Winch

[Wallythacker]

I plan to add a winch in my trailer tongue box. Nothing fancy, a 1500 lb. pull is what I have on hand. Bought it 10-12 years ago. To my amazement the current draw from this thing is insane. It pulls 120 AMPS when pulling 1500 lb. As the line pull drops so does the current, pretty much in step. So a 750 lb. pull needs 60 AMPS of current. The duty cycle is very low, 1 min pull, 15 min. cooldown.

My anticipated use is to haul my Suzuki Bergman (~450-500 lb.) or my 14 hp lawn tractor (475 lb.) onto the deck. I have decent 78" ramps and the trailer deck is only 20" high so the angle isn't terrible. I was going to rig up a connector coming off the Mirage tail lamps until I read the current draw. The entire circuit would melt if the Mirage fuse didn't pop.

I have a couple of ideas and maybe you can add some more to them. 1.) I'll install a smallish powersports battery in the tongue toolbox on the trailer where the winch will live. The powersport battery is grounded to the trailer frame and only connected when the trailer is hooked up. I figure a 130 CCA 12 AH battery is enough to load my gear.

I'll run a 10 GA wire from the main battery to a simple plug connector that is zip tied beside the flat 4 trailer wires. This way I only need 20 ft. of heavyish wire for the winch. I just realized a heavy single pole switch at the powersport battery will let me disconnect the Mirage wiring from the winch circuit.

2. Mount the powersport battery in the spare well. Same idea, one 10 GA cable from the main battery to the small battery. Add a simple connector alongside the flat 4 to provide power to the winch. I like this because it means the powersport battery is always being charged so it should last a fair while. I lose my spare well which is not cool. maybe I can push the small battery against the side of the trunk area and be OK with the lost space. I do get additional starting power.

Any other thoughts? What do you think the better place for the winch battery is? On the trailer in the tongue box or in the Mirage? Hmm. It dawned on me I'll need a powersport battery in each car I plan to use the winch with. 2 Mirages, 1 Saturn and I'm at needing 3 powersport batteries. I guess the battery goes in the tongue tool box, which itself can be fairly easily moved from trailer to trailer using dzus fasteners. The tongue box isn't that heavy loaded, maybe 60 lb. with winch, battery, spare tire, bottle jack, tie downs and some light tarps.

I feel there's something very basic I'm missing.

I did learn a winch rope should be broken in by pulling about 1/4 the rated weight several times, it's a good idea to spray the wire rope, galvanized or not, with some form of anti rust/lube spray. And the winch should always feed from under the drum rather than over the top. Ends the toilet paper roll direction argument. Lol.

One last thing, does anyone have any experience with the new style synthetic ropes for winches? For $22 it seems like a better move than buying a $25 roller fairlead. Ages ago I had a hand winch wire rope snap on a 23' boat and it seriously hurt a bystander. They needed a dozen stitches. I gather the synth ropes can't tension up and snap like the wire ropes.

[Fummins]

I use car trailer to drag around vehicles now and then. It's got a 4500 or 5000lb utility winch mounted to the front, tool box mounted on the a-frame of the trailer with a deep cycle battery and all the chains and other crap I use. I once drove 4hrs to pick up a dead truck only to find the tow vehicle I was using wasn't charging the trailer battery, but it managed to have enough juice in it to drag the vehicle up onto the deck.
I kinda just skimmed through your post cause reading is hard...I don't think I'd bother with a powersports battery. Why not use an battery that's meant to be drained and recharged like a deep cycle? If your stuck on that plan and find the winch underpowered you could always use a snatchblock. Remember the more layers of cable on the spool, the less your pulling power. If you don't need 50' of cable just install 20' instead. If you need longer you can always use an extention.

I have synthetic winch cable on my side-by-side winch. I broke the warn brand cable one too many times on one trip so a friend donated a cheapo synthetic cable he had as a spare. A few years later it's holding up great. I mounted the winch on the rear of it too and switched it over to synthetic last summer. Then it broke the first time I used it cause the exhaust must have weakened it....I've used it with a roller fairlead even though you're supposed to use a hawse type afaik.

If your winch is the kind with the big fugly yellow controller with the largish gauge wires going into it from the winch and to the battery then maybe consider throwing it away, picking up a cheap winch relay, and a remote winch control thing. I've had one for a few years now and they work great.

