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Went out to our local swap meet today and was visiting with fellas on their car hauler winches. Didn't see any HF today (have before though). Take away was the HF winches are plenty strong enough but just don't have the functionality of the better winches. I was just going to get the 12K pound version for $400 on sale, but consistent advice was to go for a WARN 5K for about $500. Have you guys found 5K pounds is strong enough?

No experience with that particular winch, but a snatch block and 2 or 3 runs of cable make a huge difference in the load-pulling capability of any winch. Every extra loop of cable in the sheaves adds the capacity of the winch to the total pull, while reducing the speed. A 3-line pull on a 5K winch turns it into a 15K capacity, at 1/3 the speed.
Jerry

Good idea Jerry, when I got a heavy pull, at least a twin pulley would be a good compromise between rigging time and power, and also may be able to get to the back of the trailer if I double up the cable.

In one of my past lives I was a crane operator for E&J Gallo Winery in Livingston California. It was a Grove rubber-tired rig with a 40 foot 3-section main beam and a 10 foot jib. The single line lift capacity was 7K pounds, or a 4-line capacity of 20K. In any lift or pull situation, the rigging is more time-consuming and more important that the actual pull. Loose or snapped cables have a nasty habit of doing a lot of whiplash damage.

Recovering wrecked and/or overturned 18-wheelers with a Holmes 650 twin boom wrecker with a 35 ton belly winch was fun, too!
Jerry

I bought the HF 12K winch. I don't normally trust the quality of HF stuff but my reasoning in this case was that a winch rated @ 12K should be OK pulling a 3-4K car/truck. I've used it several times with minor issues. The main problem I've had with it is they cut corners with the size of the housing. Once you play out the cable you'll never get it all back on the spool. It'll bind on the housing. I had to use a come along to winch the cable back out to use the winch. I ended up cutting about 12' of cable off to get it to wind back in without binding. Even with that I have to leave about 4' flopping on the bed of my trailer to keep it from binding.

It doesn't take much of a winch to winch a vehicle up an incline. Last summer a solenoid went out on my Ramsey worm gear winch, so I bolted a hand winch on the front of my trailer because I had bought a 550 GMC that was on a property where the tenant had been evicted.

https://plus.google.com/photos/1081...7331221346&oid=108197707187186692269

It wasn't fun, but I got the 8,000 truck winched on the trailer without a snatch block. My biggest problem of the day was trailer lights.

When I bought the winch years ago, it was on a receiver that a off roader used to pull himself out with. I put the winch back on the receiver and welded a receiver hitch on the front of the trailer. Now I keep the winch in a shed and only put it on the trailer when I need it. I use aircraft tow rope instead of cable. It spools better and I don't worry about wire coming through my gloves.

https://plus.google.com/photos/1081...2045519218&oid=108197707187186692269

I carry a snatch block, but I never have used it.

Levelwind, levelwind, levelwind. It'll make your cable all fit and last longer too!!

Kenneth, maybe gravity is not as severe up Fredericksburg way as it is down here in Houston. If you hadn't shown us the pic's, we would never believe you got that big boy on the trailer with a hand winch! I can't even pull my partially floating boat up on wet carpets with mine. You must have had some come-alongs or a tractor pushing from behind ? If not that would save me about $475.

It was pretty close to Houston, It was a guy in Spring that had to get rid of a bunch of stuff that he was hoarding, It actually was a hand winch I bought in Germany the previous November at a going out of business sale. I was fascinated by the way it was built and I figured it would come in handy some day and it did. We had no other pulling devices such as come alongs. It was a hot day in August and I sweated a lot but I got it done. A bought the old GMC parts truck from the same guy. I also bought a complete 55 GMC 550 Fire truck from him. I hired a guy to haul it with a gooseneck. Fire trucks are pretty heavy and I would have to hired a wrecker to get it loaded on a regular flatbed.

Unloading at our place would have been no problem at our place. We would have done it like we unloaded my wrecker.

https://plus.google.com/photos/1081...8482567858&oid=108197707187186692269

I would suppose a fire truck would weigh about as much as the wrecker.

