Power Winch
 

I have not said much on the electric winch issue as I have always had problems with them and have friends that have not had the best of luck with them either, and they are$$$.

But this year I took a chance as with my health and Kennys bad knee we really needed one or no fishing!
After careful consideration I looked at and asked here what the best winches were? All costing much more money then I have at this point seeing I have not worked in 17 months. So with 0 income I had to go cheap!!

I took a chance and bought a 3000# ATV winch from Harbor Freight for $139 + for extra $30 a 2 year replacement warranty. I have to say after a sumer of use this thing is AWESOME!! Not only is it water proof but it is so fast that it puts them high price marine winches to shame!! For a extra costa of $25 you can also get a wireless remote to carry on you!! But we find the 12' wired one is plenty good enough for us. It did take some rigging up to make work on the trailer as they wanted you to have 2 different switches on it with a solenoid in the wiring. But i used just one switch and a piece of 4" PVC for a housing to add all the wiring crap in, then sealed the ends with caps and good to go!! I will get a few pictures tomorrow and post them.
The cable never sees the water as it is powered out and in by the remote so as your walking out you just feed the cable out, then retrieve it when ready.
When I gt home I house the thing down with a garden hose and spray the cable with WD/

Here is a link.

winch:
http://www.harborfreight.com/3000-lb...ake-68145.html

wireless remote

http://www.harborfreight.com/wireles...rol-69229.html

good stuff MJ!

I assume one would have to run wires from the battery as there would not be a good local spot to grab 12volts that could handle that current...

I carry a battery in a plastic box in the back of my truck. Kind of a pain taking it in and out and keeping it on the charger when not in use but not a big deal. Would be nice to have the vehicle prewired but being that I tow with either one of two vehicles I'd have to get them both wired.

The box is also a good place to keep the winch handle for back up in case the something happens to the winch (ask the guys who were in Charleston how I know)

Mj glad it worked! But for $10 more you can get a Smittybilt. Actually they are on sale for $100 at 4wheeldriveparts. I was thinking about using an atv winch but it would be gone as fast as i got out of sight.

After tightening, I always weld the nuts to the bolts on my winches.. not for strength but for security. It's easy enough to burn the bolts off should I ever need to remove the winch, but I feel it makes a good deterrent to someone with an adjustable wrench and an evil intention.

Mj... Glad that winch worked out for you. Truthfully I never thought about using an ATV winch for my trailer, but I know that those Badlands winches are pretty good. My brother has one on his Jeep and it's pulled us out of several tight places when we are playing in the woods. You know I've been a proponent of electric winches for a long time here on the forums... They are safer, easier and faster than manual winches. Glad you saw the light.. :beer:


As for connecting the trailer winch to the tow vehicle electric supply it's really not that hard. In both my Jeep and my Land Rover I ran a heavy (8 gauge I think) wire directly from the battery positive connector down, under my vehicle along the frame to a rear fender well... (Most vehicles have small holes drilled in them for vents, so I simply ran the wire up thru them into the rear compartment. Run a second wire to the vehicle's frame for ground. Attach a 50amp (not the 350 amp forklift connector) Anderson connector http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-AMP-Ander...item19d5d1b8da to the wires and a matching connector to the trailer winch wires and you're good to go. It's quick to simply lift the tailgate and plug the connectors together (it's impossible to plug them in backwards) to power up the winch. The whole thing takes less than 30 seconds.

It works for me!!

I have addressed all by making all on the trailer, been this way for years for me, when I had the old winch also. Easy and no wiring issues.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...01_G.sized.jpg

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...02_G.sized.jpg

You can see here were I plug in the remote

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...03_G.sized.jpg

Battery and all stay on trailer all the time, I just plug in a float charger when boat sits in the yard.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...04_G.sized.jpg

One issue was that the cable was always rubbing the metal, so I took the top roller off the winch and drilled and placed it on the trailer so now the cable just rolls there instead.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...06_G.sized.jpg

They look good but I have a local Harbor freight store right here, and the warrantee I got is a no ?? asked replacement for 2 years, just walk in and out with new if anything goes wrong!

Another way for power that I use to do is carry one of them car battery jump starters, just plug in to the lighter and had power. But to get a good one I needed more money and that is in short supply here so I did a older Deep Cycle battery I had.
That battery pack was also a dream for my live well all day or to run my electric reels all day cod fishing!!
I am going to have to get a new one when $$ is better! But you need to get a good one as I have a cheap one that would not even jump start my truck.

MJ, that is a great set-up on your trailer.. really nice job. I love the PVC shield for the electrical wiring. My biggist concern would be someone taking my battery while I was out on the boat... but really, that's the first time I've seen an ATV winch used that way and it looks awesome!!!:clap:

Thanks Destroyer!
The battery has been there for a few years now, when I had the old winch, and now the new, and have never worried about it, and no one has ever messed with it, I guess I have been lucky!

The PVC is just two caps glued on with holes drilled for the battery cables, on top cap it is screwed on, so I can remove it if I need to fix something, and the holes for cables are siliconed to keep water out. The bottom cap is glued on and no silicone so if water was to get in, it could drain out.

Works for me.

Yeah...seems I do recall a little extra huffin' & puffin' at he ramp that day...but turned out all good...still a great trip!!...:sun: