Part 1, mount and electrical tests
Bought a HF 12k winch for occasion use around the property and for piece of mind out in the sticks (or cacti) I chose to mount this winch on a mount for a receiver hitch and install it only when I need it. HF sells a receiver winch mount that they rate for a 9k winch, it is built with about 1/8" steel for the main tube and mounting plate. I feel is not adequate for side loading, especially shock loads when on the throttle and winching simultaneously.
So like most of my other projects, I went out in the garage and fabricated my own. I used 1/4" steel and designed it to have material only where necessary, as the winch itself is already very heavy. I considered provisions to allow both this winch and my generator to be mounted at the same time, but the approach angle would suffer. The truck already has tow hooks to double over the cable, so I kept the design simple.


I removed the cover to see what lurks inside the box. It has a single solenoid that does in/out/drum break. I estimate wire to be about 4 gauge. The motor is rated at 6hp (4470 watts), at 14V current could be 320 amps. Note this is the 'motor' not the 'winch system'. The over current protection is in my opinion is the cheesy aspect of this product. It is 3, 50A automatic circuit breakers in parallel, linked with AL bar. It cannot be physically attached to main battery of 6.7 PSD without an additional cable. The 6' cables are also too short.

To understand the limitations, I made several measurement under load on the 2nd layer of cable. With engine idling, I used foot brake to hold truck on compacted gravel road. This was enough to heavily load winch and just drag truck forward.
Loaded measurements:
Max current = 210 amps
Max voltage drop of ground wire = 0.35V
Max voltage drop of circuit breakers = 0.15V
Max voltage total drop of + wire = 0.50v
Nominal battery voltage = 14.0v
Minimum battery voltage = 12.5V
So the winch sees 11.65V @ 210A, which is about 3.3hp. The motor voltage is even less after the solenoid and additional wires.
2 gauge wire has roughly 35% less resistance, which would lower voltage drop in wires by 0.2v. The gain in hp from this is minimal and not worth the $100 in wire and connectors. Also to note is that copper wire resistance goes up with temp, and at under hood temps resistance will go up another 35%. The voltage drop of the alternator under load is more than all the wiring + circuit breaker.
Since I have to extend wiring, I plan to use a hi current disconnect (which will add to volt drop) with another foot or two of 2 gauge wire. Also plan to try a single 150A circuit breaker. Circuit breakers are also de-rated for temperature and may only have half rated sustained current under the hood.
Note I did not test trying to pull full cable length under heavy load. This winch is not designed to do that. The circuit breakers will likely heat up and trip, protecting the motor from thermal damage. If I intended to use a winch like that for hardcore wheelin' I would get one with a higher duty cycle rating, or a hydraulic type.
I'll update when wiring is complete.

 

Great write up, can't wait to see the finished wiring side.

 

Excellent idea and nice job with the fabrication!

 

Since you dissected the winch, for occasional use, WITHOUT doing your internal modifications, what is your overall thought for the value of the Harbor Freight 12K winch?

I like the metal fabrication job too!

 

If I recall, didn't you fabricate your own front receiver hitch also? Or am I thinking of someone other than you?

 

The HF12k winch is a great value at only $300. Out of the box it preformed as expected.
Yes that was me. I designed the hitch with a some extra lateral strength for winching. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post13743609

 

On my HF 12K winch I took an old heavy pair of jumper cables cut them down and braided the wires with the winch lead wires. When I want to use it I raise the hood clip on the jumper cable wires to the batter and get to work. Don't know what kind of power loss I may have, but it has worked for me so far. I have used my HF for utility work only so far however.

 

high idle mod. While using winch keep volts up around 12.8 to 13.5 and it pull little less amps plus it will pull harder.

 

I put a cable with an anderson junction
Anderson Power Products - 992-BK - SB 50 SB Connector Gray Power Connector Housing - Allied Electronics
on my winch, and then ran direct power from my trailer battery.

I also put a set of those adapters on my jumper cables.

when I need it on my truck, I unplug from the trailer, and use part of the jumper cables to the truck battery. On my 08, I had a longer cable on the winch, and a short cable on the battery. so just plugged it in

 

Note the 'SB 50' is the small version, and is rated at 50/75A with a max wire size of 6 ga. There are other flavors, including a 175 and a 350 amp version that accept larger wire.
I went with this; 350A, and will fit 4ga wire (0.35" pin ID). Should have low contact resistance, we'll find out....
150 A breaker

 

yes, I should have spent more time on the link.. all of mine are 350amp as well.

 

Nice report and and information. You do good work.

 

I've done the high idle mod for this very reason.

 

That is my very next project when I get back home.

 

Finished up the wiring for the winch. Ford didn't leave much room for anything under the hood. Step 1 was to replace the triple/parallel breakers with a single 150A unit and see if there is any improvement other than arc/short safety and looks.

Since the 6' wiring is too short, I extended with some 4 gauge wire, but kept the 6' pieces uncut and ran from the battery to the plug. The wire that came with this winch was about 0.010 larger in diameter than the 4 gauge I had, so it is likely '3.6' gauge as stated in the manual. I added about 2' from the winch to the plug. To do it this way I had to disassemble the solenoid box to add the + wire.

I choose to crimp the lugs for the connector as opposed to a cold solder joint. I used my free, home made crimp die set and a vice.

Breaker mounting locations were limited so I put it on one of the battery hold down posts.

350A connector. The lugs are big and rounded, don't seam to have much direct contact area....

picked up a tree strap and a 7/8 clevis at a local Redneck supply (Shoppers, even more manly than HF!)

One last modification that instantly makes this winch worth another $1000...

Aghhhh! Blasphemy! A Warn sticker on a Chinese winch! Are you kidding me? HAHA. Well, I'm not sure where warn winches are made these days and there site doesn't say. I guess if I want to increase my chance at some crackhead stealing it the 'W' sticker is perfect. Worse than a 350 Chevy in a 32 ford? Perhaps.


So for those who can get past the horror of the above pictures here are the results.
- wire drop with 350A connector and 8' of wire = 0.56V. (increase of 0.2V)
So the extra wire and connector add an additional 0.4V drop total. 90% of that is the connector.
150A breaker max voltage drop = 0.150V (same as triple parallel setup)
Max current = 210 A (same)
Measured alternator output current at idle with only A/C on. 90A. Yes 90A, so only 110 left for winch best case. (I have 200A alternator). Did the high idle mod at 1200 rpm. Couldn't use it, as I needed the foot brake to fully load winch. Appling the foot brake cancels high idle mode. So I used the right foot mod.
max current at 1200 rpm = 210A (same as 600 rpm)
Min battery voltage @ 1200 = 13.04V
Min battery voltage @ 600 = 12.87V
So battery voltage drop is 0.17V less with high idle.