slightly o/t; car trailer winches
 

Over the weekend I picked up a good used 20' car trailer. I always thought a winch would be a good thing to have. Just wondering if anyone here has any experience on what a good winch size, brand, type, etc., would be? Anything in particular one should stay away from? Any words of wisdom passed along would be appreciated.

I just bought a warn 3700 pound Warn winch at lowes on clearance. I was a little leary to buy this because of the low weight pulling power rating but I gave it a shot. The winch works great!!! I have never had a problem pulling a truck onto my trailer.

You definately want power in/ power out so the winch will work in reverse too. My previous winch only had power in and you had to come a long the car off because it just free spools in reverse. Stay away from that, its dangerous and very time consuming.

If you get something around 4,000 pounds, power in/ out and a cable length of 40 or 50 feet I think you will be pleasantly suprised.

I use a winch to get my green truck on/off my enclosed car hauler, cause you can't open the door..
initially I used a small 3500lb winch.. with wireless remote control, not wired.
I wore out 3 of these in a year..

then I found a 10,000lb, 3/8in 100 ft cable, wireless.

I got it from Ebay, $350 I think like this one.

NEW 10000 LB 10000LB WIRELESS WATERPROOF RECOVERY WINCH | eBay

and it works great..

Sam

I have a 4000 lb single pull marine type power winch brand that I use on my trailer. If needed, I use it with the block which doubles the pulling power I've had it for many years. It was not my first choice but it was something I had. It is not power out but so far I've not really needed power out although it would have been nice a few time. I've loaded cars, Jeeps, tractors, trucks, ATVs, loaded personal water craft trailers, truck bodies, and even dragged parts onto the trailer.
I've overloaded (abused) it and had to make an adjustment but all in all it has served me well. It would not be my first choice if I were going to buy something.
I have an 8,000 lb Warn that I took off my Jeep that has worked flawlessly.
Keep in mind when sizing the winch that rolling power is a whole lot less than dead weight. Also be mindful that pulling a vehicle with flat tires is just about like pulling dead weight.:-blah

I like my Ramsey REP8000. I've had it now for about 10 years. I've also had a Warn 8000 pound winch befor I got this one... weve mounted a few on trailers and have done it a few ways, I like to use a receiver type so the winch isn't always mounted on the trailer. It can be removed and locked up. The plug-in allows you to use it to recharge the battery on the trailer when your not hooked up to a tow rig.

I also use a platform and receiver hitch, mounted to the trailer floor.
I have an Atwood power trailer jack, and keep the battery charged with a small 10w solar panel and controller. The battery drives the jack and the winch.. the power cables on the winch use connectors so I can move it to the truck if need be and use its power instead..

found the jack on craigslist, for $100.. best deal ever

Sam

[QUOTE=sdetweil;11831191]I use a winch to get my green truck on/off my enclosed car hauler, cause you can't open the door..
initially I used a small 3500lb winch.. with wireless remote control, not wired.
I wore out 3 of these in a year..

Hey Sam,
If you drove it, you wouldn't need a winch! LOL

Got a 7000# Mile Marker winch. I'm sure it's a china brand of some sort. However, it's been taking the abuse we throw at it. All the garbage dad and i have drug up the trailer since it was installed in 2004 and it still keeps on going. So far it has pulled at it's heaviest a dent-side SCab with 460 and half flat tires. As long as the battery is fresh, it seems to move right along. :-X22 It's what we used to load up my '56 when it was dead weight and having an addidional 460/C6 in the bed if it aswell..:D

Really funny!!

Sam

Buy the biggest winch you can! speaking of winches, is it a winch or a wench? As you can see i call them winches; not wenches..... isnt the wench someone you bring along (only if your from south dakota). to operate the winch while you steer! :). no offense to anyonyone from SD. im speaking for myself i guess. I just see a lot of ads where people call them wenches.... just my pet peave i guess.....

anyway, i found a killer deal on an older Warn 8000 ? it does not free spool but powers in and out just fine after i replaced a couple of the solenoids. i have pulled F6s and a 56 c600 with 2 flat tires up on my trailer with it. i think it needs another solenoid replaced after that one though. :)
i had my 6 yr old running the controller while loading a 52 f6 without a flatbed and it was still.in gear and he had it half way up the trailer before he finally stopped so i could put it in neutral..
also can use some snatch blocks to double your pull if need be.

winches are great, i pulled a n olds engine a couple hundred feet from and old shed slifing it on a large sheet of plywood zigzaging between trees till it was close enoigh to load


edit: I can spell, i just have been doing without my home computer since december so im typing on my dumb phone. although ive heard them.called smart phones im not so sure...

