LanEvo said:QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:I HAVE one of these super cheap super slow plastic box winches. It WILL pull a Panhard onto a UHaul trailer on a pallet with crap rubber tires.
How do you mount it? I've been renting UHaul car trailers. Can't fight out where/how to mount a winch.
you could get a double hitch receiver....trailer hitched to the lower, winch to the upper on a hitch-mount platform (can get them at Harbor Freight). Seems like it would work.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:LanEvo said:QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:I HAVE one of these super cheap super slow plastic box winches. It WILL pull a Panhard onto a UHaul trailer on a pallet with crap rubber tires.
How do you mount it? I've been renting UHaul car trailers. Can't fight out where/how to mount a winch.
you could get a double hitch receiver....trailer hitched to the lower, winch to the upper on a hitch-mount platform (can get them at Harbor Freight). Seems like it would work.
That's a good idea, but you'd have to deal with the big jack sticking up in the front of the trailer.
I followed Stampie's lead after seeing how easily he was able to winch my Morris onto a youhaul trailer. I bought a 2500 lb HF ATV winch and attached it to a heavy piece of scrap hardwood.
Some trailer shackle parts gave me a way to hook a chain to it to pull against. Steel mending straps 
reinforce the wood.
I had a winch mount fabbed onto my trailer. I would bolt the winch to my trailer when I needed to use it. I powered it by the 2nd battery under the hood of my excursion by having running these thick ass industrial cables from under the hood along the chassis and connected via Anderson connectors. Didn't need to worry about keeping a battery charged since my excursion was dual battery. The cable/ connector setup wasn't cheap lol.
I had a Smittybuilt winch rated for 9500-10000lbs. The motor on that winch gave out while pulling a 95 s600 up my trailer at night in Compton lol.
Anyone know how to fix those winch motors, let me know.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Caprigrip said:What does everyone do for powering the winch? A dedicated trailer battery won 't stay charged with so infrequent use.
Solar is the best answer, IMHO. Harder on an open trailer than enclosed though.
Another option is to put a big DC "anderson" (UPS-style) connector on the winch and run some welding cable from the truck battery.
Most winches don't need that heavy of a cable. The smaller ones like I have used work fine on 10 gauge wire from the vehicle's battery back to the rear bumper. I then used a quick connect battery plug to power the winch. I even set up a connecter with battery jumper cable clamps so that if someone borrowed my open trailer they only needed a 12 battery to power the winch.
yupididit said:I had a Smittybuilt winch rated for 9500-10000lbs. The motor on that winch gave out while pulling a 95 s600 up my trailer at night in Compton lol.
Anyone know how to fix those winch motors, let me know.
I was just in Compton the other day :)
the motor on my big winch looked like an old starter motor , I would find an older shop that rebuilds starters , I bet its no big deal !
I'm also interested in this topic. I welcome shared photos and ideas from any who will. My old blue car hauling trailer deserves this upgrade soon. Over a decade ago I bought the cheap HF atv winch and it has set on the shelf waiting for me to mount it to the trailer, lol.
ClemSparks said:I'm also interested in this topic. I welcome shared photos and ideas from any who will. My old blue car hauling trailer deserves this upgrade soon. Over a decade ago I bought the cheap HF atv winch and it has set on the shelf waiting for me to mount it to the trailer, lol.
Do not mount it to the trailer , you limit yourself , make a mount that can be chained to the trailer , or a tree etc ,
Then the winch can be used to pull stuff around the yard or up a driveway , just have a charged jumper battery for power , and you can store it out of the weather,
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks for the chart! I like the way you have it setup on your trailer. I'm thinking about doing something similar.
jimbbski said:Most winches don't need that heavy of a cable. The smaller ones like I have used work fine on 10 gauge wire from the vehicle's battery back to the rear bumper. I then used a quick connect battery plug to power the winch. I even set up a connecter with battery jumper cable clamps so that if someone borrowed my open trailer they only needed a 12 battery to power the winch.
The specs on my winch (a Warn 3700 utility winch) said 150 amps...
But yes, putting a connector on it makes it flexible. I also have a pair of jumper cables where I cut the clamps off one end and put another of the DC connectors on there.
californiamilleghia said:ClemSparks said:I'm also interested in this topic. I welcome shared photos and ideas from any who will. My old blue car hauling trailer deserves this upgrade soon. Over a decade ago I bought the cheap HF atv winch and it has set on the shelf waiting for me to mount it to the trailer, lol.
Do not mount it to the trailer , you limit yourself , make a mount that can be chained to the trailer , or a tree etc ,
Then the winch can be used to pull stuff around the yard or up a driveway , just have a charged jumper battery for power , and you can store it out of the weather,
Good advice about being able to move the winch around. If I hadn't been able to pull off the side of the trailer I never would have been able to get the Morris (stuck caliper, flat tire) out of the storage unit.
Caprigrip said:What does everyone do for powering the winch? A dedicated trailer battery won 't stay charged with so infrequent use.
You're supposed to have a trailer battery for the electric brakes, and it gets charged through the 7 pin connector, no?
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Caprigrip said:What does everyone do for powering the winch? A dedicated trailer battery won 't stay charged with so infrequent use.
You're supposed to have a trailer battery for the electric brakes, and it gets charged through the 7 pin connector, no?
Correct, there should be a 12v source on the trailer for the break-away. It can share a big battery, or be self contained.
LanEvo said:QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:I HAVE one of these super cheap super slow plastic box winches. It WILL pull a Panhard onto a UHaul trailer on a pallet with crap rubber tires.
How do you mount it? I've been renting UHaul car trailers. Can't fight out where/how to mount a winch.
