Dr L-88

Looking for suggestions.............."Do and Don't".............for mounting an electric winch on an open trailer. Based on your personal experiences............................. ......open to all suggestions and recommendations.

Thanks,
Rex

66jack

Wood or Steel Deck?

I don't have a trailer, but, it seems it should be mounted to the frame, 'somehow'...but you probably knew that...

Dr L-88

Good question....................solid diamond plate steel. I would like to mount it in the tool box at the front of the trailer.

66jack

Set your tool box on the the tongue of the trailer where you want it...put your winch inside and see how hi/lo it is 'by measuring the cable height', where it feeds in/out...is it even with deck, too low or too high...then you will need to figure out your mounting surface...plate steel or does the winch holes line up with the tongue frame...

corvettekent

If you mount it in the tool box you will need to cut a hole in the tool box for the cable. I would mount it behind the tool box. Where are you going to mount the battery?

Dr L-88

I should have provided more information in my initial post. Here are a couple pics of my trailer and the tool box. Perhaps the pictures will "provoke" more thoughts and ideas from you guys. As always, thanks for your help.
Rex

66jack

I would cut a circular hole for the cable...but...still make sure its mounted to the frame by adding a plate inside the box, are you going to put your battery in there also?

Dr L-88

There is a wiring kit available that allows use of the tow vehicle battery. I'll cut a slot in the tool box for the cable. By mounting the winch in the box it protects it from the elements and maybe even some of those guys who work at "Midnight Auto Supply"

GUSTO14

Rex, if you do decide to mount the winch inside the box (I agree with the idea for all of the reasons you mentioned) I would recommend that you mount the roller fairlead to the outside of the box to ensure that the cable doesn't come in contact with the edge of the opening in the box. Of course you'll need to mount the winch in such a position that it is aligned with the fairlead, but I suspect you already intended to do that.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Mile-Marker/69...69#moreDetails
They even have a cover you can attach to the above roller fairlead to protect it from the weather.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Mile-Marker/69...ductId=2077569

If you have electric brakes and have a trailer mounted battery for "breakaway", you might even want to upgrade it to a full size battery (which the vehicle will charge for you in any event) in order to be able to use the winch from time-to-time without having to hook up your vehicle to it. If you do decide to go that route, I would also recommend you mount the battery inside the box. For protection from the weather, as well as, those guys who work at "Midnight Auto Supply".

Good luck... GUSTO

Mike C#2

My car hauler has an additional crossmember added 18" from the front of the trailer towards the rear. Then between the front crossmember and this new intermediate one is an 18" long piece of 12" c-channel welded to each with the flat side against the trailer deck. This gives you an 18" x 12" platform to mount your winch to that is solidly attached to the frame. Just drill the appropriate holes through the deck and the c-channel to mount your winch.

I have an S5000 SuperWinch on mine which is mostly enclosed so I didn't see the need to mount it in a toolbox. I have a wiring kit on my truck and a pigtail that I connect between the winch and the truck for power. I have a second pigtail that has jumper cable ends on it so that I can just hook to a loose battery if I'm pulling it with something other than my truck.

steveale

You may want to look at options on how to winch from angles 90 degrees to the side of your trailer. I recall one guy had either a roller at the winch or a pulley just aft of the winch that let him insert/close the cable and winch stuff out at 90 if he didn't have the room to back the trailer straight in. One warning was don't but the pulley at the rear end or the trailer will just skid sideways, hence get it closer to the hitch/tounge as possible.

not always needed but handy as heck when it is needed.

watson

I don't know if this helps, but I have one in my enclosed trailer. I mounted a section of box tubing the size of the female trailer hitch on my truck. It is welded to a plate bolted to through the floor. I mounted the winch to a another piece the size of the male tubing on a typical hitch. The winch sits on the floor in the trailer and it works great. When I want to use it on my truck, I can just plug it into the hitch on the rear bumper. In your case. it would let you keep the winch in the tool box when you are not using it.

Doc

Roger Walling

A friend of mine has a trailer w/winch that uses a single hot wire that camps directly to the tow vehicle battery. It also has a short ground "Jumper"cable that attaches to the trailer frame and to the tow vehicle frame.

Some times the ground cable does not make a good ground and burns up the lighting ground wire harness.
Don't make that mistake.

Bob K

I have a Dively open trailer. I mounted a 12K Superwinch on the front behind the tool box. I had a local shop weld the mounting bracket to the trailer frame (low) so that the cable isn't at an angle when pulling a car up.

I added a marine battery in a plastic box next to the tool box. I picked up a solar charge that I mounted on the tool box lid and ran the wires to the battery.

It's worked great when I've had to move or pickup/drop off one of my cars.

Bob K.