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Winch Mount Options

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Nothing Special

Re: Winch Mount Options

Gary Lewis wrote

This is the style of connectors I have on my trailer and on Big Blue: https://www.wiringproducts.com/high-power-connectors. I bought mine at Graybar if I remember correctly and didn’t pay that much. But, these connectors are expensive and you will need two of them as well as the terminals.

I’ll see if I can find the exact ones I bought, but that will have to wait until I get home.

You MIGHT get by with the 50 amp ones, but I’d be afraid of them myself. Yes, this is getting expensive, but it is the way to do it.

I started looking at Warn's version of those connectors (rated at 175 amps but $55.26 a pair). Then my wife started looking for "Warn 22680" on Amazon and found an off-brand that was something like $20 / pair. Later I might be able to find the specifics, but someone as good at Amazon as my wife (meaning a lot better than me) should be able to find them pretty easily.

(I bought a pair to make jumper cables for my wife's 2018 Jeep Renegade. There's no way to attach cables directly to the battery, and no good terminals available. So I wired one of these plugs to her battery and cut the clamps off one end of a set of jumper cables so I could solder the other plug on. Last winter I needed to jump-start my pickup one really cold morning (it's parked outside) and I couldn't use the Renegade so I had to get my Bronco out of the garage to start the pickup. Fortunately the Bronco, which had been sitting for a few months at that point, fired right up. Otherwise I guess I'd have been trying to get the motorhome in position!)

Bob
Sorry, no '80 - '86 Ford trucks
"Oswald": 1997 F-250HD crew cab short box, 460, E4OD, 4.10 gears
"Pluto": 1971 Bronco, 302, NV3550 5 speed, Atlas 4.3:1 transfer case, 33" tires
"the motorhome": 2015 E-450-based 28' class C motorhome, 6.8L V-10
"the Dodge": 2007 Dodge 2500, 6.7L Cummins

Danny G

Re: Winch Mount Options

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Wire gauge should take in both ground and hot diameters correct? SO if 2 AWG is good for 10 feet, if you have 10 feet of hot and 10 feet of ground cable you have exceeded that circuits capability. If 1 is good for 20 feet then that is 20 feet including the ground wire run.

That said under 100 amps 0 (1/0) should be good for about 25-30 feet total circuit.

1986 F-150|Standard Cab|4x2|300Six|C6Transmission w/3.08 rear|Name:TBD
2021 Ranger XLT Super Crew

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

TheScatch wrote

Wire gauge should take in both ground and hot diameters correct? SO if 2 AWG is good for 10 feet, if you have 10 feet of hot and 10 feet of ground cable you have exceeded that circuits capability. If 1 is good for 20 feet then that is 20 feet including the ground wire run.

That said under 100 amps 0 (1/0) should be good for about 25-30 feet total circuit.

Yes, but when using the frame of the vehicle as the ground then I'd think you would only have to account for the wire from the battery to the frame and then the frame to the load.

Bob - I haven't found those connectors. But, the ones below are the ones I bought. And they came from Grainger.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

emunder

Re: Winch Mount Options

In reply to this post by Danny G

I hear ya. I'd actually like to try my hand at fabricating a custom winch bumper. All I need is a plasma cutter.

1986 Ford F150 XLT 4X4. 300 I6 w/ 4 speed manual.

Nothing Special

Re: Winch Mount Options

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Here are the connectors I bought. $16.99 for a pair or $26.99 for four. They include covers as well.

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

Nothing Special wrote

Here are the connectors I bought. $16.99 for a pair or $26.99 for four. They include covers as well.

Nice find!

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Nothing Special

Re: Winch Mount Options

I do see a difference from the link you posted. Yours are 2/0 gauge and 350 amp, mine are 4/2 gauge and 175 amp. But the Warn ones I started looking at are 4/2, 175 amp as well, and at over $50 / pair you are paying significantly for the Warn name

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

Yes, I saw the same difference. But 175 amps is more than Ray needs, so those should be perfect and let him disconnect the winch from the battery w/o having to unbolt it every time.

