Luckily the coach battery on my campervan is near the rear door. I have an Anderson connector on the outside of the battery box, another connector on the winch and I use an 6ft cable plugged in at both ends to power the winch. For back up I keep a come along stored in the van.
If I had a truck I just make a longer cable that ran front to back.
I also have a jumper battery on wheels for the F500 so that could power the winch as well.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Toyman01 + Sized and said:When I first mounted my winch, I install a battery, relay set up, and a port to plug in the controls. All of it in a fancy aluminum tongue box. After dealing with dead batteries a couple of times and condensation corroding the connections, I pulled all of that out and tossed a long set of jumper cables in the box. Now I run the winch off the tow vehicle with the jumper cables. No charging circuit or solar panel needed. No relay box taking up space in the tongue box and no control wiring. On and off are handled by clamping the cables on the motor studs. Forward and reverse are handled by swapping the polarity. Simple, bulletproof, and it works every time.
I agree that powering the winch off the truck is a good solution, but not having start/stop and forward/reverse controls on a switch sounds pretty terrible.
I agree. I wanted to be able to winch and steer at the same time. Although I'd imagine most things will want to go in the direction of the pull, and it's probably not as big of a deal as I imagine it to be
thashane said:codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Toyman01 + Sized and said:When I first mounted my winch, I install a battery, relay set up, and a port to plug in the controls. All of it in a fancy aluminum tongue box. After dealing with dead batteries a couple of times and condensation corroding the connections, I pulled all of that out and tossed a long set of jumper cables in the box. Now I run the winch off the tow vehicle with the jumper cables. No charging circuit or solar panel needed. No relay box taking up space in the tongue box and no control wiring. On and off are handled by clamping the cables on the motor studs. Forward and reverse are handled by swapping the polarity. Simple, bulletproof, and it works every time.
I agree that powering the winch off the truck is a good solution, but not having start/stop and forward/reverse controls on a switch sounds pretty terrible.
I agree. I wanted to be able to winch and steer at the same time. Although I'd imagine most things will want to go in the direction of the pull, and it's probably not as big of a deal as I imagine it to be
All of that stuff crapped out 10 years and who knows how many cars ago. I haven't missed it enough to spend the energy and money to repair it. It takes seconds to stop the winch, turn the wheel a little and restart the winch. I'm also seldom recovering by myself so there is almost always an extra pair of hands to turn the wheel if needed.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:thashane said:codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Toyman01 + Sized and said:When I first mounted my winch, I install a battery, relay set up, and a port to plug in the controls. All of it in a fancy aluminum tongue box. After dealing with dead batteries a couple of times and condensation corroding the connections, I pulled all of that out and tossed a long set of jumper cables in the box. Now I run the winch off the tow vehicle with the jumper cables. No charging circuit or solar panel needed. No relay box taking up space in the tongue box and no control wiring. On and off are handled by clamping the cables on the motor studs. Forward and reverse are handled by swapping the polarity. Simple, bulletproof, and it works every time.
I agree that powering the winch off the truck is a good solution, but not having start/stop and forward/reverse controls on a switch sounds pretty terrible.
I agree. I wanted to be able to winch and steer at the same time. Although I'd imagine most things will want to go in the direction of the pull, and it's probably not as big of a deal as I imagine it to be
All of that stuff crapped out 10 years and who knows how many cars ago. I haven't missed it enough to spend the energy and money to repair it. It takes seconds to stop the winch, turn the wheel a little and restart the winch. I'm also seldom recovering by myself so there is almost always an extra pair of hands to turn the wheel if needed.
We'll have to disagree on that -- precisely positioning the car is pretty important for getting it into my trailer, I've only got a couple inches of clearance between it and the trailer fenders on each side. Walking back and forth a dozen times while loading the car is a giant PITA (had to do it a couple times when I was having RF interference issues with the remote).
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The trick is to precisely position the trailer before you ever start up the winch. My trailer is a utility trailer with sides. If you don't get it dead right from the start, there is no correcting it without hitting the sides.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The trick is to precisely position the trailer before you ever start up the winch. My trailer is a utility trailer with sides. If you don't get it dead right from the start, there is no correcting it without hitting the sides.
