Winch system for a trailer or truck?

[Wet1]

Okay, this is kind of a crummy picture, I ran out back and snapped one on the trailer with my cellphone.
the winch mounts to a plate that you buy seperate and can be powered by its own battery that I keep in the trailer or you can buy leads that you attach to the underside of your truck to the vehicles main battery.
The winch has two chains from the mounting plate that allows it to hook on to where ever you need. I can pull wood up over the sides with a ramp, up the back, and have even used the winch on the front of my truck to get me out when stuck. Just plop the battery on the hood of the truck, hook the chains to the bumper and cable around a nearby tree. Works great.
I also have the optional 30 remote, allowing me to walk the cable out to the log with the remote in hand, attach to a log, and pull the wood alongside the trailer. Buck and throw the wood into the trailer. No more hauling pieces to the truck.
Cost is about 400 bucks for the winch, 50 bucks for the plate, and 30 bucks for the optional 30ft remote. The winch comes with a short 15ft remote if you dont want to shell out the bucks.

Sounds like a nice and flexible setup. I can't see the pic as I'm at work (the firewall must think you're sending #### ), but I'll check it out tonight when I get home.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Backwood]

Neat setup, why not put a deck on it?

dont really want the extra weight. For what I am using it for I dont really need it either. Right now I only have my 1/2ton truck, I am debating on buying a dually and taking the bed off and doing it the same way.

 

[Backwood]

Neat setup, why not put a deck on it?

Also a deck wouldnt give me axcess to the hooks I have welded on to hook chain to. I have them at different places. as the log rolls up the ramp the chain gets wider on log and keeps it stable.

 

[Agnes]

Thanks for the feedback

Thanks everyone for the pics and suggestions.

I now have a better understanding of what type of winches there are and how I will want to mount it. I like the portable plate option this offers tremendous flexibility.

Ya gotta love this site for the collective wisdom that is available. :rockn:

 

[danrclem]

The one thing that I've read is to not buy a winch with a permanent magnet. They're cheaper but they're not as good. They say that over time they'll weaken and your winch won't have as much power.

 

[stihl sawing]

Ive got warns on my trucks, The one on the trailer is a mile marker and it is no where near as good as the warns. It was half of the price though. The first time i used it the planetary gears self desructed. The second time i used it the spool messed up. Now mile marker did fix it both times under warrenty, So their warrenty is a good one. It has not messed up since then. It is very slow though. Now the warns have been flawless. One is about 25 years old and the other is 8 years old and both of them have been used hard. Both of them have twice the line speed of the mile marker.

 

[danrclem]

Ive got warns on my trucks, The one on the trailer is a mile marker and it is no where near as good as the warns. It was half of the price though. The first time i used it the planetary gears self desructed. The second time i used it the spool messed up. Now mile marker did fix it both times under warrenty, So their warrenty is a good one. It has not messed up since then. It is very slow though. Now the warns have been flawless. One is about 25 years old and the other is 8 years old and both of them have been used hard. Both of them have twice the line speed of the mile marker.

I've done a little reading on winches but it's been awhile. I think the Mile Marker is one that has the permanent magnet.

I plan on buying a Warn. It might cost more but I think in the long run it'll be the best buy. I could have bought a slightly used Harbor Freight 10,000 lb. winch for a decent price but I passed.

 

[stihl sawing]

I've done a little reading on winches but it's been awhile. I think the Mile Marker is one that has the permanent magnet.

I plan on buying a Warn. It might cost more but I think in the long run it'll be the best buy. I could have bought a slightly used Harbor Freight 10,000 lb. winch for a decent price but I passed.

Yup, I totally agree.

 

[Backwood]

I like the portable plate option this offers tremendous flexibility.

:rockn:

they also make a portable mount that slides into a reciever hitch. You could use hitch on truck, and, or weld some 2" tubing and have a place to mount it.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

The one thing that I've read is to not buy a winch with a permanent magnet. They're cheaper but they're not as good. They say that over time they'll weaken and your winch won't have as much power.

I dont know about weakening over time. Their power will drop off considerably if they ever overheat enough to crack one of the magnets.

The battery isolator is an excellent idea.

 

[Wet1]

dont really want the extra weight. For what I am using it for I dont really need it either. Right now I only have my 1/2ton truck, I am debating on buying a dually and taking the bed off and doing it the same way.

Makes sense. Out of curiosity, why not buck the logs before putting them on the trailer or in the truck, are you milling them?

 

[Wet1]

Okay, this is kind of a crummy picture, I ran out back and snapped one on the trailer with my cellphone.
the winch mounts to a plate that you buy seperate and can be powered by its own battery that I keep in the trailer or you can buy leads that you attach to the underside of your truck to the vehicles main battery.
The winch has two chains from the mounting plate that allows it to hook on to where ever you need. I can pull wood up over the sides with a ramp, up the back, and have even used the winch on the front of my truck to get me out when stuck. Just plop the battery on the hood of the truck, hook the chains to the bumper and cable around a nearby tree. Works great.
I also have the optional 30 remote, allowing me to walk the cable out to the log with the remote in hand, attach to a log, and pull the wood alongside the trailer. Buck and throw the wood into the trailer. No more hauling pieces to the truck.
Cost is about 400 bucks for the winch, 50 bucks for the plate, and 30 bucks for the optional 30ft remote. The winch comes with a short 15ft remote if you dont want to shell out the bucks.