[Mark]

I plan to add a winch in my trailer tongue box. Nothing fancy, a 1500 lb. pull is what I have on hand. Bought it 10-12 years ago. To my amazement the current draw from this thing is insane. It pulls 120 AMPS when pulling 1500 lb. As the line pull drops so does the current, pretty much in step. So a 750 lb. pull needs 60 AMPS of current. The duty cycle is very low, 1 min pull, 15 min. cooldown.

My anticipated use is to haul my Suzuki Bergman (~450-500 lb.) or my 14 hp lawn tractor (475 lb.) onto the deck. I have decent 78" ramps and the trailer deck is only 20" high so the angle isn't terrible. I was going to rig up a connector coming off the Mirage tail lamps until I read the current draw. The entire circuit would melt if the Mirage fuse didn't pop.

I have a couple of ideas and maybe you can add some more to them. 1.) I'll install a smallish powersports battery in the tongue toolbox on the trailer where the winch will live. The powersport battery is grounded to the trailer frame and only connected when the trailer is hooked up. I figure a 130 CCA 12 AH battery is enough to load my gear.

I'll run a 10 GA wire from the main battery to a simple plug connector that is zip tied beside the flat 4 trailer wires. This way I only need 20 ft. of heavyish wire for the winch. I just realized a heavy single pole switch at the powersport battery will let me disconnect the Mirage wiring from the winch circuit.

2. Mount the powersport battery in the spare well. Same idea, one 10 GA cable from the main battery to the small battery. Add a simple connector alongside the flat 4 to provide power to the winch. I like this because it means the powersport battery is always being charged so it should last a fair while. I lose my spare well which is not cool. maybe I can push the small battery against the side of the trunk area and be OK with the lost space. I do get additional starting power.

Any other thoughts? What do you think the better place for the winch battery is? On the trailer in the tongue box or in the Mirage? Hmm. It dawned on me I'll need a powersport battery in each car I plan to use the winch with. 2 Mirages, 1 Saturn and I'm at needing 3 powersport batteries. I guess the battery goes in the tongue tool box, which itself can be fairly easily moved from trailer to trailer using dzus fasteners. The tongue box isn't that heavy loaded, maybe 60 lb. with winch, battery, spare tire, bottle jack, tie downs and some light tarps.

I feel there's something very basic I'm missing.

I did learn a winch rope should be broken in by pulling about 1/4 the rated weight several times, it's a good idea to spray the wire rope, galvanized or not, with some form of anti rust/lube spray. And the winch should always feed from under the drum rather than over the top. Ends the toilet paper roll direction argument. Lol.

One last thing, does anyone have any experience with the new style synthetic ropes for winches? For $22 it seems like a better move than buying a $25 roller fairlead. Ages ago I had a hand winch wire rope snap on a 23' boat and it seriously hurt a bystander. They needed a dozen stitches. I gather the synth ropes can't tension up and snap like the wire ropes.

I have a Warn winch on my 1996 Honda Fourtrax 300 4x4, & I just come in from using it. I use it primarily for lifting my snow plow, which is a lot up & down in a short period of time. I can tell the winch is a drain on the small ATV battery. If it were colder out, I would probably put the trickle charger on my ATV after a plowing session like today. I bought a synthetic rope (from Harbor Frieght) for my winch, but I haven't changed out the cable at this point. The cable has been working fine. If it wears out some day, I will try the synthetic rope next.

I have seen a synthetic rope in action, however. A friend of mine pulled a large tree off his trail with it. It was mounted on a Polaris Ranger. I was impressed by the strength of the rope. If it snapped, the danger would be less. I totally get that.

As I have gotten older, I do some things smarter (easier on the back). I have had this portable winch (see below) for as long as I can remember, & it so handy to have.

http://www.deuer.com/index.php/pack-mule

Lately, I have been using it to lift deer into the back of my Mule. I attach it to the top of the rear roll bar. I tilt the box down, & I attach the deer to this little portable hand winch. Instead of dragging a deer on the ground, I will use a Shappell Jet sled when I can. I just tug the sled/deer into the box & then flip the box back up into position. It's much easier than tugging a large whitetail buck into the box by yourself.

The other day I needed to take my log splitter to a friend's house. I wanted to transport it on my 4' x 8' tilt bed trailer. I used the portable winch to pull it on to the trailer bed far enough for me to pull the trailer bed back down & into place. Once on the trailer & the trailer bed is flat, moving something like that is simple.

I've used my portable winch to load my John Deere riding lawnmower (drive belt was busted) in the same manner.