I have had to get the come-a-long out and use it to slide the car over (VW bug) as my trailer also has sides ......
In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :
I am generally alone, but I can see how it works. I used to use two pairs of jumper cables to a dump trailer on a ranch I worked at. With how frequently we used it, and how infrequently everyone else maintained the battery (never?), we would've been time ahead to hardwire it to the tow vehicles. But it was quasi government, so personnel time and productivity were trumped by expenditures.
I have this plate bolted under my Warn 3700. I hook it to the D-rings, or stake pockets, or frame, whichever is easier. Super versatile and handy! 
Toyman01 + Sized and said:In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The trick is to precisely position the trailer before you ever start up the winch. My trailer is a utility trailer with sides. If you don't get it dead right from the start, there is no correcting it without hitting the sides.
We're clearly talking about different sorts of trailers -- mine is a 24 foot triple axle enclosed. :)
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
What is the advantage of the triple axle on a trailer that small. My 26 and most 28's and 30's are tandems.
I've only pulled a couple triple axles, and there are some characteristics I don't really care for.
It is a very good looking trailer, and I see the AC and counters in front. Nice.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The ramp door on my enclosed was shallow enough you could push a car up it so I never bothered to mount a winch. That and chopping up the cabinets or bolting a winch to the floor wasn't very appealing. It was also wide enough that hitting the fenders wasn't an issue with any of the cars I hauled in it. The really tight squeeze was getting the golf cart through the side door.
I traded that trailer off for the Samurai. It was a nice trailer and very convenient at times but it got to where I wasn't using it. Towing an open trailer is so much easier it was never worth the hassle to load it.
As much as I break my car I got one of these to use in my enclosed (didn't want to cut into the cabinets or have it on the floor)
Little floor cutting but it's out of sight until needed.
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
I like that.
That floor box is slick.
I have a roll out tool box in my enclosed trailer, and it clears my floor mounted HF ATV winch.
What I need is a solar battery maintainer to keep the battery up... any suggestions?
03Panther said:In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
What is the advantage of the triple axle on a trailer that small. My 26 and most 28's and 30's are tandems.
I've only pulled a couple triple axles, and there are some characteristics I don't really care for.
It is a very good looking trailer, and I see the AC and counters in front. Nice.
It's three 3500 pound axles instead of two 5000s. I dunno the reasoning behind it other than the obvious increased redundancy in the face of a tire blowout (I've one of those once, I didn't even notice until someone pulled up next to me on the freeway and shouted over to tell me). I bought the trailer used, a friend of mine recommended this config. What do you find undesirable about them?
The previous owner installed the counter, side cabinets and other side tire rack, I added the AC after I bought it.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:The ramp door on my enclosed was shallow enough you could push a car up it so I never bothered to mount a winch. That and chopping up the cabinets or bolting a winch to the floor wasn't very appealing. It was also wide enough that hitting the fenders wasn't an issue with any of the cars I hauled in it. The really tight squeeze was getting the golf cart through the side door.
I've pushed a car into this trailer once, I wouldn't care to do it again. The M3 has a light flywheel and touchy clutch, so I always load it with the winch. Previous owner on the trailer had already drilled the floor and cut a hole in the bottom of the center cabinet for the winch cable to go though, so I didn't have to do that. :)
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
The tire drag / bind when turning; and the cost of two extra tires - but I guess if a lower rated tire is available (since the load is spread between 6) thae cost might work out as a wash!
Thanks all! Just picked it up fro $120
In reply to Strike_Zero :
I'm using the HF ZXR 2500 to pull my C5Z06 onto a Trailex 8045. I bought this as the 3500 wasn't available in my local store at the time. In addition, I got the extended warranty for $15, so am not too concerned about it burning out. It doesn't get warm or struggle to pull the car onto the trailer. For power, I bought a group size 24 marine battery and keep in in my truck bed, just hooking up the cables when I need them. So far, the wireless remote has worked well
Oh look! A canoe with a wench!
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