I'm moving my shop and need to tow my cars a couple hundred miles. I have a trailer but no winch. My cars are drivers, so I don't want to spend big bucks on a winch that will only be used if my old stuff breaks down. How small a winch can I get away with? My heaviest car is a 56 Olds.
I have always chose based on 1/2 the weight of the trailer capacity. Remember, a winch rating is on the FIRST turn around the drum. After that, the capacity rating drops.
3500 lb Superwinch has worked for me for almost 10 years. Mustangs, Bronco, Roadrunner, 36 Fords, and even an F250 Diesel Supercab.
I have an old [like really old] 1 ton winch on my trailer , I've drug cars w/flat tires out of buildings & loaded them... been plenty for me ! dave
Small winch is fine to pull a roller onto a trailer. I have a little 2000 lb-er that does ok for me. It has a short duty cycle motor so it won't run for 20 minutes straight.. But, remember your not lifting that 5000 lb car, just rolling it.
I use to have a cheepo Harbor Freight winch that I used for a few years but it finally gave up. I bit the bullet and got a Warn 9000 lbs winch. Around $600 and it hasn't gave me any problems at all. Pulled out a couple cars that were buried to the frame and worked great. Whatever you get, if your gonna use it on a regular basis I recomend hooking it up to be charged from your tow vehicle will your traveling Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
I put a Harbor Freight 8000# winch on my car trailer. Bought the 3 year free replacement policy and spent under 300 clams. Ive had really bad luck with HF electical stuff so I Figured with the warrenty I would at least have a working winch for 3 years. Its stood up to occasional use for about 8 years now. I had to go drag a buddies 3/4 ton Dodge crew cab diesel home the other day and it snatched it up as good as any others ive loaded.
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