Winch

[keeks]

What size winch do you guys use on your trailers for pulling on the car? I have a new warn 2500, but I don't think it's gonna be big enough. But I could get a snatch block and it might be.

[rubbinsracin]

We use a 3500. Pulls it fine. But uses a lot of battery power.

[merc123]

3700 Warn. Used it to pull a car that weighed 2600 pounds with no problems I can use it for multiple weekends before it would start to slow. Now I have a charger hooked to it so when the generator is running on enclosed it is charging

[Hooked Up]

I have a 2500# in my enclosed trailer with ramp overs and pulls car fine also had a 2500# on my wedge trailer and it was pretty steep it worked good.

[Dirtracer50]

I have used a 2000lb winch for my mod since 2008 and no problems yet. It's not fast but it gets the job done.

[keeks]

Great info everyone. Thanks. Slow is good, I'm slow.

[merc123]

A Honda Accord can pull a 9,000# load, slowly, but I would rather have a Dodge or Ford Diesel instead. Not because it will pull more but it was built for it.

Same goes with winches. You can spend $50 on a 1500# harbor freight winch that might last you the season, or better yet, the cable clutch can't hold the weight and the winch lets it roll backward onto a crew member. You can get a 3000# for $100 from harbor freight but I wouldn't buy that thing to throw at someone much less use it for pulling a race car. Take the weight of your car and multiply it by 1.5. That is the weight rating you need. 2300# car needs a 3400# winch. Are you pulling up hill (rampovers)? That will add some weight that would be needed. Once again, a 1500# or 2500# can do the job and might do it slowly but you're burning up the motor doing it.

Also, the rating you see on a winch is usually the rating with only 1 layer of line on the drum. The more layers you put on it the less rating it has. For mine with 1 layer it is 3700#. So for about the first 6 or 7 winds of the cable it is at 3700#. As the car pulls into the trailer I wind up with about 3 total layers on the winch cable and the pull rating has dropped down to 3170#.

With a 3000# winch the 3rd layer has dropped to 2460 and 4th layer is at 2250 which is probably less than what your car weighs and the winch is now straining.

Spend the extra money on a name brand winch (Superwinch, Warn) and get one that is rated for more than you are pulling. This is an investment in your trailer that should last you MANY years. You can buy a $50 winch every year or buy the right one for $250 (or less) that will last a lot longer.

[Barbecueboy]

A Honda Accord can pull a 9,000# load, slowly, but I would rather have a Dodge or Ford Diesel instead. Not because it will pull more but it was built for it. Same goes with winches. You can spend $50 on a 1500# harbor freight winch that might last you the season, or better yet, the cable clutch can't hold the weight and the winch lets it roll backward onto a crew member. You can get a 3000# for $100 from harbor freight but I wouldn't buy that thing to throw at someone much less use it for pulling a race car. Take the weight of your car and multiply it by 1.5. That is the weight rating you need. 2300# car needs a 3400# winch. Are you pulling up hill (rampovers)? That will add some weight that would be needed. Once again, a 1500# or 2500# can do the job and might do it slowly but you're burning up the motor doing it. Also, the rating you see on a winch is usually the rating with only 1 layer of line on the drum. The more layers you put on it the less rating it has. For mine with 1 layer it is 3700#. So for about the first 6 or 7 winds of the cable it is at 3700#. As the car pulls into the trailer I wind up with about 3 total layers on the winch cable and the pull rating has dropped down to 3170#.With a 3000# winch the 3rd layer has dropped to 2460 and 4th layer is at 2250 which is probably less than what your car weighs and the winch is now straining. Spend the extra money on a name brand winch (Superwinch, Warn) and get one that is rated for more than you are pulling. This is an investment in your trailer that should last you MANY years. You can buy a $50 winch every year or buy the right one for $250 (or less) that will last a lot longer.Great info and reply.....

[LM14]

We had a 4500# SuperWinch under the ramps in our enclosed trailer. It sat under the right ramp and hooked to a pulley in the center of the floor. Ran it for 10 years like that and never a problem.

A lighter winch will pull it if everything is fine, but what if it's isn't a completely straight roller when you load at the end of the night. We've drug a car into the enclosed trailer with absolutely no rearend under the car and another time with a RF corner torn completely off. Your little winch won't do that.

We just put a 4000# SuperWinch on our open trailer.

You may get a couple years out of the lighter winch but the heavier one that cost a few bucks more will last way longer.

JMO,
SPark

[powerslide]

Around christmas time tractor supply stores run specials. I got a name brand 10k winch for $300. I know its not christmas but just keep your eyes open.

[1badlad]

4500 superwinch for $220.00 @ amazon.com
been using simular one under our wheel rampover left side. it has pulled our steel head latemodel in and out with no prolems for years. cars about 2400 lbs.

[hpmaster]

My 13 year old 2500lb Superwinch has been plenty for loading my 2400lb race car, a Dodge mini van and an S-10 4x4 pick up on my old wedge trailer and now in my enclosed trailer with ramp overs.

[Plantintaters]

My 50 year old winch pulls like hell but won't cook supper unless you charge her up good. Time to load the dishwasher.She hates to be called the dishwasher.

