Trailer winch

[fifty]

I know it's a little off topic, but it's winch related:

I talked the wife into a 20ft featherlite bumper pull aluminum open trailer for my race car, and well,some project vehicles.
I pick it up and write the check next Tuesday. I got her on "what if we need to tow the suburban or one of our folks vehicles (LR4 and a Silverado pickup)... We would need the extra length and axle weight"... So 20 vs 18 ft it is.


So now I need a winch. I was looking at the HF special that so many people love....and so many people hate... I have a really hard time pulling the trigger on that.

The wife looked over the shoulder when I was looking at the 4-5k HF winches and she said "the Burban is 7k, those won't work. How about the 9k HF?"

I mentioned my hesitance with the HF winch and the wife started looking around.
The wife suggested the Superwinch s7500 SR..which I can find for about $600...
She likes it because it's marketed as a trailer winch. I like it because it's under $700...

Anybody have any feelings on this?

 

[rossvtaylor]

Unless you plan to try lifting your Suburban straight up, you won't need a winch that big. 😎

The capacity of the winches you were looking at initially should work fine. In fact, even smaller would work, for ramp loading use. If weight and cost and the size of the cable needed for a larger winch is an issue, you could get the smaller winch and then use a snatch block to double that capacity when you need to get the Suburban on there.

 

[NatersXJ6]

I had a 2500 HF winch on my last car hauler. It worked like a champ. If you ever have to drag something with a seized wheel, double line and snatch block it.

Using a smaller winch helps run smaller wire from your battery back. I think I ran "0" AWG from the truck battery to Anderson connectors at the bumper.

As a side note, I also anchored a d-ring into the back of my garage foundation so I could winch unload a dead rig too. It worked very nicely.

 

[Warn Industries]

So we have some general winch loading guidelines for utility winches. Factors include:

• Rolling or sliding load
• Weight of load
• Angle of the pull
• Surface you're pulling on

First you want to figure the grade. This is going to be:

Height of the slope ÷ Distance of pull = Percentage of the Grade.

Then you can then use this chart below:



For larger rolling loads, simply divide the load by 1000 and multiply the result by the number in the Line Pull column for the desired surfaces. For example, if there was a rolling load on rubber tires of 7,000 lbs. (the Suburban) to be pulled up a 40% grade on packed gravel, find the row with 40% Grade. Move across until you find the value under the column Rubber tires on packed Gravel. The value listed at that point is 391 lbs. But, since that is only for a factor of a 1,000 lb. rolling load and you are looking for the line pull for a 7,000 lb. load, you multiply 391 x (7,000/1000) for a to total of 2,737 lbs. of line pull.

WARN offers our 2000 DC, 4000 DC, and 4700 DC winches specifically for trailer loading. Looks like a 4000 DC is going for around $299.99 online. If your ramp isn't as steep, you might be able to get away with a 2000 DC which is $94 or so.

Hope that helps!

- Andy

 

[evilfij]

For trailer loading you can get away with something really small. 2000lbs, 2500lbs are fine. If for some reason you have an issue where the pull will require more force, just use a snatch block. It will be slower with the smaller winch, but the idea you need a 8000+lbs winch to load something on a trailer is nuts. I have loaded cars with boat hand crank winches no problem (other than a tired arm).

 

[donaldcon]

I am running a Harbor Freight 4000 pound on my trailer.

He doesn't have any issues driving full-size trucks on to my trailer with locked up tires

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[HotNotch]

I'll throw my $.02 on this. Having had to winch a flat tired, 7000 pound 65 Lincoln Continental that had sat on a concrete slab in a basement for 30 years, its always better to upsize the winch. We had 12k lb Warn on a receiver with a fully charged 12v boat battery powering it and still had to snatch block it. 00 Gauge cables got so hot that it melted the lead terminal on the cable end of the battery. Again, this is worst case scenario, but a smaller winch would have given up the ghost way early. Rather have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. I know that the amount of line pull that this required isn't anywhere near the same as even a free rolling vehicle would be on a 45 degree incline. But again, would much rather have it in case.

 

[rossvtaylor]

Hope that helps!

- Andy

You. Guys. ROCK! What great info, without overselling - steering towards an affordable option, which will work... forever.

Nicely played, sir.

 

[M35A2]

Loading a trailer is a more forgiving use case than winching a rig out of a gully. So any old winch will probably do well, even a come-along.

Nevertheless, the Warn dude presents a compelling case so why not give one of his products a shot?

 

[aardvarcus]

My 2 cents.

Get a bigger ATV winch, 4k to 4.5k lbs rating from your winch manufacturer of choice. These are sealed better than the utility style winches and appear to be built better for a modest increase in price. Have a way to remove it from the trailer (like on a receiver mount) for storage, or have a sealing lid to keep it protected when not in use. Get an appropriately sized pulley, and use that when loading heavier vehicles. Make sure your ramps on your trailer are the style that are flat on top, not the ladder style. When the tires go down into the ladder style rungs, it takes loads of force to pull them back out, because the angle of the pull effectively becomes the angle the tires need to travel to come up out of the rung, which is very steep. (Been there, done that.)

Alternatively, step up to a 8k lb winch on a 2” receiver, and use it for your trailer and/or your vehicle as needed. Running rear heavy gage wires on your suburban would allow you to use your rear receiver hitch with the winch, and add on some repurposed jumper cables with Anderson Power Pole connectors would allow you to power the winch on the trailer from the tow vehicle without needing a battery on the trailer.

 

[dwh]

So...what? Drop the trailer and chock it while the winch is in the receiver being used to drag something up onto the trailer?

There are enough things which I dislike about that whole scenario that I might as well just say, "too much to list".

 

[aardvarcus]

Yes, as Verkstad pointed out when I typed “Have a way to remove it from the trailer (like on a receiver mount) for storage” and “winch on a 2” receiver, and use it for your trailer” I intended that a person would have a receiver socket mounted on the trailer to use the winch in when loading the trailer.

To clarify my prior statement in detail so there will be no misunderstanding, I am suggesting having:

Mechanically:
One winch mounted on a 2” receiver winch plate.
Front and back receiver hitches on the tow vehicle.
A receiver hitch mounted on the front of trailer.

Electrically:
Anderson Power Pole type quick connects on the front and back of the vehicle run to the vehicle battery.
Jumper cable modified with APP quick connects on both ends.
The winch should have APP connectors on its lead wires.

End uses:
The winch could be used as a recovery winch for the vehicle, either front or back, by sitting in the vehicle receiver and plugging into the vehicle APP plugs.
The winch could be used to load the trailer by mounting in the trailer receiver (but only the trailer is attached to the tow vehicle for stability) and plugging into the vehicles APP plug through the jumper cables modified with APP plugs.

 

[dwh]

Ah. Okay, now I get it.