Okay, you guys talked me into buying a winch. I picked up a used 5,000 lb. Superwinch for $100 off a guy on CL, I figure for the money it's probably a nice tool to have kicking around. I know it's junk compared to a Warn, but I wasn't about to pay Warn money for a winch I don't know if I'm going to use very much.

Since my trailer has a battery in it for the hydraulics, I was going to mount the winch on the trailer and use that battery. After looking at my trailer picture (I'm not at home to physically look at the trailer), I'm not really sure permanently mounting the winch on the trailer is such a good idea. I don't see a good way of mounting it so it's not in the way or interfering with the dump action, plus I don't think I want to be limited with having it mounted in one location. There's a pic of my trailer below so you can see what I mean.

I'm starting to think making up a plate and chain setup like avalancher has might offer me the most flexibility and utility. Question, how thick is that Warn bracket, 1/4"? is the "L" where the chains attach supported (I can't tell by looking at the picture)?

I'm not real crazy about buying another battery for using the winch, so I might setup my trailer battery so it can be quickly disconnected and toted for powering the winch. Since I just bought the trailer and I haven't even looked yet, do these trailers usually have a built in battery charger that charges the batteries from the factory trailer harness on the truck? I seem to recall seeing a small battery by the main battery which powers the electric brakes in the event of the emergency break away switch is activated. I'm sure that probably has some type of small charger on it for safety reasons, but I don't know about the main battery. Do you guys know off hand?

 

[stihl sawing]

Nothing wrong with a superwinch, It will do what you want and sounds like ya got a good deal.

 

[Wet1]

Nothing wrong with a superwinch, It will do what you want and sounds like ya got a good deal.

It's not a Warn, but I hope you're right that it will get the job done. If it turns out that I actually use it a lot for felling or dragging, I might buy a better winch. But for now, I hope it's a good starter winch.

 

[Backwood]

Makes sense. Out of curiosity, why not buck the logs before putting them on the trailer or in the truck, are you milling them?

yep milling most of them.

That is a great deal on the winch. Keep in mind that you dont need to run an electric winch for more than a few minutes at a time with out giving it a few minutes cooling off time. It will get hot, seems like the directions with mine said if it is to hot to hold your hand on it( which only takes a few mins ) , it needs to cool off. A hydraulic winch could run all day long without taking a break.

 

[Brushwacker]

I am sure there is jobs the winch will be the thing to use, but for sake of time in the long run if you have a decent sized chainsaw I'd slice the firewood with the saw down to a size I could handle,then you will have less and easiar splitting when you get it home.

 

[jerry wayne]

Battery

Why dont you just use the marine battery thats in your dunp trailer too hook up that winch....its a deep cycle marine ,and should do ya fine

 

[jerry wayne]

Okay, you guys talked me into buying a winch. I picked up a used 5,000 lb. Superwinch for $100 off a guy on CL, I figure for the money it's probably a nice tool to have kicking around. I know it's junk compared to a Warn, but I wasn't about to pay Warn money for a winch I don't know if I'm going to use very much.

Since my trailer has a battery in it for the hydraulics, I was going to mount the winch on the trailer and use that battery. After looking at my trailer picture (I'm not at home to physically look at the trailer), I'm not really sure permanently mounting the winch on the trailer is such a good idea. I don't see a good way of mounting it so it's not in the way or interfering with the dump action, plus I don't think I want to be limited with having it mounted in one location. There's a pic of my trailer below so you can see what I mean.

I'm starting to think making up a plate and chain setup like avalancher has might offer me the most flexibility and utility. Question, how thick is that Warn bracket, 1/4"? is the "L" where the chains attach supported (I can't tell by looking at the picture)?

I'm not real crazy about buying another battery for using the winch, so I might setup my trailer battery so it can be quickly disconnected and toted for powering the winch. Since I just bought the trailer and I haven't even looked yet, do these trailers usually have a built in battery charger that charges the batteries from the factory trailer harness on the truck? I seem to recall seeing a small battery by the main battery which powers the electric brakes in the event of the emergency break away switch is activated. I'm sure that probably has some type of small charger on it for safety reasons, but I don't know about the main battery. Do you guys know off hand?

Ive had my trailer for over a year,and its suppose to charge off the hookup,but i dont believe it for a minute.Have to charge @ 110vac too get a real charge offa mine......dont believe it does any noticable charging.IMOA

 

[ziggy2b]

hande cart

how about a hand cart with 2 2x6's nailed together for a ramp?? Easy to move large rounds...

 

[046]

winches that mount on 2in receiver hitches are pretty versatile.
really like being able to store winch inside when not in use.

here's a pic of my QM 8000 Ramsey w/deep cell Optima

they also make a portable mount that slides into a reciever hitch. You could use hitch on truck, and, or weld some 2" tubing and have a place to mount it.