OT- Little Project and Question

[quote="Gregness"]So I decided to put a winch on my trailer to make retrieving equipment etc. easier. I bought a 12,000 ib. winch from Harbor Freight, and then fabbed up a mounting plate on the front of the trailer. I mounted the winch on it, bought a battery and added hold-downs for it. I then built a housing for it and bolted it to hinges I welded on the mounting plate. I put a hasp on the other end and can lock it down. This will keep my fancy new winch, battery and electrics out of the weather and road grime, and just flip up out of the way when I am ready to actually winch something on board. All that remains is to wire the battery to my trailer plug so that the truck can charge the battery.

Question: The housing is plywood wrapped in sheet metal. Do you think it likely that it will collect a lot of condensation inside? What would be the best solution if it does? (Sorry if the pics are sideways, I can see no way to rotate them)

Thanks

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I think that you will find that one battery will not be enough for anything but the lightest pulls. Pulling on a single battery normally lasts less than a minute until you lose serious pulling power. I have installed heavy welding lead ends on my batteries and winch. It enables me to use my dual truck batteries to winch by using welding lead extensions. I always have the truck running when winching.

I don't know what kind of a climate you live in but you could always install some/one louver(s) in the side of the housing for ventilation. Looks nice.

Biggastractor

Nice Looking Job Gregness.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I too was thinking late last night that a louvered vent on one side might be a good solution if it does sweat inside.

I think and hope that the 12,000 lb. winch is serious overkill, (my trailer is only good for 10,000 gross) and that in an almost all cases the only stressful part of any pull will be the short trip up the ramps onto the trailer. The battery is a big deep-cycle unit. We'll find out if I need a back-up for it!

I will let you know how it works out.

G

I use a group 4d or 8d battery that i use in my dozers direct start--get a snatch block to double your pulling power or cut your load in half.

I believe that 12k spec is a rolling load on the first wrap of the Drum?
ie: get a Snatch-Block

I have the same winch on a 35ft gooseneck trailer. I pulled two different dead D2s onto the trailer using a snatch block. I use the truck batteries only hooking the winch with a heavy duty plug to the truck.
Chuck C