winch recommendations for my trailer...

[jmz]

Hi All,

I'm working down the slippery slope and just purchased an enclosed trailer and will be adding a winch.

Are there any brands to stay away from?

Any brands that are recommended?

How big of a winch should I buy?

I will primarlily use it for the 914/6 race car but 74 911 street car at times as well.

Thanks,
Jay

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by jmz

Hi All,

I'm working down the slippery slope and just purchased an enclosed trailer and will be adding a winch.

Are there any brands to stay away from?

Any brands that are recommended?

How big of a winch should I buy?

I will primarlily use it for the 914/6 race car but 74 911 street car at times as well.

Thanks,
Jay

Most seem to like Superwinch or warn, w/ synthetic rope.

sizing depends, most buy oversize to be able to pull the car w/o rolling wheels ie after an incident that makes the car undriveable. So they choose 3.5k to 4k models

If the car is rolling straight on it's wheels a 2k will be fine, to pull a rolling 2700# car up on to a typical Trailex only takes ~500# which can be generated by a hand crank easily enough.

[Hams930T]

I am running this: Bulldog Winch Trailer Winch - Synthetic Rope - Hawse Fairlead - 4,400 lbs Bulldog Winch Electric Winch BDW15020

I have it mounted in my battery cabinet on a plate. I am also using the wireless remote option for it which works really well.

I love that I don't have to play Dukes of Hazard in my car when loading it into the trailer. I put my car on the ramp, hook up the winch, and pull it in the trailer. With the winch I can load the car into my trailer by myself.

Anyhow- a 4K winch is ideal. Keep in mind you're pulling it uphill. Also I would look at synthetic rope option so it won't tear up your trailer's floor. I would make sure you get at least 4k pull so you have plenty of reserve capacity in your winch in case you damage your car and need it.

I am running a 28' Intech Icon trailer. My base cabinets are configured on the left wall so that I can keep a 4-wheeler in the trailer as well. As such, my winch is mounted in the lower cabinet on a reinforced plate. I run a pulley to angle the rope down the floor and the ramp.

Best of luck.

Chris.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Hams930T

*****
Anyhow- a 4K winch is ideal. Keep in mind you're pulling it uphill. Also I would look at synthetic rope option so it won't tear up your trailer's floor. I would make sure you get at least 4k pull so you have plenty of reserve capacity in your winch in case you damage your car and need it.

*****

The force needed in the line is sin(angle of the ramp wrt to the ground

for a 2500# car w/ a ramp angle of 9.5°(20" bed ht w/ 12' ramp) the line force is 417#

[Hams930T]

Originally Posted by Bill Verburg

The force needed in the line is sin(angle of the ramp wrt to the ground

for a 2500# car w/ a ramp angle of .167°(20" bed ht w/ 12' ramp) the line force is 417#

Nice. Like you said yourself - having additional capacity in the event something happens to the car is quite useful. When looking at winch prices in this range, there is little increase when going up to a 4000lb or higher winch.

In my case, the winch works really well for the two cars I tow. One is a 2790lbs and the other is 3000lbs. The winch handles both cars easily.

The wireless remote control is REALLY handy as I can walk along side the car and make minor wheel adjustments as I am loading it into the trailer. This allows me to load the car 100% by myself without a ground guide if need-be. I would encourage you to select a model that has the option for wireless remote. A wired remote can be cumbersome, especially if your car happens to run over it! (tell me how I know).

- Chris.

[Cory M]

People tend to go really big with their winches. I've got a little atv winch, I think it's 1200#, and it works fine. The bigger winches are faster though. Wireless remote is nice to have. If I ever have to replace my cable I'll go synthetic. Most of the winches come with a lot of extra cable which can make it easier for them to get bound up. We usually pull the cable out to the length we need (+ a little) and cut off the excess for smoother operation.

[Plavan]

I have been using this for a few years. It's great. I bought the wireless controller for it also- Very nice addition- no wires, and you can direct the car easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-1145220-Utility-4500lbs-2046kg/dp/B003COQAKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481043548&sr=8-1&keywords=superwinch%2Bterra%2B45&th=1

[jmz]

Thanks all. This has been helpful.

I only wish I had asked the same question prior to buying my trailer. My 914/6 is so low it would likely give a cockroach a headache after driving over it. I really should have bought a trailer with an aggressive dovetail.

I purchased a used Dominator XT trailer and it is a nice trailer with cabinets, aluminum floor, air conditioner etc. ($6,500.00) I largely purchased it to make it easier to load and unload well I kind of screwed that one up.

I need to most likely chock the wheels disconnect the trailer, jack the tongue up and either modify the ramp (more on that later) and/or purchase some race ramps. I did get the car loaded yesterday after jacking the tongue up and mocking up some ramps out of wood so it's doable but damn I wanted to avoid the hassle. The 911 that isn't quite as low only took a little finesse to load and unload but the 914 race car is tough...

Anyway, I'm going to look for about a 4K winch and I'll either purchase or make a synthetic cable out of amsteel or something.

[jmz]

Originally Posted by Plavan

I have been using this for a few years. It's great. I bought the wireless controller for it also- Very nice addition- no wires, and you can direct the car easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-1145220-Utility-4500lbs-2046kg/dp/B003COQAKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481043548&sr=8-1&keywords=superwinch%2Bterra%2B45&th=1

Looks like a pretty good deal. Chad, can you tell me which wireless remote you ordered?

I'm going to try and find the manufacturer website and look as well.

THanks,
Jay

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by jmz

Thanks all. This has been helpful.

I only wish I had asked the same question prior to buying my trailer. My 914/6 is so low it would likely give a cockroach a headache after driving over it. I really should have bought a trailer with an aggressive dovetail.

