I've been thinking about getting a winch to attach to the front of my car trailer. How hard will it be to get power to the winch? Is there a large power wire in the trailer plug? Or would I have to get a seperate battery for the car trailer?
Brian

I am guessing a separate deep cycle battery.

I would say it depends on the size of your winch. There is a #10 power wire in the plug. I would stay away from a seperate battery. We have them on our big trailers and they are a pain.

We are switching over to a welding cable and quick connect setup from the battery of our pickups to the trailer. They are easy to unhook and the batteries are always charged. I have seen some guys simply use jumper cables.

If you decide to use a seperate battery, and you charge it off the truck, be sure to put a circuit breaker (auto reseting fuse) in the line or you could melt the wire if the battery gets weak and you continue to use the winch.

I run #2 welding cable front and rear with a quick connect plug, works great for my jumper cables, winch on car hauler trailer and electric over hydraulic dump trailer. Only way to go, I hate batteries on trailers, always dead when you need em.

Twined #2 cable from truck Battery to the rear bumper w/ quick connect and a shorter one to the trailer, dual use- jump start from the rear and run the winch. Been running mine that way since 95.

I just used my optima deep cycle and hooked it up. i stored the battery in the cabinets and i made a quick connect so the wires are not out when not in use. i also kept a battery charger with me in case the battery went low, i got a generator for the trailer so we would just hook the battery up to it. i didn't want to go the route to connect to the truck.

I use the #10 wire in the electrical connector. I rarely use the winch, but have found that wire which has a 30amp fuse, works fine on my winch.

If I was going to be winching non rolling loads, I'd run a dedicated wire from the battery.

I just did this setup on my DMAX Dually. I replaced the front drivers side battery with a side post and top post battery. By using this style battery you can leave your stock cables the way they are. Route #2 welding cable ( purchase about 45 foot of cable ) from the top posts on the battery along the inner fender, down the firewall and back. Tie wrap the cable to the frame about every 18 inches as this cable is heavy stuff. The bumper is thick enough to drill and tap for 10/24 screws to attach the plug. Use two thick washers between the plug and bumper, this will leave a gap so you can plug you winch cable plug into your bumper plug. One you have this completed, attach the cables to your new battery. You can purchase the cable from most any welding or electrical supply store.The battery cable terminals can be found at any automotive store. I use this setup to power my 8000lb Warn winch. I also built a receiver setup on the front of my trailer so I can remove the winch when it is not in use and also to keep it from being stolen. Also if you ever get your truck stuck you can stab the winch into you truck reciever and pull yourself out of trouble. Maybe I should post some pictures of this install.

When running a direct cable from the battery, it is extremely important to fuse the cable. You can use a slow burn fuse like one from an aftermarket car audio place.

OR

You can also use a temperature based fuse, these are the kind that will auto-reset when they cool down.

I personally know of a case where someone ran a direct cable from the battery to the rear of the truck, the wire shorted out and melted all the way back to the battery before the driver was able to stop and literally cut the wire from the battery.

I'd use something like:

http://www.rpelectronics.com/Default.asp?Main=/English/OnlineCat.asp?Menu=/English/Content/Categories/CatM_26.asp%26Detail=/English/Content/Divisions/Div_26_200.asp

OR

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=14654

Andrew, your are right about the fuse, I forgot to mention I have this installed on my power lead. I also have a power cut-off switch mounted under the truck on the frame near the firewall. In addition, the entire length of both cables is shielded with the factory style black shielding. Be sure to put the shielding on the cables before installing them in the truck as it is a lot easier this way than trying to put it on after the cables are installed. I appologize for not mentioning this the first time!

whew! :)

XAMARUD1,
Do you have a picture of the plug that you attached to your bumper? Would it be something that they have at most auto parts stores?
Brian

Andrew, your are right about the fuse, I forgot to mention I have this installed on my power lead. I also have a power cut-off switch mounted under the truck on the frame near the firewall. In addition, the entire length of both cables is shielded with the factory style black shielding. Be sure to put the shielding on the cables before installing them in the truck as it is a lot easier this way than trying to put it on after the cables are installed. I appologize for not mentioning this the first time!


I'd like to see some pics of your install.

I have a battery mounted in my trailer and it is quite a pain in the ass, always dead and constantly charging it.
I am thinking of switching to having the leads come from the battery on the truck.

My two cents!!!
I have a 26' gooseneck with 4' dove and I have a 3700 pound 12V Warn Works Winch. With the minimal amount of use about 1-2/month that it gets I use a seperate battery (which I just throw on the trailer when I need it). Even with this combination the winch had no problem pulling my friends F-250 powerstroke which weighs in at 7800lbs up on the trailer.

I had originally thought of running wires but this works great for minimal use. Just remember to take the battery off and charge it when you are done. I just leave mine on a cheap black&decker trickle charger.

I only occassionally use my trailer winch, so I carry my boat battery with me when I may have need to use the winch.

BUT, I have a front receiver and removeable winch carrier on the front of my truck. To facilitate the removal, I bought a set of removal jumper cables from awdirect.com. They are 30 ft 4 ga and come with a lexan plug so they remain permanentyl connected to the batt. The reason I mention this is they come with a special adapter terminal that replaces the side post screws in the OEM cable and allow attachements of another lug. You could buy the cables, use the adapters, cut the clamps off the cables and replace with lugs. Now you have a 30' set of cables with a quick release plug you can route from the battery to the rear of the truck, use the short lead to run from the battery to the front of the truck and have plug in 12v connections on both ends.

Oh, and the best part, the whole rig is only $69. For another $20 you can buy a pair of plugs so you can rig up multiple plug in accessories. And if you are like me, you might even want to get a second set and have the plug in jumper cables!

I have a electric winch on my boat trailer. Boat wieghs all off 8000 pounds. Go to a West Marine store and you can buy the cable and fuse in a kit. Its a replacement kit for a "powerwinch" trailer winch but it will work .easy install and always ready to go, no worries about charging batteries or frying cables.