I need some big winch help.

[Lonesome7.3]

No I am not trying to get away from a fat girl. (All though they do scare me). I am trying like hell to get some good recovery equipment. I have the tow rigs now I need trailers. Once I have them, I will need some big winches to mount on them. I know very little about the big boys. I want to mount one on a 53 foot flat bed that will haul heavy trucks and equipment. I need another one to mount on a 40 foot gooseneck that will haul lighter trucks and equipment. The forty footer will be towed by my F350 and the fifty three footer by a M915. So has you can see, I need some big winches capable of dragging non running loads up on the trailer decks. Should I go hydraulic or electric? Should they have their own power source or draw from the tow vehicles’ power? What are the maintenance issues I should consider? If one breaks in the middle of a recovery what options do I have to get it running and complete the recovery? What cable and material size should I be using for these types of jobs? Where should I look at as far as buying these winches? And most importantly I need a price range. I have more questions to follow, but these are a good enough start for now.

[trbankii]

I'd be looking at equipment off a tow truck. This doesn't sound like a situation where you want the little bumper mount winch the off-roaders use.

Take a look at AWDirect. Here is their Ramsey (http://www.awdirect.com/ramsey-8000-lb-hydraulic-industrial-grade-winch-series-hdp8-6-1-2quotw-drum-overwind-spool-123904/industrial-winches/) and Warn (http://www.awdirect.com/warn-9000-lb-hydraulic-industrial-grade-winch-series-30281-30281/industrial-winches/) Industrial winch pages.

[Lonesome7.3]

Thanks. I will check them out. I do want something bigger than a bumper mount.

[bl78ljb]

All the really big winches are hydraulic usually by a PTO pump, I would think an electric winch would draw too much power for what you are looking to do. Also you are way out of the league of a 12.5 Ramsey and such unless you want to go for a really slow pull with a couple of pulleys :eek: they are meant to recover a light duty truck occasionally not for regular heavy duty use.

[Beedee]

You have a clean pallet to work with.

What I would do is first come up with a plan of exactly what market you are going after and then size the trailer to what you want to haul.
There are so many configurations available, I would not even think about trying to modify something.

You will be limited by what the truck is able to haul, I don't know anything about the ex military that you picked up, but depending how it is rigged, it might not be able to haul the max on the trailer, soooooooo

Lots of the heavy haul trailers out of the oil patch would be a good match for what you want to do. They usually run a mechanical PTO powered winch that is mounted on the truck. If you want raw power to pull with, it is the way to go, but you have to be in the truck to operate.
If you were to go Hydraulic then it really opens the door to options avalible, right up to the point where you can have a wireless remote control, but you will sacrifice some power (read pull)

I'm sure some of the members that work in the Canadian oil fields could pipe in here and offer some help.

Another really good sorce of information would be some of the used equipment publications.
This is one of my favorites, there should be lots of links to follow. It is a canadian publication, but with the difference in the dollar and the down turn in the economy, it might be worth a look

http://www.supplyline.com/

They also have some pretty cool stories. I tend to read my copy cover to cover.

Feel free to PM me if you want.

Brian

[Lonesome7.3]

I agree that the big winch should be hydro. But I was hoping some one made a electric one big enough for the smaller trailer. If not, how can I mount everything on the trailer itself?

[Lonesome7.3]

Thoughts and opinions on this winch for the smaller trailer
http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/src/165ti_winch.shtml

[BigRabbitMan]

I agree that the big winch should be hydro. But I was hoping some one made a electric one big enough for the smaller trailer. If not, how can I mount everything on the trailer itself?
I don't work with winches, but I do work with hydraulics. Quick disconnect couplers are available for hydraulics just as they are for air. The hydro powered winch can be on the trailer and the pump on the tow vehicle. With the F350 I don't know what your options are for powering a Hydraulic pump, but if you can do it the hydraulic option is open.

[Lonesome7.3]

I was looking onto a wet line kit. I agree, and I think that is the way I am going to go with the big truck.

[carco]

Deweze, (spelling may be off) makes an add on hyd pump mount assy for about all trucks of any capacity to work beyond loading the bed. This is belt driven and integrates into the accessory drive belt of the engine. All one ton diesels have a kit, and a lot of tow trucks and plow trucks have used this set up if they were built on a one ton chassis, very reliable.
Landoll, National, and Trail Eze all use 10 to 20000# winches on their trailers for winching loads on board, all used by the towing industry, all very good companies. My opinion, Landoll may be the best but like trucks, depends on what you like and what problems you can put up with. bob.........................

[Lonesome7.3]

Thanks, I had not heard of that before. I will check into it.