Speaking of that, Ray you might want to get a battery with studs on it. Sure makes it easier to put two connections on, and you'll have the wire coming from the relay on the truck and the wire going to the connector and then on to the winch to deal with.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Nothing Special

Re: Winch Mount Options

In reply to this post by Ray Cecil

Ray Cecil wrote

Okay. I need a winch mount for the front of my truck. I am going to buy a 2nd winch for the truck. Just bought one for the trailer. I went with the Harbor Freight 3500 lb winch for the trailer. Might get a 2nd one for the truck. The winch is NOT for pulling the truck, but is for pulling logs.

I need options. Fast. People are filling my calendar up with tree to collect and some of them are nice specimens. I need to take advantage of this.

Can yall help me brainstorm?

Ray,

This thread has morphed into how to wire for the winch in the receiver mount at the rear of your truck. But if you're still interested in mounting a winch at the front, how about putting a receiver at the front of the truck? Add another electrical connector off the main battery and you can plug your winch in at either end. Plus as Gary and I have learned, it's REALLY nice being able to push trailers around off the front of your truck. It's SO much easier to carefully position a trailer that way.

And going back to the wiring... When i put the receiver-mount winch on my Bronco I put quick-connects at both ends of the Bronco, but I also put one on my winch cradle. Then I made a short "jumper cable" with quick-connects at both ends. That way when I'm driving I can have the winch in the front receiver where it's pretty much out of the way but not have it wired in ("just" tossing it in the bed isn't much of an option with a Bronco like it might be in a pickup). Not saying you should do it this way, but something to keep in mind.

Here is the winch in the front receiver. You can see the red quick-connect on the back side of the winch. The jumper is not hooked up here.

And here it's in the rear receiver with the jumper plugged in

Danny G

Re: Winch Mount Options

Definitely want to do this to mine. I think found a receiver that will fit under my bumper. The new rear bumper has 3 holes in the plate where you would put a ball. I found several receiver with a flat plate that would mount to that part of the bumper as well.

1986 F-150|Standard Cab|4x2|300Six|C6Transmission w/3.08 rear|Name:TBD
2021 Ranger XLT Super Crew

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

In reply to this post by Nothing Special

I agree - a front receiver is a MUST for placing a trailer. And it is a good solution for Ray as the winch can be there and you can have short wires to the battery. In fact, perhaps you could put the 2nd battery under the hood? Oh, I forgot, it is a Chevy. Maybe they don't have that option like a Ford does.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Nothing Special

Re: Winch Mount Options

I was thinking he wanted to be able to use the winch at the rear and wanted short wires from the battery to the rear winch so he'd want the aux battery at the rear. But if he also had the ability to use the winch at the front he probably wouldn't want to run wires from the rear aux battery to the front winch so he could just go to the main battery for the front winch. Of course this could lead to him draining the main battery, but depending on how the isolator for the rear battery worked he might be able to jump-start himself from the aux battery.

Or if there's room he could put the aux battery under the hood, have short wires to the front winch and long ones to the rear. Then he could have both winch connections go to the aux battery without needing to run big wires the length of the truck twice.

And I probably shouldn't throw this wrench in the works at this point, but are we making too big a deal about the battery drain? On my Bronco I only have one battery (at the front) and I have 2 gauge wire running to the connector at the back (pos and neg, I'm not using the Bronco frame as the ground for the winch). And I have an 8000 lb winch which likely draws more than Ray's 3500 lb winch. Most of my heavier winching is likely to be done off the front where the wires are shorter. And I haven't used the winch all that much yet. But I'm really not too concerned about running the battery down in the usage I'd envision. I've even run the winch (at a pretty low load) for about a 20' pull, or to spool in probably 50' of rope (at essentially no load) without the engine running, and had no trouble getting it restarted. Granted if Ray is loading a dozen logs onto the trailer at one stop the winch will be running for quite a while. But I'd guess that even with a stock alternator and a single battery he's unlikely to run into problems. Not that the overkill of a bigger alternator and dual, isolated batteries wouldn't provide some peace-of-mind. But I don't think it would be necessary.

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

Well, the 2nd battery idea was mine 'cause he was originally placing the winch on the trailer. And, even 6' cables needed to be #6's according to his destructions. So it seemed like the better thing to do was to have a 2nd battery on the trailer rather than run really heavy cable a long way - through expensive connectors.

Then the winch went to the rear of the truck. Then the battery went into the bed of the truck. Then the winch may have gone to the front of the truck. Then the 2nd battery may have gone to the front of the truck.