[grt74]

if it were me i would buy an electric winch,youll get tired of charging batts after a while,we changed to electric on the winch and lift,but youll have to fire up the gen when you want to use them

[merc123]

if it were me i would buy an electric winch,youll get tired of charging batts after a while,we changed to electric on the winch and lift,but youll have to fire up the gen when you want to use them

I have a battery box in the front of my ramp overs that runs the winch. I have aBattery charger sitting on the step inside the side door. It's plugged in and hooked to the winch battery. When the generator is running (I.e: sun goes down) it is charging the winch battery.

[keeks]

I also have a battery on my trailer. It charges off the vehicle as soon as the trailer is plugged in.

[RW57]

On our truck we run a piece of welding lead from the battery to the back of the truck. From there we use a female welding plug. On the trailer we use the male plug that goes with it and simply plug them together and we have our 12 volts to the winch and no battery to mess with simply crank up truck when winching car up if you want half the time we forget to crank it. One nite dumazz here forget to cut truck back off we watched the rest of the races with truck merrily idling away. I ain"t as sharp as I once was LOL.

[crazyhorse]

Ido like RW57. bought a superwinch 8500lb from Jegs $316 to my doorstep.

[Egoracing]

The math posed is good but it is not for a rolling load. We had a 3500 lb winch on ours and when it went down we used a 1500 lb ATV winch on for several races and it never had an issue just a little slower. We pulled up a 2450lb late model and in a pinch I had to use it to pull a 1994 suburban up on an open trailer and is pulled it right up.
I worked on a guys car that had 2 of the ATV winches in the trailer and the cable was in a U between them with a block with a pulley. He did it for under $300 and for the reason if one went out he would not be dead in the water, the other would still pull the car up and then he could replace the one that stopped working later when he could.

[merc123]

The math posed is good but it is not for a rolling load. We had a 3500 lb winch on ours and when it went down we used a 1500 lb ATV winch on for several races and it never had an issue just a little slower. We pulled up a 2450lb late model and in a pinch I had to use it to pull a 1994 suburban up on an open trailer and is pulled it right up.
I worked on a guys car that had 2 of the ATV winches in the trailer and the cable was in a U between them with a block with a pulley. He did it for under $300 and for the reason if one went out he would not be dead in the water, the other would still pull the car up and then he could replace the one that stopped working later when he could.


That's all fine in well. With the rolling load calculations mine should pull 11k up my rampovers. Here is the problem with this. With my friend's 1500# winch pulling it up a 20% grade it should be able to pull close to 5,000# which is double the weight of the car. The problem? It didn't pull it up there well. I've used my winch to pull a 4500# truck onto my old trailer and it did it with some straining. Going back to my original statement. A Honda Accord can pull a 9,000# load, slowly, but I would rather have a Dodge or Ford Diesel instead. Not because it will pull it but because it was BUILT for it.

Plus the difference between a 1500# winch and a 3500 or 4500 may be what, $100? I bet if I invented a spark plug that was $200 each that gave 10 more HP folks would jump to buy it over the $9 plug they put in now.

[Egoracing]

That's all fine in well. With the rolling load calculations mine should pull 11k up my rampovers. Here is the problem with this. With my friend's 1500# winch pulling it up a 20% grade it should be able to pull close to 5,000# which is double the weight of the car. The problem? It didn't pull it up there well. I've used my winch to pull a 4500# truck onto my old trailer and it did it with some straining. Going back to my original statement. A Honda Accord can pull a 9,000# load, slowly, but I would rather have a Dodge or Ford Diesel instead. Not because it will pull it but because it was BUILT for it.

Plus the difference between a 1500# winch and a 3500 or 4500 may be what, $100? I bet if I invented a spark plug that was $200 each that gave 10 more HP folks would jump to buy it over the $9 plug they put in now.

There are many things that stop a winch from working properly, Wire size and distance form the power source are a major factor. If it was not installed or wired right you will have problems no matter what winch you use. I never extend any leads on the winch and if they bolt on I keep them as short as possible and NEVER use the smallest wire that is called for. I have seen a 15,000 lb winch have issues pulling up a 3200lb ministock on a verl low trailer, he had it wired to the battery in the truck using 2 sets of jumper cables and about 10' of wire on each cable. We put a battery on the trailer and used about 12 inches of 2/0 high strand copper cable to connect it and it would load the car so much faster he used a pull block to slow it down so he could control it from outside the car.

[Lizardracing]

I have a Rule 6000lbs and it great.
Something to consider while shopping for el cheapo China made junk in winches is the line speed and load holding brake. Instead of using bigger more powerful motors to increase the rated power it's easier to raise the gear ratio to get the torque needed for pulling but now the line speed is way down. For example the HF special has a line speed of 6 feet per minute. If you have a 20 foot trailer your pushing that button for over three minutes of just standing there to get your car on the trailer! Time holding the button may not add up to much when time loading the car doesn't matter however it's another example of piss poor quality. A load holding brake and free wheel clutch are handy to have as well. You wouldn't want a winch spooling out the load when you let go of the button to move the jack, tools, or something of the like out of the way.