here is the way i have mine set up. the battery has only been charged twice in the past year, and it has pulled at least 8 cars and trucks up on the trailer. i have a solar panel to mount on the trailer, i just never seem to get around to doing it when the weather is nice. i usually think about putting it on as i am hooking up to go fetch something.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...port/winch.jpg

and no, it is not hooked up to the crown vic, it just happens to look that way.

 

Thanks for the pic. So, is heavy gauge wire between the two batteries a necesity?

 

I don't know if you need a deep cycle or not, though. Deep Cycle batteries are designed to provide a steady flow of current for a long period of time. That also means that to charge one back up, you need to provide a steady flow for a long time. Regular Automotive batteries can put out high amperage for relatively shorter bursts.

I'd put the battery in a box and anchor it down in there. Then I'd run heavy gauge wire to the winch. I'd put a service disconnect on the positive side. As to battery type, apparently most the folks are using regular automotive batteries. That seems to be enough to do the trick.

I think you could still use the battery charge circuit to charge up the battery while you're going down the road. I don't think it's a good idea to try and have that circuit on while you're running the winch, however. I'm concerned it might overload the circuit. When the winch is not drawing current, though, I doubt that whatever battery you put on there will be able to suck up 20 amps on charge unless it's very dead. That's just a shot from the hip, though. Ford designs that circuit for batteries in campers, I imagine...

Best of luck with your project.

 

Regarding the heavy gauge wire:

You can probably find out how much amperage the winch draws in the specifications. They might just give you a minimum wire gauge (AWG) spec right off the bat in the installation section. I'd go at least one size up from the minimum.

I'd be inclined to think that you're going to be somewhere between 6 AWG and 2 AWG for that unit. That's about the same as what a starter motor is.

 

For the short run from the battery(on trailer) to the winch 2 awg would probably suffice, but I'd run heavier than that. The trailer charge circuit will charge even a dead battery as long as it hasn't shorted more than one cell out. The internal resistance of the battery plus the resistance of the wire itself will keep them from drawing more than about 10 amps. I actually ran a larger 8 awg wire to charge the trailer batteries faster, but I also have that routed through a battery isolator with a 30A fuse. So far I have never had to replace the fuse. So even at that, it doesn't draw more than 30 to charge the batteries.

As stated before. Pin 4 charge circuit, and pin 7 normally connects to reverse lights.

 

i am using a new sears diehard side terminal battery that came out of a pontiac grand am with a blown trans i scrapped for a neighbor. power to the winch control box is with a battery cable, and the ground is the trailer frame itself.
the battery is currently held in place with a ratchet strap, because i have not extended the tongue to mount the gang box on yet. once that is done, the battery is going into a boat battery holder, then into the gang box, with a solar cell on the lid to keep it topped off.

 

Good call. I would have thought a deep cycle battery would be better, but Warn said
I was suprised...

 

They want 650 CCA? That's pretty steep.

Here's a CCA chart from Interstate Batteries to help with specification:
http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content...oduct_auto.asp

 

The following is key to insuring your winch will work correctly and deliver the expected service life and protect it and the tow vehicle electrical system. Best solution seems to be the use of a trailer mtg battery with current capacity recommended by the winch mfgr paperwork.

ehow states "Install a circuit breaker between the battery and the winch. It is important to fit the correct circuit breaker size so that the winch is not subjected to either premature cut-out from too little power, or the truck is not damaged by too great a draw. The rating of the breaker should not be greater than the amperage rating of the wire. Industry standard for most types of winches is 30 amp on 10-gauge run of wire of less than 20 feet."

The heavy current draw of the winch over a long cable run (from truck battery to trailer), resulting voltage drop yeals a much lower operating voltage at the winch, potentially resulting in winch over heating from low speed operation and heavy loads.

Read more: How to Wire a Trailer Winch | eHow.com How to Wire a Trailer Winch | eHow.com

Hope this isn't too technical, also a down side with a battery on the trailer is keeping it charged up. Some pros tell me that you will most likely need to use a seperate charger between trailer usage / trips, unless trip run time is in the range of 4 - 6 hrs driving / pulling.