I put a snatch strap around the center beam on the trailer neck and attached it to the loop via 2" screw links. The loop is bolted to the bottom of the winch and it just floats while working.
No. It's far more shady than you are envisioning.
QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:I am on the ledge with the 5k HF winch. For $129 it could be just the ticket but I haven't seen one in person.
I HAVE one of thesw super cheap super slow plastic box winches. It WILL pull a Panhard onto a UHaul trailer on a pallet with crap rubber tires. So a faster 5000lb one would be an improvement.
I have one of those too. It wasn't fast, but I just used it to winch my 4000 lb El Camino onto my trailer.
A 9000 lb winch is serious overkill.
I have an ATV winch bolted to the floor in my car trailer. It's never had any trouble pulling anything that rolls.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Mine doesn't charge, at least I don't believe it does. It WILL though, because it's a great idea.
On Big Tex I am mounting a second 12v lawn and garden battery for the winch opposite of my brake battery. I will install two of those nifty solar chargers on top of my box. The winch will be removable via a hitch type receiver affixed to the front wall and floor via 1/4 plate and the UPS type connections all stowed in the box when not in use.
LanEvo said:QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:I HAVE one of these super cheap super slow plastic box winches. It WILL pull a Panhard onto a UHaul trailer on a pallet with crap rubber tires.
How do you mount it? I've been renting UHaul car trailers. Can't fight out where/how to mount a winch.
There's no reason to mount it.
I use a short piece of chain. I wrap it around a tree, or a fence post, or a column, or my trailer ball, and loop it through the plate.
It's PORTABLE. That's the beauty. If you mount it to anything, it's not portable any more.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Caprigrip said:What does everyone do for powering the winch? A dedicated trailer battery won 't stay charged with so infrequent use.
You're supposed to have a trailer battery for the electric brakes, and it gets charged through the 7 pin connector, no?
That's incorrect.
Electric brakes are not powered by a battery. They are powered directly by the tow vehicle through the 7 pin connector. No battery required.
They are connected to the brake light circuit on the tow vehicle.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:Caprigrip said:What does everyone do for powering the winch? A dedicated trailer battery won 't stay charged with so infrequent use.
You're supposed to have a trailer battery for the electric brakes, and it gets charged through the 7 pin connector, no?
That's incorrect.
Electric brakes are not powered by a battery. They are powered directly by the tow vehicle through the 7 pin connector. No battery required.
They are connected to the brake light circuit on the tow vehicle.
That's what operates them when everything is working right. But the breakaway cable is supposed to trigger the trailer brakes if the trailer falls off while driving, and you need a battery for that. It tensions the safety chains so the trailer doesn't swing forward and beat a hole in your gas tank at best, and it stops the trailer from being an unguided missile if the chains fail at worst.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:That's what operates them when everything is working right. But the breakaway cable is supposed to trigger the trailer brakes if the trailer falls off while driving, and you need a battery for that. It tensions the safety chains so the trailer doesn't swing forward and beat a hole in your gas tank at best, and it stops the trailer from being an unguided missile if the chains fail at worst.
Yes. However, depending on how often and how far you tow, the +12 battery charging output on the 7-pin connector may not keep a larger winch-sized battery topped up.
californiamilleghia said:ClemSparks said:I'm also interested in this topic. I welcome shared photos and ideas from any who will. My old blue car hauling trailer deserves this upgrade soon. Over a decade ago I bought the cheap HF atv winch and it has set on the shelf waiting for me to mount it to the trailer, lol.
Do not mount it to the trailer , you limit yourself , make a mount that can be chained to the trailer , or a tree etc ,
Then the winch can be used to pull stuff around the yard or up a driveway , just have a charged jumper battery for power , and you can store it out of the weather,
I appreciate that insight. Many will want their winch to be more portable than I do. I will likely opt to mount a receiver tube to the trailer and mount the winch to a draw bar. This gives it enough portability to keep it out of the weather (or if theft is a concern) as well as to be used on a bumper hitch if ever desired.
Around my place I'm real creative with tractors, 4x4 vehicles, tow straps, and chain hoists. I can live with the compromise of a narrow-purpose electric winch.
The battery for the electric trailer brakes, is not in use during normal operation. It is hooked up to a break - away switch, to apply the trailer brakes in case of the trailer becoming seperated from the tow vehicle. Since (hopefully! 
) they never get used, they do not usually have a lot of capacity, and do not need a lot of juice to charge.
When I first mounted my winch, I install a battery, relay set up, and a port to plug in the controls. All of it in a fancy aluminum tongue box. After dealing with dead batteries a couple of times and condensation corroding the connections, I pulled all of that out and tossed a long set of jumper cables in the box. Now I run the winch off the tow vehicle with the jumper cables. No charging circuit or solar panel needed. No relay box taking up space in the tongue box and no control wiring. On and off are handled by clamping the cables on the motor studs. Forward and reverse are handled by swapping the polarity. Simple, bulletproof, and it works every time.
In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :
I don't haul a lot so simple is good.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:When I first mounted my winch, I install a battery, relay set up, and a port to plug in the controls. All of it in a fancy aluminum tongue box. After dealing with dead batteries a couple of times and condensation corroding the connections, I pulled all of that out and tossed a long set of jumper cables in the box. Now I run the winch off the tow vehicle with the jumper cables. No charging circuit or solar panel needed. No relay box taking up space in the tongue box and no control wiring. On and off are handled by clamping the cables on the motor studs. Forward and reverse are handled by swapping the polarity. Simple, bulletproof, and it works every time.
I agree that powering the winch off the truck is a good solution, but not having start/stop and forward/reverse controls on a switch sounds pretty terrible.
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