Winches

DavidM

New member
I normally drive the car on and off the trailer and the last couple race weekends I wasn't sure the car was going to run to get it back on (fuel line broke and starter ground cable broke - both fixed enough to drive the car on). I've had a winch on the list of things to get for the trailer and started looking seriously at them over the past couple days. Got a couple questions that maybe somebody can answer.

1) Do I need a winch rated at the car's weight or can I get one rated lower? The car weighs 2600 lbs, but it's on wheels so I'm wondering if the winch actually needs to be rated 2600 lbs or higher. I sure as hell know I'm not exerting 2600 lbs of force when I push it.

2) How to mount it? I was just going to mount it on the floor, but it seems like the cable will rub on the floor because the car is going to be below the trailer floor on the ground outside. Does that matter? I was thinking of bolting the back of the winch into/through one of the trailer floor rails and using a piece of steel plate for the front holes. Will that be enough? Should I have the steel plate welded to the trailer floor rail?

This site

http://www.4wheelonline.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryId=420

seems to have pretty good prices and I was looking at picking one up. Anybody have any experience with the Mile Marker brand?

Thanks.

David
 
I don't know that much about winches, but I do know this about getting cars on the trailer:

The hardest part the winch has is to get the tires up over a bump, this can stymie an undersized winch. I would poke around w/ the guys who go 4-wheeling, they will know what size winch can handle what size rig.

Bigger the drum the less problems you'll have w/ cable getting torn up. The stronger (and more durable) the cable, the larger the minimum bend radius. etc. etc.

I have a come-along. I use it for plenty of other things besides winching cars on the trailer. So far Murphy's law has held true - if I bring the come-along w/ me to the track, the car drives on under its own power.

Matt
 
Dave: I am the cheapest guy on the block. I bought a winch from Harbor Freight for $40. I have an open trailer, so I didn't do a permanent installation. I anchor the mounting plate to an eyebolt on the trailer frame with a couple of 's' hooks with a 4x4 brace to hold it up. I put a small block of wood over the end of the trailer to keep the cable from rubbing on the rear frame. The winch is geared really low so the speed is real slow, but that's good since if gives us plenty of time to adjust the alignment of the car. It may be slow, but it beats pushing it up, or driving it up and burning the clutch, and all the other things that could go wrong.

The winch I use is rated at 2000 lb. which is lift. Car is 2400 lb and the winch hardly slows down when the front wheels are comming up the ramp.

Bottom line, winch is good. Go for it. Love mine. I agree with Matt, that a large drum would be better than a small one.

Enjoy!
 
Another data point. I got a Warn ATV winch, and mounted it to a crossmember in my enclosed trailer, 90 degrees to longitudinal. That way it's off to the side under a cabinet and out of the way. In the kick space of the center cabinet, I mounted a block (pulley) to the trailers longitudinal beam, and the cable runs back from there. At the back of the trailer on the floor where the cable drags, just screw a smooth plate with a curved waterfall edge for the cable to run on.
 
Data point from a budget challenged open trailer guy. I ended up going with a winch because the inside edge to edge gap on my Econotrailer was only about four inches less than the same dimension (inside edge of tire to inside edge of tire) on the Miata. With so little room for error this made for some harrowing rides up the trailer when loading.

In the interests of marital harmony (wife was the guide for these little adventures) I purchased a hand winch from (I think) Harbor Freight rated at 3000 lbs. The cost was minimal compared to the more common 2000 lb. rated winches. It is now no problem to winch the car on by hand in less than five minutes. I purchased MORE winch than necessary for the same reason I bought El Mondo Grosso Van - I never wanted to be in the position of not having enough winch. That, and I took a tip from the 4WD crowd and did not want to be in the unpleasant position of having the thing fail during use. I take the winch off for winter storage but otherwise leave the thing on and exposed to the elements the rest of the year.

I would also suggest that you always toss a blanket or towel over the cable while winching as well, another tip stolen from the Jeep set. If the cable fails under load it will come whipping back at you and do some serious damage. Placing a blanket/towel over the thing attentuates the released energy somewhat and should prevent the occasional beheading, though there are those who say I will never notice the loss.
 
Back
Top