I buried my Kawasaki Mule a couple years ago. I went to a spot to pick up a buck once, and I buried the Mule to the bottom. Once they are hung up, they don't move! I pulled the Mule out of that mess with that small portable hand winch, along with a logging chain, a heavy duty rope, and a good strong tree to attach to. It took some time, but the small portable winch pulled it out. My 4WD compact diesel tractor couldn't pull it out, but the small winch did!

I think what you are suggesting is a lot of work to set up, unless you are loading/unloading equipment daily. I would suggest something like this (some examples listed below) mounted to the front of your trailer. They crank somewhat fast, don't take up much space, don't require a battery, and would be easy to remove (during the winter months or whenever). I haven't read the reviews of any of these. I am just listing examples of what I am talking about. Smaller ones are used on almost every boat trailer, too.

https://www.amazon.com/OPENROAD-1200...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

https://www.amazon.com/Capacity-Oper...7185266&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/SPARKWHIZ-Tra...185266&sr=8-10

There are all kinds of options out there, & they are not that expensive. I hate batteries!!! Whenever you need something to really work, they are dead! Plus, you are not tugging something very far to load it on a trailer.

I don't want to have to make sure my battery is charged or hook up more wires. Give me a hand crank!

Just a suggestion! My portable winch packs in its small case. It's usually tucked in a storage space under the seat of my Mule. My Mule is my miniture property pickup truck. Pickup trucks can't fit on my trails. Roads are too narrow with drop offs on the sides in some spots.

[klroger]

Get one of these!!! You don't need a battery & it gives you another gas powered tool to use ('cus we always need more gas powered tools) https://www.portablewinch.ca/collect...-accessories-1
They also have Li-Ion powered ones...

[Wallythacker]

I am really impressed with the mule. I love the concept of the come a long, fairly simple tool with great power but most are a bit awkward to store. The mule is great! small, nice case, easy to use. I did a google search and got this https://www.shoppok.com/richmond/a,4...nicsville-.htm which seeks like a good deal if you live close by. I'm guessing they will be $120+ CDN if they are available up here. However, I have a US mailbox which I should be able to access in April so shipping things is a reality again.

My aluminum 4' x 4' Northern Tool trailer was shipped that way, there was a free shipping promo and a sale as well. I'll never see a deal like that again.

I don't mind the idea of the synth hand cranks but I won't use a wire rope hand crank even with precautions. I still think of the poor woman cut open when the wire rope failed with a heavy boat on the line.

I admit sometimes, well, a lot, I like to over engineer things. I suspect there will be twice weekly, if not more, loading and unloading my tractor. My second property has been ignored while my health sucked but this year I'm determined to get active again and get my routine back. Not to mention I have all sorts of cool things that were shelved due to health.

I have the winch, a brand new powersport battery I can't return (weird, only Amazon item I have ever bought to be told after the sale it can't be returned. ) and the aluminum tongue box. And time. I need to start fabricating again. Those skills diminish like everything if not used. I guess my priority after some Mirage tasks is the creation of the sway bar. I'm giddy to get started but my shop is a disaster. That's really my first OOTD.

So I envision my modded tongue box, winch w/synth rope, powersport battery, (I agree one more thing to charge/maintain is not ideal) and my trusty beloved 4 x 8 aluminum trailer (I must weigh it this year, it's probably much less than my guess of 300 lb. It could come in a low as 225 lb. which is remarkable for what it is. ) I guess ultimately my goal is to have a setup where my tractor can be loaded in 5 minutes or less. Drive up, deploy ramps, attach winch lead, engage winch, I calculate a pull time of about 90 seconds, I'll exceed the duty cycle in time but with a reduced load for that time so I should be OK. My powersport battery should give me enough for a 2nd pull (but why I'd ever need that is questionable), lift and load tailgate, stow ramps, cinch front and rear tractor restraints and drive away. If something else I'm working on comes to fruition I may be loading the tractor every other day so the less time spent loading the better.

I realize I could drive the tractor on and off the trailer but that just adds another dimension for things to go wrong at the worst time. I'm best to carry it out semi manually.

ETA: That portable winch is the bomb. Princess Auto has their version https://www.princessauto.com/en/2200...t/PA0009056433 with a no name engine. I'd buy the Honda version in a minute. I'd buy the Princess one for $900 but no more. The good thing with Princess is the sales. Almost everything ends up on sale or discontinued eventually (I got 4.80-8 tires on rims for $33! Wow. when was the last time those prices were around? 2006?) Who knows? Maybe the Princess one will blow out for $500 at some time.