New car trailer planning...adding a winch to an aluminum trailer?

I was (note past tense) the proud owner of an 18' tilt bed steel car trailer with a pair of 3,500# torsion axles (7,000# GVWR, about 4,900# payload capacity).  Unfortunately, I loaned the trailer to one of my neighbors who, unbeknownst to me, thought it might be a good idea to load it up with an 8,500# (or more) forklift.  Needless to say, this did not end well, at least if you don't like banana-shaped trailers.  He took full responsibility and got me squared away, so I'm now on the hunt for a new trailer.  Since trailers depreciate at a glacial (or slower) pace, I'm probably looking to suck it up and just buy new.

Since I'm tired of cutting, grinding, patching, scraping, painting, and repeating, I'm considering going all-in with an aluminum car hauler, specifically this one here.

Not a tilt bed, not torsion axles, but it does have a 9,900# GVWR with a 8,128# payload capacity.  Although I had a steel treadplate deck on the previous trailer, I'm thinking wood on this one for ease of replacement down the road.  Finally, I'm probably going to go 20' versus 18' - the 2' beavertail means an 18' trailer would only have 16' of flat deck, and I'd like to be able to fine tune car placement.

To cut to the point...the one thing I had on my previous trailer that I'd really like to put on this one is a winch.  After dragging a drivetrain-less car up on the deck with no more effort than pushing a button, I've become a believer.  If this were a steel trailer, I'd just have a heavy duty plate welded in front of the "headache rack", but I can't find a good example of anyone mounting a winch on an aluminum trailer.  Anyone tackled something like this, or have any good ideas on how it could be done?

Thanks!

Yes.

Standby as I find and upload some old photos...

Loosely based upon Dr. Hess' portable winch idea, I bolted a small receiver hitch onto my trailer, and then mounted a small winch to a hitch mounted vise plate, all sourced from Harbor Freight. I bring a fully charged spare battery with marine terminals on it and use that to power the winch. Once the car is loaded, everything goes back into the truck and the winch is stored inside and out of the elements when I get home.

http://photoberkit.com/copper/albums/userpics/10042/normal_Trailex006.jpg

I agree with making the winch removable on an open trailer.  When I had my open trailer, I bolted it to a 12"x12"x1/4" steel plate, drilled 4 holes in the corner of it, and sandwiched the wood deck between it and another plate just like it.  Probably overkill, but it worked.  A trailer hitch like Woody's would have been easier, but I needed the foot of space that it loses, and my trailer didn't have a central beam to attach to.  The four bolts in the corners come out easily and the winch lifts right off.

What size winch would be good for an application like this?  My trailer is only good for 5,000lb load before I'm maxxed out on weight.

In reply to Nitroracer :

Remember that you don't need to lift the entire weight of the car, just pull it. But with that being said, the little ATV winch that I have is really giving it everything it has to get a heavy car that doesn't really want to roll up on the trailer. I take my time and give it a few breaks to cool off. I really need something bigger, but this was cheap and they start to get expensive in a hurry as the rated capacity goes up.

I want to get a winch on the trailer I just bought. I want it to be able to do 5k+ lbs. I looked online and the winches were $600 bucks!

I run an 8k winch on a portable mount.  Currently a warn m8000,   but I got a traveller 8k(tractor supply brand) On sale at a killer deal so use it occasionally too. I load a lot of heavy cars and 4x4s and many times they've had stuck brakes etc,  so after burning through several smaller winches I said berkeley it and bought the warn.  Also,  I can't say enough about a wireless winch remote,  which I have for both the above winches.  I love love love my wireless remotes....I tend to load things alone so being able to steer,  walk around the vehicle while loading,  etc is just great.  

yupididit said:

I want to get a winch on the trailer I just bought. I want it to be able to do 5k+ lbs. I looked online and the winches were $600 bucks!

My warn was $600 new,  but the traveller was like $200 on sale.  Also keep an eye on craigslist....lightly used winches come up pretty often.

Woody said:

In reply to Nitroracer :

Remember that you don't need to lift the entire weight of the car, just pull it. But with that being said, the little ATV winch that I have is really giving it everything it has to get a heavy car that doesn't really want to roll up on the trailer. I take my time and give it a few breaks to cool off. I really need something bigger, but this was cheap and they start to get expensive in a hurry as the rated capacity goes up.