I'm with ya there. Nothing will get me started like some moron telling us he has a "worn wench" for sale. Sounds more like a personal problem...:-X04

Thanks for the comments, guys! I was looking around the area craigslist ads yesterday and found a few old Warn's and a Ramsey or two. I know those are good quality units, but the money people are asking for for some of those that look pretty used up is kind of sticker shock territory. I saw on the etrailers website they have a Superwinch brand that was a 5K winch for about $400, and there was a 4x4 outfit that had a similar sized Smittybuilt for $300. Or like I said, I can double that and get someone's old, used name brand winch and hope it still has some life left. For some reason, though, I seem to recall reading somewhere that one or both of those brands weren't worth taking home. (But I could be mistaken) I figured there's got to be someone here with some knowledge on the subject, so keep the comments coming. :)

Cant go wrong with one of these, batteries not included. :)
KSL.com Mobile

here is a wench!

KSL.com Mobile


And yet another Wench!!!

KSL.com Mobile
although im sure you get what you pay for with that one.


the other reason i think ive got at least another bad solenoid now is that the winch has to ne hooked up to he truck battery and engine running to pull anything.

The first one looks like something my Dad would've used. We had a push reel lawnmower for years when I was a kid, until my Grandpa took pity on us and gave us his hand-me-down gas mower when he bought a new one.

I agree with others that stated to get the biggest size winch you can get. About two years after buying my trailer I got tired of loading vehicles on it with a come along and pushing.

With the help of my wife (she bought everything), we purchased an aluminum Delta box from JC Whitney, an Optima deep cycle/marine (blue top) battery from Costco, and an 8000 lbs winch with wired remote from Harbor Freight. I don't remember if the channel winch mount came with my winch or if I purchased it separately, but it's a good base to have for mounting. At that time, the whole set up cost about $800 or $850.

I wanted a box in order to protect the battery and the winch from the outside elements. I bought the largest box in order to have room for the winch, battery and also to have plenty of storage for my tie-downs, wood blocks, emergency triangles, small tools, safety cones, etc. Since I tow with two different vehicles, I wanted the trailer to be outfitted with an onboard battery so I wouldn't have to mess with different cables and having to wire both vehicles. Instead, I just have matching 7-pin connectors on the trailer and the two vehicles.

I built a base out of rectangular steel tubing to raise the box and level it with the deck. I also put a layer of 1/4" steel on top of the structure and bolted the box and winch through the metal base. The base is butted up directly against the trailer to prevent any cracking of the trailer tongue and to add support/rigidity. Granted this adds a bit more weight on the tongue, but I center my loads to compensate for the slight increase in the tongue weight.

I've had this set up for at least seven years now and have towed about a dozen parts trucks, as well as my own and my friends's vehicles more than a handful times. The battery is hooked up to the 7-pin connector and is charged when I tow the trailer. I have never kept a battery charger on the battery. The winch has also performed well throughout the years. I knew that the quality of a HF winch isn't as good as Warn or another name brand, but I took my chances, and am pleased that I did. HF now has a 12k lbs winch and I'm thinking about replacing mine just for the heck of it. They no longer sell the 8k winch that I have, but do have a 6k, 9k and 12k models. Just to let you know, my current 8k lbs winch had no problem pulling a 52 F6 with a 16' flatbed on the back onto my trailer. Towing it with my trailer and tow vehicle was another story.

BTW, the box is also a great stopping tool in case you forget to tie down the vehicle and start moving. Don't ask me how I know, but thankfully the box was able to stop my Airflow. The aluminum structure of the storage box is also easy to straighten. :)

Delta aluminum trailer tongue box - Delta Aluminum Trailer Tongue Boxes - JCWhitney

Optima blue top battery - Amazon.com: Optima 8006-006-FFP BlueTop Group 34 Marine Battery: Automotive

HF winches - Winch - Harbor Freight Tools



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I've got a 20 foot car trailer. I've got a 12,000 pound Mile Marker winch. It's not a Warn or Ramsey but it works.

I've loaded a lot of vehicles with it. And many of them with flat tires or locked up brakes. And not all small vehicles either. Lot's of 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. Even a couple heavier grain trucks.:D I've been using and abusing it for well over 6 years now. Sure beats hand winching them on with a come-a-long!! That's the way I loaded them for a few years before I bought the electric winch.:-roll