So, it may well be time to rethink the whole thing. And one battery will work if the winch is up front as that keeps the wire run short, but he will have to be careful and not drain the battery.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

In reply to this post by Danny G

Scatch, I don't think you want to use the bumper as a pull point.
It just isn't strong enough, like a receiver is.

Gary could probably tell you the tow rating and tongue weight, but it isn't too much.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Danny G

Re: Winch Mount Options

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Scatch, I don't think you want to use the bumper as a pull point.
It just isn't strong enough, like a receiver is.

Gary could probably tell you the tow rating and tongue weight, but it isn't too much.

Duly noted, I figured the rear bumper had that big metal plate and was where the ball was already why not, didn't even cross my mind said bumper is not that thick and connected to the frame by four bolts through that no so thick steel. Definitely back to frame mounted receiver.

1986 F-150|Standard Cab|4x2|300Six|C6Transmission w/3.08 rear|Name:TBD
2021 Ranger XLT Super Crew

Danny G

Re: Winch Mount Options

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis wrote

Well, the 2nd battery idea was mine 'cause he was originally placing the winch on the trailer. And, even 6' cables needed to be #6's according to his destructions. So it seemed like the better thing to do was to have a 2nd battery on the trailer rather than run really heavy cable a long way - through expensive connectors.

Then the winch went to the rear of the truck. Then the battery went into the bed of the truck. Then the winch may have gone to the front of the truck. Then the 2nd battery may have gone to the front of the truck.

So, it may well be time to rethink the whole thing. And one battery will work if the winch is up front as that keeps the wire run short, but he will have to be careful and not drain the battery.

Don't know why but this gave me a good laugh this morning in combination with the other post about a second battery. Could be a pretty sweet deal to have a second battery, and then a nice wire run and disconnect for a front receiver mounted winch.

1986 F-150|Standard Cab|4x2|300Six|C6Transmission w/3.08 rear|Name:TBD
2021 Ranger XLT Super Crew

Ray Cecil

Re: Winch Mount Options

Thanks for all the info guys. It is a lot to digest.

So, I recently bought a 4.8 LS motor from a moving van. I ran the part number on the alternator it came with, and surprise surprise, its the 145amp HD alternator. So, that will be getting swapped into the Silverado tonight.

Today at lunch I am running over to Harbor Freight to check out the receiver winch mount, and double receiver adapter. The Double receiver adapter is rated at 5,000 lbs. So its a weak point. The easy fix is to remove it and the winch after loading the trailer. Then I am safe hauling on the factory receiver and the trailer. The double receiver is just a quick convenient way to mount the winch for doing the loading.

I am currently searching for a plastic box to mount everything in. I will probably throw the box into the bed towards the back when going logging, and remove it when not logging. I will run the 1/0 charging wire from the Isolator under the hood, back near the tailgate. Then run a ground from that battery to the frame. Why have the box that far back you say? Because the cables provided in the winch kit aren't very long, and if I put everything in a hard plastic box, with some of those fancy quick disconnect plugs, I can easily clear up bed space when not logging.

I will take Gary's advice and order a smart Isolator, as that seems to give the safest options for tending the battery voltages.

1988 F250 Supercab Longbed 7.3 IDI, C6, 1356, GEARVENDORS, 4.10 Sterling with autolocker

1986 F150 302, C6, 9" 2.75, Wood Flatbed

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

TheScatch - Yes, the front-mounted winch with an auxiliary battery works out very well. And I have a connector in the wire run, with a 10' extension using the same connectors, so when I put the winch on the trailer all I have to do is put the extension in and can power the winch that way.

Ray - Sounds like a good plan.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Ray Cecil

Re: Winch Mount Options

https://www.powerstream.com/battery-isolator.htm

Seems affordable and sounds like it does the job. Anyone care to comment???

1988 F250 Supercab Longbed 7.3 IDI, C6, 1356, GEARVENDORS, 4.10 Sterling with autolocker

1986 F150 302, C6, 9" 2.75, Wood Flatbed

Gary Lewis

Re: Winch Mount Options

Administrator

That is essentially the Cole Hersee isolator, but with slightly different spec's and a lower price. Go for it.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

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