..
The guy wire is fastened to an an ANCHOR, typically a 3/4" to 1 1/4" galvanized steel rod 7 feet or longer that's screwed into the ground with a line truck or hand dug in . They basically look like larger, longer swingset anchors.. The anchors are rated for 22,000 to 32,000 lbs.

Working with the phone contractors, I can buy some, maybe rock anchors, since they're shorter, and rig a 1/2 steel plate with hole cut through it and a nut and hand dig holes myself. I was thinking maybe 4 foot ones...

I was thinking to put them in the shrubs or at the end of the driveway to work the cable around some obstacles, pull the vehicle so far, reposition and then do it again. They could be even with the ground, or a little above, and maybe use a pulley of some sort chained to each of these anchors, when needed.

I've dug 7 foot holes before, and it really stinks. Plus if I have a 2000 lb winch pulling, they wouldn't need to be that deep.

They also make expanding anchors where you dig a hole straight down, and whack the end in the ground with a special tool to expand a 9 inch end to maybe 15 inches..

Lots of work.!

 

[sajohnson]

In the power & phone industry guy wires support the poles wherever there's a change in angle or at the end of a run..
The guy wire is fastened to an an ANCHOR, typically a 3/4" to 1 1/4" galvanized steel rod 7 feet or longer that's screwed into the ground with a line truck or hand dug in . They basically look like larger, longer swingset anchors.. The anchors are rated for 22,000 to 32,000 lbs.

Working with the phone contractors, I can buy some, maybe rock anchors, since they're shorter, and rig a 1/2 steel plate with hole cut through it and a nut and hand dig holes myself. I was thinking maybe 4 foot ones...

I was thinking to put them in the shrubs or at the end of the driveway to work the cable around some obstacles, pull the vehicle so far, reposition and then do it again. They could be even with the ground, or a little above, and maybe use a pulley of some sort chained to each of these anchors, when needed.

I've dug 7 foot holes before, and it really stinks. Plus if I have a 2000 lb winch pulling, they wouldn't need to be that deep.

They also make expanding anchors where you dig a hole straight down, and whack the end in the ground with a special tool to expand a 9 inch end to maybe 15 inches..

Lots of work.!

Good idea!

I actually have an anchor left over from installing an antenna tower -- I could probably use it.

Digging more than about 3" (inches) around here is a major PITA though. The ground is nothing but clay and rock.

 

[sajohnson]

This is an awesome thread - most of us can use a set up like this. I'm gonna be getting my stuff together ASAP! Great idea to insert the 2" for the reciever post level with the ground. I like the idea of being able to use it for a grinder etc too, as mine would be in front of a door, so it would make it useable "wall" space.

I'd like to hear more about using the 2" receiver pipe.

For example, Bluesman mentioned that most winches are designed to be mounted a certain way. How could a winch be used with a standard horizontal receiver on a vehicle and then be used with vertical receiver in a shop floor?

This may be one of those situations where a picture is worth a thousand words...

 

[akdiesel]

if you don't have floor heat, punch a hole down four feet with a posthole auger, insert a square tube and pour some concrete..........then have an upright of appropo strength with a reciever hitch set up...............as an added bonus, the floor tube can be utilized for other pedestal mounted tools , such as grinder, vice etc..............the nice thing would be that the floor reciever , if finished properly could be floor level with a platecover.........and don't forget to put gravel at the bottom for drainage.

The receiver tubing is 2 1/2". The tubing does not have the weld spot on the inside so that the receiver slides in easier. You can pick the tubing up at a truck and trailer equipment vendor.

You could also put a front receiver on one of your other vehicles to push the trailer into the shop. I have this on my truck and it makes it very easy to position trailers in tight turns.

 

[e-tek]

I'd like to hear more about using the 2" receiver pipe.

For example, Bluesman mentioned that most winches are designed to be mounted a certain way. How could a winch be used with a standard horizontal receiver on a vehicle and then be used with vertical receiver in a shop floor?

This may be one of those situations where a picture is worth a thousand words...

Any winches I've seen have a bottom plate with four holes to anchor it. I'm guessing you would either mount it to the top plate of a bumper, or to a plate welded on top of the vertical post in the floor.

 

[mikeyr]

I have a cheap HF trailer winch (manual) with 25ft. of cable bolted to the front cross rail of my 4-post lift, works great, you have to hand crank it but it only takes a minute or less. I took a piece of 1/4" steel plate which is overkill but what I had and 2 big U-bolts to bolt it to the rail, works great and no bother of drilling the slab.

 

[sajohnson]

I have a cheap HF trailer winch (manual) with 25ft. of cable bolted to the front cross rail of my 4-post lift, works great, you have to hand crank it but it only takes a minute or less. I took a piece of 1/4" steel plate which is overkill but what I had and 2 big U-bolts to bolt it to the rail, works great and no bother of drilling the slab.