We have a little electric winch that slides in the receiver hitch but rarely use it.
Instead we use these all the time, light, extremely reliable, and strong.
www.lug-all.com

The model we use most is rated at 1,500 lb double pull, and is usually enough for winching something on a trailer if a decent angle on the ramps. A stronger one wouldn't be a bad thing but they get bigger and or less cable on the drum for the higher ratings.
Also use them for all sorts of lifting and such, removed and installed my 235, a cab, transmission, and so on with a Lug-All.

Just my two cents:

Here's my winch set up It's a 9,000-lb Superwinch. It's set up like ken's -- on a receiver so I only mount it on the trailer when I actually am using it. It almost never gets wet or exposed to weather aand it works great. The cable is still in great shape with no irish pennants ... yet.

I've used it to recover a lot of dead trucks, tractors and farm equipment. I use the snatch block whenever I can to reduce stress on the cable and make it last longer. In my Navy safety training, I've seen what damage a parted cable can do and I like having legs

So with that in mind, IMHO I would echo those who advocate not scrimping on tools that can kill or maim you if they fail. Winching a dead truck onto a trailer may look simple enough but the stresses are considerable and I would not want to trust my safety to tools I bought in a tent or from the lowest bidder. My recommendation, for what it's worth, is to take a deep breath, get out the check book and buy a bigger winch than you think you need from a brand name manufacturer. And then take care if it. It will take care of you.

When it comes to dragging thousands of pounds of dead steel up and down inclines, steel cables under tension, and the possibility of being maimed or killed, why are we even talking about buying cheap junk from China? Just askin'

I like that setup on that gooseneck. I don't own a gooseneck any more. Having the winch up high like that gives you a better angle on pulling up ramps. I don't scare very easily, but cables scare me. Back in the from as far as I can remember which is the late 40's until probably the 80's or so everything was done with winches, especially out in the oil patch. When they break, its like a chainsaw massacre. And Texas saw a lot of that in those days. This is why I use the aircraft tow rope and why I have a Ramsey Worm gear winch which is overkill.

As far as Chinese tools, I avoid them at all cost. Last August I had an employee to use a Chinese pry bar that I didn't even know we had. Someone probably bought it at Auto Zone or somewhere like that when they needed one. Its the kind that look like about a 3' long screw driver. The tip broke like glass, my guy lost his balance and landed on his shoulder. He has been drawing disability since August 4 and had to have shoulder surgery. My workman's comp is out about $60,000 so far and the end is not in sight. And I will wind up paying for it with the experience modifier being raised on my Workman's comp.

Ken -- Yes Sir, High is good. I wish mine was just a little higher as we usually end up rubbing the lip of the beaver tail on most pulls.

Cables scare me, too. When I see the first hint of degradation in mine, I am going to replace it.

Tiny brought up an interesting issue of the cable not fitting back on the drum after it pays out. Not sure what that issue is, but with my winch, recoveries/pulls onto the the trailer can get ugly, but the cable all fits. As soon as I get home after a haul, before I put the winch away, I always pay out all the cable and carefully rewind it back on the drum to avoid binds or overwraps.

Good advice fellas, it's not worth saving a couple hundred bucks for a serious injury. I was thinking like Tiny, if I got one that was 3X stronger than I ever really needed, it would be safe...the learning from this weekend wasn't so much about safety, it was more of the hassles due to limited functionality, particularly if you're working by yourself a lot, which I usually do. One guy had a Superwinch, but I had just never heard of it. I see you can actually buy parts for it on Amazon. That's a nice setup you have John. He used his so much, he had the winch and battery enclosed in a tool box to keep it out of the weather and locked up. I'm never going to get into the Big Bolt category like you guys, so a 5K Warn or Superwinch should suit me fine.

http://www.amazon.com/685000-PullzA...72&sr=1-2&keywords=warn+pullzall

I got this one for all purpose use. I have used it to pull a truck onto a trailer before. The reason I got it was since I work alone most of the time, I need something like this mostly around the shop. I have several 3/4" concrete anchors in my shop floor and several screw-in eyelets that allow me to pull things around either from just outside the garage door or dead weight inside.

