the best trailer winch to buy

hi there

well I got my own trailer last summer and have used it lots already. I am putting stabilizers on it now as when I load my grandas titan engine it pretneer picks up the back of my pickup well any way I was just wondering what you guys have had the best luck with as far as a winch to pull your iron on with the brand and capacity I have a 14,000 capcity trailer (well my little ford 150 might need steroids to pull the max) any sugestions also a supplier

thanks take care

Aaron

[Keith Smigle]

Aaron~

One thing to keep in mind is a rolling pull is alot less than a dead lift. If a winch is rated at say 3500 Lbs the rolling capacity, meaning pulling some thing on wheels, is alot greater. So you don't necessarily need a winch that will pull a house off it's foundation. Winches are not cheap unless you get a good deal on a used winch. I bought a Warn winch and has operated good for me. When my wife asked what is in the box? I told her a winch. She said I could keep it as long as the winch wasn't better looking than her.

~Keith in Delaware, oHIo

I've got a big WARN winch w/ remote operating control. Remember you can multiply pulling capacity by using a snatch block, just don't exceed the tensile strength of your cable. I pulled my Dad's 6hp Z on skids up a hill, round a corner and up the ramps into my F-150 when retrieving it from the old saw house. The winch didn't even strain.

Cheers! NICK

ya I had a guy at the hardware store said he divorced his a few years ago....... well i think I could see why when I saw him LOLOLOLO

To my understanding Warn is top notch but not cheep. I have A Super winch with A remote control and have been very pleased with it. Someone recently told me that now one of the winch mfg. have now come out with A wireless remote. I would sure check into that before I bought one. If that is true it sure would make life easyer.

I have a Ramsey winch on the front of my T-100 Toyota truck. I use it to lift the front end off the ground to change brakes, etc.. It's a 9,000 lb cap.. When you pick one out, check out the amps that are required to pull the load, mine pulls 700 amps at full load, so the battery gets a good work out!

I just bought the 15.5 ti Warn... What does Self recovery mean ???? I'm still waiting for UPS to deliver ...

[Paul Spence]

I have a WARN 4800# er mounted on the front "A" frame of my trailer so its off the deck. Only problem I ever had was winding a chain up in it , and the short remote . Fixed the bent winch bar with a roller arrangement and added another 10 feet to the controller lead so I can operate it safely from the back of the trailer, while loading by myself. Bought it from an ad in the newspaper years ago cheap. It was used twice to winch a custom chevy on a trailer and then just sat in this guy's garage before I got it. It has power in/out and the free wheeling capacity to drag the cable out quickly. It works for me. Paul .

Self recovery is where you use the winch to pull yourself out of the mud or ditch instead of calling a tow truck. You would normally mount it on the front bumper for that type of use.

Aaron give Harbor freight a try they have just about any size.




http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyA...jsp?dct=harbor

A few of the engine guys around here including myself have the Superwinch 4500. Iam very satisfied with it. As mentioned, the remote cord is quite short. There is long cable but a 10' remote cord. The remedy is to cut the cord in two and add a male grounded plug on one end and a female on the other end and then you can add any length grounded extension cord in between. I have used a 50' cord in the middle when pulling engines around the yard across the grass. I normally have a 12' cord on it which is just right for loading an engine on the traier. Works for me.

HI TO ALL I JUST BOUGHT AT A AUCTION A 30 FT EXT CORD REWIND FOR SHOP USE GOING TO MOUNT IT UNDER MY WINCH THEN ALL I NEED IS A 12IN CONTROL WIRE THAT ILL KEEP IN THE CAB AND JUST PLUG IT IN AS NEEDED JUST MY IDEA SONNY L

Hey Aaron

What I would recommend is a good 6000-8000 lb. winch. Warn, Ramsey and a few others are all good winches.

The reason for that rating, you can mount it on the trailer as you would a trailer ball receiver. Then if you want, you can remove it and mount it on the back or the front of your truck. Just pull a pin and relocate. Of course you will have to run heavy wire on your truck or what ever for power.

This makes having a winch very versatile.

Just a thought. I find it very handy.

Jim

I would really take a look at the bumper you are going to put a winch on. My dad's bumper came loose on his F-250, when we looked at it the bumper was held on with only four small bolts!

Hello Jeremy

You never mount a winch directly to a bumper. You will pull the bumper off of the rig before you move anything of real weight.

Most all winches are mounted to a bracket specialy made for the winch and then bolted to or welded to the frame of the truck. The bumper is mounted around the winch.

In your case, I would go back and see the guy that mounted it.

Jim

I like the hitch mount idea... Does U-Haul sell the Cat 3 hitch for the front of pickup trucks ???... I see people use the front hitch at the shore to move boats around... Or do you use the same hitch that goes in the rear ???

Thanks. Kevin

Kevin

I don't know what is available on the market. When we need something, we make it. 99% of the time. No guess work on the fit.

You might check with U-Haul and see what they have. Reese Hitch is another one to check.

Jim