Rear winch and/or trailer winch how many of you are running one?

[Red Beard]

I am in the process of building my rig and trailer. I have 3 new in box winches sitting in my garage. One of them I purchased for the truck for the front. The other 2 I actually won in a raffle at an off road meet. The wife and I travel solo a lot into the marshy areas if the Texas coast line frequently. Having multiple means of getting out of a sticky situation is good security for me even though some may think it is overkill.

The 8k winch that I purchased is going to live in the front bumper for general recovery use. It is a Travler winch with synthetic line from TSC. I know it is not a big name winch but I have 3 other winches of the same make on other rigs/equipment and they have treated me well.

The larger of the 2 that I won is a 10k Bad Lands winch that I am going to spoil with synthetic line. Not the greatest nut I have almost nothing in it ($30 worth of raffle tickets). O there guys that I wheel with run them on their rigs and swear by them for the price. I also have a friend that makes salvaged metal art for a living an has one on his trailer ad uses it daily and has had no issues at all over the last 3-4 years. I am pretty sure it is going to be mounted in the rear of my truck where the factory spare tire would live. This will allow an extraction from the rear of myself or another member of my group without having to turn my rig around. It will also slow me to drag things onto my flat bed trailer that I use quite often.

The 3rd winch is an Venom 4K ATV winch with synthetic line. I am going to install that one on the back of my off road trailer. This one is probably never going to be used but it will be there just in case. In a situation where I possibly bog the truck down and the only extraction is from the rear I can uncouple the trailer and drag it away from the truck and then safely recovery the truck.

I give you all that info to ask you guys these questions.
1) How many of you actually run a rear mounted winch?
2) Have you ever had a event arise where you wish you had a rear winch?
3) Do you have a winch on your trailer?
4) Have you ever wished your trailer had a rear winch?
5) Am I just a nut?
6) What else am I going to do with 2 nearly free winches?

 

[58-fc170]

A front and rear winch are never a bad idea as long as you have the space. Just make sure you size the cables appropriately for the distance from the battery.

Once I find a second warn m8000 for a good price it will be bolted on the mount I made in the rear of my project truck.

Now if you start mounting side winches.....................

 

[Red Beard]

A front and rear winch are never a bad idea as long as you have the space. Just make sure you size the cables appropriately for the distance from the battery.

Once I find a second warn m8000 for a good price it will be bolted on the mount I made in the rear of my project truck.

Now if you start mounting side winches.....................

Yes the size of the cables is very important this is a great point!

Being that I weld and fabricate for a living I don't often even think about mentioning stuff like that. I keep spools of welding lead on hand at all times in various gauges. I just grab what I need off of them for projects like this pretty sure 2/0 will handle the load at this distance.

Funny you mention side winches my previous rock crawler had one mounted to the cage top center behind the cab. Used it in off camber situations to prevent rolling over.
Actually had 4 winches on that rig. One for recovery, a suck down winches on both axles to keep the suspension loaded on climbs/decents and the pivot winch on the cage.

That Forward control is awesome by the way, love it.

 

[Longshot270]

I can't even count the number of times I wish I had a winch in the bed or back bumper of trucks. It is usually easier to back out of a bad situation than go forward into fresh trouble or for pulling stuff in a utility application. This is especially true at the coast when a recovery point is either a dune, marsh or ocean. Luckily they make winch baskets for receiver hitches. Since you are a fabricator, I'd make a single winch plate for the 10k and a sturdy 2" hitch on each end. Then you can either run two sets of power wire or one long lead that can reach each end.

I also know what you mean by putting a winch on the back of a trailer to move it away. I had to do that the old fashioned way in my last trip to Matagorda since my jeep is also prone to bogging out when pulling my trailer through deep sand.

My recommendation on a trailer would be to put the winch on the front so it could be used to pull stuff into the trailer like a flat bed trailer and run a cable guide with roller or fairlead for if you want to use the back for recovery winching.

