winch mounting on trailers

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DUSTERDOWNS

DUSTERDOWNS

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I bought a winch to mount on my car trailer not long ago and just wanted to get some feed back on how some others have mounted theirs. I have a 18 ft. flat bed with a 3 ft. dove tail. I was thinking of mounting to the yoke in front of the bed or maybe on the very front of the bed. I want to keep as much of the bed free of anything ( more room for the car). So help me out with some ideas or some pic's. Thanks for some help. Steve
 
I used a 3/16" steel plate mounted under the decking on my trailer.
Welded nuts to the plate so the winch bolts down thru the deck into the plate.

I put a couple of screws up thru the bottom attaching it to the trailer, so the winch is removable without having to crawl under the trailer.

I have a tool box on the tongue so it was my only option.
 
Steve,

This is how I did mine. Had an old trailer hitch receiver, chopped it off and used it just like it was designed except vertically.

winchmount001.jpg


winchmount002.jpg


Only thing I would have done different would have been to put the crossbar to the top side of the C channel instead of the bottom.
 
i bought a hitch on my local craigslist for $20 and bolted it down where crackedback has his but horizontally. bought a winch plate for $40, also local craigslist, that slides right into the receiver because i keep the winch in my garage out of the weather. i have 20' jumper cables i run from my battery so i never have to worry about battery maintenance. i have a buddy that has a solar panel connected to his trailer battery, it works great.
 
Mounted with a trailer hitch so that it can be removed or used in the hitch on my truck.
 

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crackedback said:
Steve,

This is how I did mine. Had an old trailer hitch receiver, chopped it off and used it just like it was designed except vertically.

winchmount001.jpg


winchmount002.jpg


Only thing I would have done different would have been to put the crossbar to the top side of the C channel instead of the bottom.
Click to expand...
Rob has mentioned this in the past, going to borrow it when I get around to mounting mine.....
 
If you can find some scrap

Get 2.5" x .188 square and 2" x .188, so it telescopes and use that. A piece of 3/16" plate large enough for a winch mount and you're good.

If you wanted to get some short sections, this place is usually pretty good.

http://www.speedymetals.com/c-8251-square-tube.aspx?pagenum=2


Something else I did on mine. The winch tube is crossdrilled. I can turn the winch 90* to the trailer in cases where I can't easily get to the front of a car. I can pull perpendicular and drag it out to a better place lots of times.
 
Thing nice about a hitch receiver winch mount is that you can plug it into............your hitch receiver!!!
 
With mine you'd have to make a second piece to orient it properly. I've never got around to doing that...

I like that I can take the winch off, put it in a tub/container and carry it in the truck bed. Less of a chance of it "walking off". :)
 
Speedy metals will ship in a USPS flat rate boxes. You have to ask them. I use e-mail and the e-mail quote on material is always just a smidge lower than the site. Good folks.

You could buy the pieces to make what I did for around $10.

I got ~50# of stuff from them in a large flat rate for about $19.
 
On my trailer we added a section of hitch receiver to the tongue. Its welded vertically to the center tongue brace.

A stinger with a plate welded to it mounts the winch. This makes it possible to remove the winch when not in use by simply pulling the pin and lifting it out of the receiver.

Also note at the rear of the trailer I mounted running lights on posts to be able to see where the trailer is at night when backing. A side benefit was a way to mount the license plate and create a step that also protects the taillights.
 

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I have the same winch mounting plate as moparclown, but the receiver tube is welded to the front of the trailer since I have a toolbox on the tongue. I then ran a 0 gauge wire from my battery on the truck to a forklift plug mounted under my receiver hitch. The leads off the winch also have the forklift plug on them so I plug it directly in my truck so I never run out of power. Definitely the best investment I ever made besides the trailer.
 
If I went with the plate mounted like this......

View attachment trailer plate.jpg


pretty sure officer Jackwagon in Reardan would ticket me for it. After wrecking several plates on the rocks I mounted the plate on a hinge.....
 
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