You can also hang it from the ceiling for pulling engines or whatever you need to do. I dont use it much, but it has been worth it for the more lightweight stuff. If I had a vehicle trailer, there is no doubt I would spend whatever it took to get a good winch. I have seen guys get hurt really bad using a come-a-long when the cable broke. Nice part about electricity, you don't have to be standing right in the wrong place!

Superwinch has been a quality company for a long time.
I am a single car transporter with both open & enclosed trailers, I have the 5k Superwinch on the Featherlite open trailer, mounted in the tool box & have well over 1 million miles on it. (that is a lot of winching) I replace the relays one time since purchasing it in 2006. Superwinch also has a very good tech support dept, I have talked to them many times over the years.
The Ameri-lite enclosed trailer has the 9k H.F. Badlands winch & so far no problems (a little over a year). With both I use the wireless remotes & that is the greatest thing ever.
I also do NOT use a battery on the trailer. All three of my trucks have dual batteries, so I ran cable to the rear & installed 175 amp (NASCAR) quick disconnects at the rear bumpers of all the trucks & the front of both trailers. These are available at NAPA. When I plug in the lights, I also plug in the winch, this also give me heavy enough cable for the power inverter & compressor in the enclosed trailer.

Do not forget to install the circuit breakers in the battery line!

Bill, have you upgraded to a wireless remote or did your Superwinch come with one originally? When I got mine ('04?) it wasn't available yet. I'd really like to cut my tether ...

John,
Yes, I did upgrade it myself, They are available now from Summit racing. These are much better than the old one that was an A.M. signal, they changed to an F.M. signal & had a devil of a time getting the FCC to ok the new one. It is a little pricey & you will have to change the plug in your winch to the newer plug, The tech guys sent me the new plug along with wiring diagram. You might look into buying the Harbor Freight wireless controller & see about wiring that one in, I believe it is about $150.00 cheaper

The wireless is great, you can steer a non-op from far away & can walk around the vehicle to make sure everything is aligned without stopping the winch!

John
How high would you recomend the winch be located at, off the bed of the gooseneck trailer?
I would think that being too high, it would cause problems once the vehicle was on board the trailer and needed to be moved farther foreward.
Wish this topic would have been sooner, because I bought a new HF 12,000# winch last fall just for the trailers.
Just from reading here, the warn and superwinch are the way to go.
But at a 6 ton rating and used very little, I would think it would be just fine, if you know what you are doing.

John, you also may remember me loading the chaulk board at KC two years ago. It was not a pretty sight, but no damage done to truck or trailer.

Don

Thanks Bill -- I'll look into that. It would be nice to not start and stop so much during a recovery.

Don,

I've switched my winch around now (from what you see in the photo) so it mounts to the front of the receiver tube, not the back. Mounted the way you see it in the picture renders 2 feet of deck space unusable. New way puts it in the space between the tow vehicle and the uprights (under the upper deck).

As far as mounting height, I guess it would depend on what you are planning on winching mostly and how far the attach point is off the ground. Too high and you will be lifting the tow as it approaches the winch fairlead rollers (or try to bend the bumper up on a vehicle if you've attached the hook to the axle or suspension). Too low and it will rub the cable too much on the lip of the beaver tail/end of the trailer as the tow approaches the ramps. Mine is set about a foot up from deck level. Which usually works okay and doesn't rub the beaver tail lip too much. You could mount a roller at the lip but I didn't because it would interfere with other things I use the trailer for (like pallet jacks loading pallets of vegetables, for example) so I live with a little bit of rubbing. So far, so good -- my cable is still pretty new looking after 10 years.

I can take some pictures this weekend, if you like of the whole rig in action to illustrate the set up -- Hambone and I will be recovering a '51 GMC 450.

I think a 12,000-lb winch should do just about anything you need to do with your rig.

I *do* remember that loadout -- One of the many things to love about a gooseneck -- You never have to worry about a vehicle running off the front of the trailer ...

JM

The HF winches are HIGHLY RATED and many off road mags have tested them and put them on par with WARN and other name brands. Most of the magazine reviews are from 2011... but many forums also give them good reviews.

I pull my 8k truck up a 60% grade with a 5k winch... but rolling stock vs dead weight are two separate things all together. I use a remote and walk on the side of the truck with a chock in case things go south.