 

[Red Beard]

I can't even count the number of times I wish I had a winch in the bed or back bumper of trucks. It is usually easier to back out of a bad situation than go forward into fresh trouble or for pulling stuff in a utility application. This is especially true at the coast when a recovery point is either a dune, marsh or ocean. Luckily they make winch baskets for receiver hitches. Since you are a fabricator, I'd make a single winch plate for the 10k and a sturdy 2" hitch on each end. Then you can either run two sets of power wire or one long lead that can reach each end.

I also know what you mean by putting a winch on the back of a trailer to move it away. I had to do that the old fashioned way in my last trip to Matagorda since my jeep is also prone to bogging out when pulling my trailer through deep sand.

My recommendation on a trailer would be to put the winch on the front so it could be used to pull stuff into the trailer like a flat bed trailer and run a cable guide with roller or fairlead for if you want to use the back for recovery winching.

You know the exact areas I am talking about sounds like.

I have used the winch carriers before and never much cared for them. The truck always seems to get hung up in such a way that you can't get them in the receiver.

The trailer I am referring to will be a purpose built enclosed camp trailer with a RTT on top of it that I am scratch building. It will have its own batteries to power the winch. I think the winch hard mounted to the back is the best option on it. Great suggestions though thanks.

 

[Longshot270]

I've got a thread on here somewhere with my trailer build. It is an ongoing project...

 

[Red Beard]

I've got a thread on here somewhere with my trailer build. It is an ongoing project...

I'll have to check it out.

 

[Matt4Runner]

How about the Hi-Lift recovery Kit? http://www.hi-lift.com/accessories/off-road-kit.html I have one but I've never used it. I need to get a long length of chain to use with it since a recovery strap will just stretch.

 

[canadianoverlanders]

1) How many of you actually run a rear mounted winch? No. I wish I did on my Jeep. I do have a 3000lb winch on my Argo 8x8 that can be quickly and easily moved to the rear receiver and have used it multiple times.
2) Have you ever had a event arise where you wish you had a rear winch? YES YES YES....too many times.
3) Do you have a winch on your trailer? I am considering it, but have to think it through better.
4) Have you ever wished your trailer had a rear winch? No, honestly I never thought it through that far.
5) Am I just a nut? My kind of nut.
6) What else am I going to do with 2 nearly free winches? Practice self recovery in a variety of situations, Lift your wife car, put a Iron Cross bumper on it and put a winch on her car , and call her the recovery unit!

 

[Red Beard]

How about the Hi-Lift recovery Kit? http://www.hi-lift.com/accessories/off-road-kit.html I have one but I've never used it. I need to get a long length of chain to use with it since a recovery strap will just stretch.

I have one of those. South Texas salt marshes have very few anchor points. Usually my Hi-Lift along with my spare tire are buried in the ground as an anchor point. Thanks for commenting this it is a viable solution in some situations.

1) How many of you actually run a rear mounted winch? No. I wish I did on my Jeep. I do have a 3000lb winch on my Argo 8x8 that can be quickly and easily moved to the rear receiver and have used it multiple times.
2) Have you ever had a event arise where you wish you had a rear winch? YES YES YES....too many times.
3) Do you have a winch on your trailer? I am considering it, but have to think it through better.
4) Have you ever wished your trailer had a rear winch? No, honestly I never thought it through that far.
5) Am I just a nut? My kind of nut.
6) What else am I going to do with 2 nearly free winches? Practice self recovery in a variety of situations, Lift your wife car, put a Iron Cross bumper on it and put a winch on her car , and call her the recovery unit!

Pretty sure the wife would kill me if I started modifications on her truck as well. Her rig is every bit as capable as mine and it would be a great idea. Still pretty sure she'd kill me though. Like you sense of humor thanks for the comment.

 

[Longshot270]

There's also the hand winch and rear trailer anchor point.