My car trailer has a 12v winch. The PO had a dedicated automotive type battery on the trailer, that he kept for his boat trailer.

If I a ran a cable from my truck's battery, what's available as a connector at the bumper?

I suppose I should use a circuit breaker up near the battery, too.

I may use a dedicated battery, too, like the PO, but I don't use it much. I have a solar battery maintainer that works well, but I wonder if a battery would last under these circumstances?

I think I prefer the dedicated battery, in case someone borrows the trailer.

 

You can use welding cable and plug in connections. You can pick it up at any welding supply store. Definitely use the circuit breaker, too. This is the set up we use for hydraulic pumps for hay bale spears, it works well and it's reasonably priced and easy to find.

 

Warn makes a remote power cable kit. It runs from the battery all the way to the bumper and terminates in a quick connect. I put it on my prior truck. It's a nice kit, but not cheap either. It comes with a relay. You can power the relay (to enable power to the bumper) from one of your upfitter switches.

 

Recently used a fully remote setup where the cables (they looked like 10 gauge) were at least 20' long and had gator clips for the battery connection. Did a pretty good job hauling a car up on the trailer but we did need a come-a-long assist to get the second axle up the tail.

Ideally though, I keep an AGM battery on the trailer which charges from the 7 pin. Only reason we used the remote winch was that the winch on the trailer died and had not replaced it yet. Reasoning for the AGM is that it has a lower internal discharge rate than flooded cell.

Bonus to having a battery on the trailer is that you can spoil yourself with an electric jack

 

you need to understand.. why OUR homes do not have low voltage DC power...

line LOSS is B I G. even 30 feet.

welding cable or battery on trailer... a trailer battery is like $100.00.


and same reason our trucks and cars are NO LONGER running 6 volt systems.
.

 

Thanks for the ides. I'm a gonna have to thin this one over...

 

I think I'm going to power it w/ the tow vehicle battery. I won't be using the trailer much. I can't justify buying, maintaining and periodically replacing another battery.

I don't know how many amps the Harbor Freight "Badlands 9000" winch draws. The website says it makes 4.9 hp.
Anyone know how I would figure what gauge cable and what circuit breaker to use?

Also, something like this to connect them at the bumper?

 

if 4.9 horse power is correct

that would be 3650 watts.

so 3650 watts divided by 12.0 volts = 270 amps... = welder cable.. so figure 300 to 325 amps using

 

I just re-checked the website; 4.6, not 4.9. Close.

 

I'd have to look to be sure, but I believe what we use is 6 gauge with a 30 amp circuit breaker. And yes that is the type of connection we use.

I do agree that the longer the run the more power you'll lose, but you can make up for some of that with the heavier gauge copper cable. The setup I'm referring to only runs to the front part of the bed, but they see a lot of use (several times daily, 4-6 months of the year) and have never been a problem.

 

How many feet of wire do you need? I have a feeling you will be close to $200 for the parts you need if not more.

 

If you'll be frequently using the winch, or will be using different vehicles to tow the trailer, having a trailer mounted battery would certainly be your best choice.

Otherwise, using a quick disconnect wiring harness as mentioned above would be the way to go. If you use the link provided below, we have a very good help article that explains the various alternatives.

https://www.etrailer.com/expert-162.html

 

1250 cca,12v,over 700 mins res,132lbs,2 yr shelf life no charge needed,agm,just mounted for trailer winch. will prob use weld cable from truck.

 

I know this thread is a little old and I hope my suggestion isn't too late and you've already bought something. I too have a car trailer and the 9000 pound badlands winch that I still need to install. I originally thought of using #4 battery cable and running two lines back to the rear bumper and all that but I figured out real quick that option is well over $200. I was at NAPA looking up those parts when the man behind the counter had a great idea and it turned out to be much cheaper. NAPA sells a kit for those permanent mount jumper cables for (in my area) $145.00 BK 7825259. Perfect! The long run of wire will be installed on the truck and the short length with the battery clamps will go on the trailer, I'll just remove the clamps and hard wire it. I have a bed rail toolbox on the tongue of the trailer where the cables will be stored when I don't need them. Just open the toolbox, uncoil the cables and plug it into the truck at the back bumper.
Your winch should have come with a relay to connect at the battery, the previous owner probably left it installed on his truck. Also the instructions for the winch strongly recommend running the tow vehicles motor while you're using the winch to keep battery drain down.
When I can I'll post up what I'm doing to mount and use my winch if there's any interest.

 

Hi devans04250,

Over the last several weeks I've accumulated the items needed to connect the winch to my truck's battery. I decided I didn't want to put a battery on the trailer, as I don't use it much, and will use the winch even less.

As a coincidence, I plan on wiring it today.

I bought:
-300 amp breaker $12
-20' red 1/0 cable $42
-5' black 1/0 cable (inc. 5 lugs) $27
-Cam lock connectors $40
-Total $121

I found it all on Amazon.

The breaker for my winch was still there. Everything worked, PO used a trailer mounted battery and kept it for another trailer he has.

I'm going to run the red from the battery, immediately to the 300 amp breaker and then to the back bumper, where I'll install one of the cam connectors.

I'll run just enough black cable to go from the back bumper (w/ cam connector) to a solid ground.

Then I'll lengthen the cables at the winch to reach the back bumper and install the other half of the cam locks on them.

Thanks for your reply. I think the $121 one time, is better than a new battery every so many years and the maintenance that goes along with it. Batteries are $100 these days!

I'll be back to let the forum know how I made out.