I purchased a used Dominator XT trailer and it is a nice trailer with cabinets, aluminum floor, air conditioner etc. ($6,500.00) I largely purchased it to make it easier to load and unload well I kind of screwed that one up.

I need to most likely chock the wheels disconnect the trailer, jack the tongue up and either modify the ramp (more on that later) and/or purchase some race ramps. I did get the car loaded yesterday after jacking the tongue up and mocking up some ramps out of wood so it's doable but damn I wanted to avoid the hassle. The 911 that isn't quite as low only took a little finesse to load and unload but the 914 race car is tough...

Anyway, I'm going to look for about a 4K winch and I'll either purchase or make a synthetic cable out of amsteel or something.

Some guys just carry around some lumber to drive the rear wheels of the truck up on.

Raceramps make some very nice lt wt ramps that can extend the stock trailer ramps


ramp headaches are usually the result of a low ride height+the configuration of the front spoiler
some guys use a quickly detachable front end



I need to use 3.5" Raceramp extensions

[jmz]

Hadn't thought of elevating rear wheels of the truck.

[Plavan]

Originally Posted by jmz

Looks like a pretty good deal. Chad, can you tell me which wireless remote you ordered?

I'm going to try and find the manufacturer website and look as well.

THanks,
Jay

Here you go.

Superwinch 06716 12VDC Certus Wireless System for Terra Series ATV Winch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CE3SOJK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[KTL]

I inherited wood ramps (2x12 stacked and staggered along their length) with the 16' Anderson beaver tail steel partial deck trailer that was part of a package deal I got with my racecar purchase. Didn't take long for me to get sick of futzing with the wood ramps each time I had to load/unload the car. Plus the friends at the track kept joking with me about burning my ramps for campfire firewood when I wasn't looking. So I did what Bill shows on the blue car's front bumper and made mine semi-quick release-able with some latches and springs.

Quick Release Bumper- Feedback?

Regarding the winch, totally agree with the rest of the guys that having one is really nice. Never liked driving up the trailer. It's not that it was difficult. Just bothersome. Had to make sure the wood ramps were lined up right, on sturdy ground, go up easy so you don't shoot the wood away with the rear wheels, slip the clutch a bit as you go......... A bit clunky and annoying. Especially since my trailer ramps were the steel "ladder" type. So the car would go thump-thump-thump-thump up the ramps.

Getting the winch was the way to go. Car goes up the ramps nice & slow, can guide it with your hand inside the window on the steering wheel as I remote control (wired) the winch operation. I got a 2000 lb Superwinch model for a good sale price at etrailer.com

[jmz]

[QUOTE=KTL;9389039]I inherited wood ramps (2x12 stacked and staggered along their length) with the 16' Anderson beaver tail steel partial deck trailer that was part of a package deal I got with my racecar purchase. Didn't take long for me to get sick of futzing with the wood ramps each time I had to load/unload the car. Plus the friends at the track kept joking with me about burning my ramps for campfire firewood when I wasn't looking. So I did what Bill shows on the blue car's front bumper and made mine semi-quick release-able with some latches and springs."



-I can clear as I drive up but as the front comes up onto the flat part of the trailer the car's pan would bottom out.

I purchased some race ramps from Jegs and got a great deal on the 11' ramps with 11" rise.

[KTL]

Wow, 11' long ramps. I assume you store those on the trailer under the car?

[jmz]

Originally Posted by KTL

Wow, 11' long ramps. I assume you store those on the trailer under the car?

They are 2 piece ramps that fit together like a puzzle.

[Plays with cars]

My new trailer shows up in about a week and I suspect I'm going to need ramp extensions. Looks like many people are choosing the RaceRamp solution as opposed to attaching extended ramps to the trailer door. Why? Price is similar and at least in my thinking the attached ramps are one less thing to hassle with when loading and unloading. Am I missing an advantage of the RaceRamps?

Something like this:

[jmz]

Originally Posted by Plays with cars

My new trailer shows up in about a week and I suspect I'm going to need ramp extensions. Looks like many people are choosing the RaceRamp solution as opposed to attaching extended ramps to the trailer door. Why? Price is similar and at least in my thinking the attached ramps are one less thing to hassle with when loading and unloading. Am I missing an advantage of the RaceRamps?

Something like this:

If your trailer has a dovetail you may not need the extensions... It really depends on how low your car is. My 914/6 racecar is pretty damn low. I played around with building an extension that folds down but I think for me the race ramps will work better (hopefully).

[jmz]

Originally Posted by Plays with cars

My new trailer shows up in about a week and I suspect I'm going to need ramp extensions. Looks like many people are choosing the RaceRamp solution as opposed to attaching extended ramps to the trailer door. Why? Price is similar and at least in my thinking the attached ramps are one less thing to hassle with when loading and unloading. Am I missing an advantage of the RaceRamps?

Something like this:

Also, Your PNG image isn't displaying so not sure what "something like this" is...

[Walt Fricke]

You can save money on your winch if you purchase one from Harbor Freight - they sell one for maybe $70 which comes with a remote, no less. It works great. A bit slow, but it does the job. Meant I suppose for ATVs.

I previously used one in the same price range which was designed to hook over the ball of a bumper hitch, but its cable wasn't long enough for my 42' (overall) trailer and I had to use it in two stages with another piece of cable. The one with the remote has just enough cable from its mount up at the front bulkhead to about where my board ramps start behind the tail gate. And my tool box rolls right over it (I do have the box on pneumatic tires maybe 9" high).

When my HF one had a cable snarl (operator error), I just replaced it rather than fiddling around getting a new cable.