mega winch for the car trailer - part 1

Emboldened by the success of utilizing Brunnhilde's starting battery to power the winch on the car trailer, we want more. The low cost China made 2000 lb Warn winch has such a hard time winching a car up the incline. I have been wary the motor may burn out so I carry a manual winch just in case.I have been looking at other ATV winches and I have my eyes set on this 4500 lb one that comes with synthetic line that is long enough and appears to be relative well made. It is very hard to judge base no the listings on the web. I decided to grab one when I saw the price dropped 20%. 

very hard to argue with this one at under $90 shipped; it includes even a pair of gloves

it is about twice the weight of the Warn but the body is more symmetrical which would fit better on the tapered front end of the trailer

I have to be careful selecting a which as most has a terminal that can cause chaffing damage to the dirt shield fabric; the Warn is very close so I put 2 layers of duct tape to protect the fabric cover

this is the mounting base plate but the hole pattern is not compatible with that of the trailer; I knew I was into a fight on this installation that will requires drilling new holes on this thick steel plate; additionally the  four bolt heads that secure the plate to the winch will prevent the steel plate from seating flat against the trailer's winch mount surface

I discovered that the mounting holes are compatible if the winch is mounted about 1 inch offset to the left, or right; this also avoid the bolt head interference problem

I decided to offset it to the right side to give plenty of space between the motor and the fabric cover since the clutch side has gentle radius and no sharp edges

Before committing to the full installation I carried out a thorough functional test. I would not want to find out a problem only after holes are drilled, cable modified and a lot of work invested.

this control module will need a mounting location

temporary wiring for the functional test

I checked that the rope is as long as advertised; I use the Mini as the test mule as it is one of the heaviest cars

compared to the cheap Warn this is far superior and yet cost less and even has wireless remote controls

the motor does not grunt at all

I needed to fabricate a spacer to mount this control module; I have this piece of 3/16" Delrin scrap which is perfect

I open the control module to take note of what are inside in case I need to troubleshoot in the future; much better if I already know what are inside without having to dismount and then open it to investigate

this is the best location for the module which is sheltered and protects against accidental contact with the terminals

this is a great tool to drill a hole in a tight spot

I have read that winches with wireless remote control have a lag, but this one does not; it is as responsive as the hardwired switch

By careful planning I kept the holes needed to be drilled on the trailer to the minimum. Just two small holes to mount the control module.

as this is a bigger winch the cables are bigger gauge; I install the same Anderson connector as on the Warn; the heat gun help the soldering on something with so much thermal mass

heat shrink tubing keeps everything tidy

I am continued to be amazed how often with a projects I am able to find material and parts from my junk piles, and this time is no exception with the piece of stock for the spacer. Having to buy something adds time, cost of travel or shipping, and wait time.

My installation of the winch will take many more man-hours to install than most, because I want to make it factory quality and safe. I would even shorten some cables if they are too long so to minimize resistive drop and more tidy. Shortening any cable will require redoing the ring lugs to terminate them for the binding posts.