I am getting a 18 foot car trailer and I would like to see what other people have done to add a winch to their trailers. I am using a 1800 lb pull hand crank with wire rope. Right now my idea is about as simple as welding on a triangular brace to the front of the trailer and mounting the winch on the top leg of the triangle.

 

Sorry, no pics, but I did something similar for an electric winch - welded a wide piece of angle iron to the front, slightly offset - so now there's a platform forward of the deck to mount the winch. Braced one end of the angle with a triangle piece welded in. Then welded a tow hook slightly offset to the other side of the middle - if you run a pulley at the point you want to pull and bring the cable through that and back to the tow hook, you'll get a straight pull at double the power.

 

That's a good idea. Thanks!