That might be all I need, with maybe a bit more cable.

 

[ovilla]

I just did this for a buddy a couple of months ago. He has a real steep curving driveway and towing his boat back into the garage would have been really tricky. Anyway, I drilled into the floor and permanently mounted a winch plate on top of 2X2 tubing (just to give the winch some height). He's got a WARN winch with something like 100' of cable on it so that he can pull his boat in all the way from the street. The winch even has a wireless remote so it works great when's he's backing in his boat.

 

[kbs2244]

This kind of drivway?

 

[akdiesel]

Wow. If you have kids that skateboard I bet they love that.

 

[ovilla]

Not quite that steep but curvy as hell with shrubs so you can't see where you're going.

 

[lametec]

I've been having this same thought lately myself.. a winch would be nice. I use the ATV to push things in, but that isn't gentle on the car bumper. I though about making push bars for the ATV and mount them to the plow mounts (located on the rear of the ATV so it doesn't ride up on the plow when pushing heavy snow).

What made me think twice about the winch idea is that they're typically not rated for a lot of weight unless you pay a small fortune for them. A typical car weighs 3000+ lbs, and getting up the ramp into the garage would certainly be way past what a 2000 lbs rated (flat surface) winch is designed for.

 

[akdiesel]

I've been having this same thought lately myself.. a winch would be nice. I use the ATV to push things in, but that isn't gentle on the car bumper. I though about making push bars for the ATV and mount them to the plow mounts (located on the rear of the ATV so it doesn't ride up on the plow when pushing heavy snow).

What made me think twice about the winch idea is that they're typically not rated for a lot of weight unless you pay a small fortune for them. A typical car weighs 3000+ lbs, and getting up the ramp into the garage would certainly be way past what a 2000 lbs rated (flat surface) winch is designed for.

As mentioned before if you use a ****** block/pulley system you can double, tripple,or quaduple your pulling strength. Just keep in mind that your hardware will need to be rated for the for the multiple line strength.

 

[sajohnson]

This kind of drivway?

Very funny!

Mine's not _quite_ that bad...

 

[sajohnson]

I've been having this same thought lately myself.. a winch would be nice. I use the ATV to push things in, but that isn't gentle on the car bumper. I though about making push bars for the ATV and mount them to the plow mounts (located on the rear of the ATV so it doesn't ride up on the plow when pushing heavy snow).

What made me think twice about the winch idea is that they're typically not rated for a lot of weight unless you pay a small fortune for them. A typical car weighs 3000+ lbs, and getting up the ramp into the garage would certainly be way past what a 2000 lbs rated (flat surface) winch is designed for.

To add to what akdiesel said -- no warranty expressed or implied but I would think that as long as a vehicle is rolling (brakes not locked up, etc) the pulling force required to move it would be much less than its actual weight. After all, it is usually possible for one person to push a car on level ground. A slope would have to be extremely steep before the force required would come close to equaling the car's weight.

Something that _would_ be a problem would be if the vehicle got hung up somehow. Even then, most winches have a mechanical safety to prevent them from being overloaded.

 

[sajohnson]

I just did this for a buddy a couple of months ago. He has a real steep curving driveway and towing his boat back into the garage would have been really tricky. Anyway, I drilled into the floor and permanently mounted a winch plate on top of 2X2 tubing (just to give the winch some height). He's got a WARN winch with something like 100' of cable on it so that he can pull his boat in all the way from the street. The winch even has a wireless remote so it works great when's he's backing in his boat.

Would you be willing to post photos of your buddy's setup?

That sounds like it would work really well.

Also, I'd like to extend the request for photos to anyone else who has done something similar.

Thank you!

 

[ThePress]

Have the winch mounted somewhere on the hoist....The hoist should be secure to the floor.

You can even have the winch at the back end of the hoist if you need to, and then when you pull something in, you can tie the winch off at a point under the vehicle that is farthest away from the winch, and it will pull it on.

We did just that with a 4x4 we needed to BACK onto a hoist. It had a winch on the front, so we ran the cable under the truck to the crossbar on the hoist, and winched ger in.

 

[ovilla]

Would you be willing to post photos of your buddy's setup?

That sounds like it would work really well.

Also, I'd like to extend the request for photos to anyone else who has done something similar.

Thank you!

I'll ask him to snap some pics the next time he takes the boat out. Unfortunately, it's a tight fit so the boat ends up blocking the winch. As a matter of fact the winch is actually under a bench top, way in the back where one's feet would normally be if you had pulled up a chair.

 

[sajohnson]

I'll ask him to snap some pics the next time he takes the boat out. Unfortunately, it's a tight fit so the boat ends up blocking the winch. As a matter of fact the winch is actually under a bench top, way in the back where one's feet would normally be if you had pulled up a chair.

That's where mine will be unless I attach it to the lift.