You don't need to lift it, but you may need to drag it up onto the trailer after you ripped the suspension off one corner...

Woody said:

Loosely based upon Dr. Hess' portable winch idea, I bolted a small receiver hitch onto my trailer, and then mounted a small winch to a hitch mounted vise plate, all sourced from Harbor Freight. I bring a fully charged spare battery with marine terminals on it and use that to power the winch. Once the car is loaded, everything goes back into the truck and the winch is stored inside and out of the elements when I get home.

http://photoberkit.com/copper/albums/userpics/10042/normal_Trailex006.jpg

 Thank you!  I dig this setup....looks like you bolted through the center beam and upper and lower plates?  This would be a nice way to reclaim some deck space, assuming the tongue on that American Hauler will accommodate.  Need to head over to the local dealer and put some eyeballs on it again.

Codrus said:

I agree with making the winch removable on an open trailer.  When I had my open trailer, I bolted it to a 12"x12"x1/4" steel plate, drilled 4 holes in the corner of it, and sandwiched the wood deck between it and another plate just like it.  Probably overkill, but it worked.  A trailer hitch like Woody's would have been easier, but I needed the foot of space that it loses, and my trailer didn't have a central beam to attach to.  The four bolts in the corners come out easily and the winch lifts right off.

This was my other thought if the tongue mount doesn't pan out, although I'm trying to avoid encroaching on deck space as much as possible.  Thanks for the pictures - that helps! 

Hey Jeff, 

What mount did you use for your trailer? That traveller looks like a good deal

Rotaryracer said:

Woody said:

Loosely based upon Dr. Hess' portable winch idea, I bolted a small receiver hitch onto my trailer, and then mounted a small winch to a hitch mounted vise plate, all sourced from Harbor Freight. I bring a fully charged spare battery with marine terminals on it and use that to power the winch. Once the car is loaded, everything goes back into the truck and the winch is stored inside and out of the elements when I get home.

http://photoberkit.com/copper/albums/userpics/10042/normal_Trailex006.jpg

 Thank you!  I dig this setup....looks like you bolted through the center beam and upper and lower plates?  This would be a nice way to reclaim some deck space, assuming the tongue on that American Hauler will accommodate.  Need to head over to the local dealer and put some eyeballs on it again.

I'm pretty sure that I used existing holes in the trailer, along with some longer bolts, and just drilled the receiver accordingly. The bolts pass next to the center beam, not through it. There is a second plate below the beam.

I could have shortened the bar on the vise plate, but I wanted the option of mounting the winch to the truck when the trailer is disconnected. I thought about drilling another hole for the pin closer to the plate, but I really don't see any need for it beyond aesthetics.

yupididit said:

Hey Jeff, 

What mount did you use for your trailer? That traveller looks like a good deal

I got the Haul Master cradle through harbor freight.  I have a receiver welded to the tongue that it slides right into.  I've had that cradle for years and used it a lot and have had zero issues.  Also,  on the Traveller winch,  I also bought their Traveller wireless remote and it works great and was under $30.

Back to the top. 

Would the winch need its own battery or is there a way I  can run it off of one of my batteries in my excursion? 

yupididit said:

Would the winch need its own battery or is there a way I  can run it off of one of my batteries in my excursion? 

You could do it either way.  Battery on trailer and a 12v charger to charge it from the +12v feed in the trailer harness when the tow vehicle is running is the flexible option (winch will work regardless of tow vehicle).  Or you can run heavy gauge cabling to a connector at the back of the Excursion and have the winch plug into that, but then the winch doesn't work if you use a different tow rig without the winch hookup.  You won't be able to pull enough power through the standard trailer connector to run the winch directly off the tow rig.  

I don't know why I asked, wiring and electrical stuff already give me a headache! 

I went with the "heavy gauge cable running from the truck battery" approach, using welding cable and the big Anderson UPS-style connectors.  Putting a battery on the trailer is more flexible, but then you need a box to put it in, somewhere to mount that box, and it's one more thing for someone to steal when the trailer is parked in a remote storage lot for weeks at a time.

I have a winch on a plate with chain holes.  I just chain it to the D-rings or tongue.  Then I put jumper cables from the truck to the winch.  

I don't do much winching, so this works for now.  

In reply to codrus :

I think I'll go this route as well