Almost all of the winches need to use a snatch block.. the winch only makes rated pull at the very end of the cable (1 or 2 wraps on the spool.

My new baby arrived today, all the way from Branson, MO. It's a 53 3600 (I need to get better with photos like you guys). The fella I bought it from is a Texan that buys trucks in Kansas/MO and sells 'em in Texas. I got it as a parts truck for my 48 resto. Any way, guess what winch he had on his car hauler....yep, a 10K HF special. His second, about 4 yrs old and still going strong. He uses it 1-2/wk, and said he pulled the frame apart on a 50 Buick trying to load w/o tires. The remote (wired) was about 25 ft so allowed operator to get out of harms way. Another data point fellas for your decision. Just be careful as John describes, and use good judgment.

It's good to know that HF has some quality to it now. But ... the other thing about my Superwinch is that it is made here in the USA (In New England, like me!)



John

As I stated in an earlier post, I have both Superwinch & HF(Badlands) & have had good luck with both. I am very easy on them though as I only winch things that roll on inflated tires because I do not want to scratch either trailer. The thing about Superwinch that is hard to stomach is the price is 4 times the price of the HF for the same rating. I try to buy American as much as possible, but an extra $750.00 is too much for me. This is why I decided to try the HF when I added the second trailer.

If the Warn, Superwinch and the HF were all the exact same price for the exact same model which one would you buy the then?

Personally, if the prices were the same, I would buy the Superwinch because of my experiences with their technical/ customer service dept. They are very easy to talk to, knowledgeable & even when I wanted to do some "off the wall" custom stuff, they were willing to offer opinions on which ways might be best.

Bill, your reason and many others are exactly my point. If they were all the same price, I can't imagine anyone choosing the HF over the other brands mentioned, especially when the thread centered on safety. Brand support is right up there too. If you are going to make the investment and prepared to spend 5 or $600.00 or more, why wouldn't you spend a little more to get the reputation, support and safety history that comes with it, especially when you are dragging heavy stuff on and off a trailer.

Speaking of No Name stuff, I am faced with paying over $30,000 a year in increased workman's comp claims because a No Name pry bar broke and the guy that was using it has been drawing workman's comp since Aug. 4 of last year. He finally had shoulder surgery last month and the end is still not in sight. If I knew who made the thing or who sold it, I would file suit for the increase in workman's comp premiums. The companies that travel around selling tools always set up shop next door to us. The pry bar had been around our shop for several years and I assume someone needed one and bought it off of one of the tool trucks. But without any name, I am just SOL. I could have bought the same pry bar for less than $20 and have a company that is owned by WW Grainger stand behind it. http://www.zoro.com/i/G0762666/

I have litigated at least 25 matters in the years I have been in business and recovered a settlement on every one of them.

Buying the best available tools has always been a thing with me. I saved for a whole month to buy a Snap On L710 Ratchet about 55 years ago, and I still buy what I think is the best available. Maybe just plain pride of ownership has something to do with it. I shoot a Weatherby Mark V with a Zeiss Victory scope. I'm sure I could make do with a gun that cost a couple of thousand less.

crenwelge is right on. Recently an employee at a shop that I "frequent" had a piece of hammer break/chip off and hit an artery in the bend of his arm. It turned out to be a "mess" with the workers comp and hospital bills. Now, the insurance company wants to know who made the hammer! No markings on it so you can figure the rest of it out. Cren is right on.

Some people are offended if you says its 'black' instead of 'onyx'... good luck trying to please all of the people all of the time. I won't (in this forum) get into why 'USA' production is really not all that people think it is.. so on topic I will stay.

I would take a HF winch for multiple reasons.

First, they have a no questions asked 90 day return.

Second, they have a no questions asked 2 year warranty.

Third, HF most likely has a store nearby so exercising said warranty is a simple phone call, get a return code, take broken unit to store, get new unit. How much will it cost to ship a WARN/SuperWinch for service on your dime? How many weeks are you out a winch?

Warn is only a 1 yr waranty (I didn't look at all the different winches).

The original poster asked about capacity, not quality or cost. I think we've strayed enough and beaten this topic to death.