Reciever Mounted winch or hand winch

[ldivinag]

i have had my warn 9000xdi on a portable hitch mount for over a decade.

used it maybe less then 10 times.

but one of those times required me to pull my 90 4runner SIDEWAYS on this trail that was getting muddier and muddier by the second.

i had started to slip to the left. and to the left is a cliff...

granted, my front winch mount was custom made by a family friend who operated his own welding shop. he got the shop from his father so he had been welding forever.

the cradle for the winch is off a ford f-350 frame.

then a solid piece of 2" bar was welded to the bottom of the cradle.

the front mount is bolted to the existing toyota frame. at the front of the toyota trucks are tow hooks on one side and a tow loop on the other. each one is bolted to the frame by 2 bolts.

my welder friend used the spare bolt holes so each side is held on by 3 bolts.

the crossmember that leads to the hitch receiver is trussed at all points. i made sure to tell him that.

now back to the side pull.

i ran a cable from the winch to a tree to my right side. then a tree strap held on to a clevis. from their, the cable attached to the rear tow hook on the frame.

i SLOWLY cranked the winch control. i mean i was burping that control carefully.

when i winched myself sideways about a couple feet, that was enough to then slowly drive backwards to lower myself off the trail...

whew...

came home. inspected everything. 4 bolts holding the winch to cradle still solid.

winch mount up front... looks like nothing happed.

winch lived on to pull a few more times...

best part about the removable winch? it lives in the garage. dry...


few more things:

i didnt bother using warn's red connectors. i went with the 350 amp gray anderson connectors. the warn ones are rated for like 175 amps. reading the warn manual for my winch, it says max load the winch can draw around 300 amps.

i custom made a 2/0 gauge "jumper cable" so i can run the run the winch in the rear with 25' worth. i didnt want to hard mount this since this allows me to mount the winch on another vehicle besides mine and have 25' to work with. back then, the welding cable i bought from a local welding supply store was cheap. i think the 50' was under or around $50.

 

[77cruiser77]

regardless of what you choose to do you should not be exploring like you do with no cell phone coverage without at least a shovel (noticed you said you had one, good) a Hi-Lift, a tow strap, some shackles, and some sort of other line whether it be cable or chain. Ad to this a come-a-long (more power puller recommended). This should be with you at all times whether or not you have a winch. These are the basics that'll get you out of just about everything, granted with some work.

Once you have these see what you really need and how often do you need to use recovery items. If you are going to mount a winch I feel to use a worth while Warn so you could be looking at dropping some coin. Is that money going to be well spent is all I ask, maybe with the price of a winch and set up you could get something more valuable to you.

 

[HenryJ]

I like the adaptability of the receiver mounted winch and not having to pack it all the time on a daily driver is a BIG plus too.

You can overcome some of the drawbacks by having a custom front receiver hitch built.

Mounting it up higher to improve the approach angle. Mounted firmly to withstand the forces when used for winching. I carry mine there while a travel. No need to stow it in back.

If you need to access the rear receiver and it is buried to the rails, maybe an exhaust jack is in your future. That is my plan. Raise the truck prior to the hard pull. A little digging and I can work the bag under the truck. That takes the stress off everything and gives be the clearance to move the winch to the back. With caution, I hope to never been in such a situation. Both my Highlifts have been retired to serve as trailer stabilizers now. The exhaust jack is lighter. A better option in sand and mud. Works better with limited "bumper" jack points. It might even be a little safer to operate.

My truck has cables run to both ends with quick connectors. I also bought a good heavy set of booster cables and cut the end off for a quick connector. They can be used as booster cables , or to power the winch if I slide it into another vehicles receiver. That makes any vehicle in the group that has a receiver an option for winching.

I have a Superwich mounted to my car trailer. Those same booster cables serve to power that winch when I loan out my trailer. Being able to use them to jump start a vehicle without opening the hood, or even turning to face oncoming traffic has been very handy. Those quick connect power points come in handy to attach the clips to power my air compressor too.

The front receiver can be a handy place to slide in a hitch step for working on the engine. Newer aerodynamic vehicle with the stock bumpers don't offer good footing for clumsy mechanics like me

It is all about versatility and multiple uses. That adds value to any tool you bring.

BTW, the winch and 2m radio have added to my navigators comfort zone and allowed me to go much farther than she would otherwise felt comfortable with.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I have seen at least one picture - sorry, don't remember where - of a winch mounted to a flat steel plate. This plate had hook up points for a couple of chains - via D-shackles, and the chains were attached to the back bumper via the recovery points. Power was via extension cables plugged in to an Anderson connector on the bumper.

Apparently, the guy just set the winch and plate on the ground to start. Once the winch cable put the whole thing under tension, it lifted from the ground and was just hanging in the air. I hope I'm explaining that clearly.

Anyway, a set-up like that is still going to be a heavy thing to pull out of the truck, but at least you don't have to struggle to fit it in a receiver. You do need good recovery points front and rear (Duh! You're supposed to have them anyway!) and of course you need to run heavy wires and Anderson connectors to both the front and rear bumpers. Angle pulls were no problem, you just used one chain longer than the other. The picture I saw showed the winch and winch cable doing maybe a 30 degree pull to one side.

With long enough chains and power cables, I could see how you could MAYBE do a side pull, one chain to the front bumper and one to the rear.

Just a thought.

Regards
John

 

[jim65wagon]

Like HenryJ I carry my winch in the front receiver. Mostly out of the way and ready to use when we're "out there" and it sits in the garage when we're not. Already in the receiver and it's not taking up precious cargo space in the bed.

I do plan on flipping the receiver upside down sometime. This would raise it another 2 or 3 inches over its current location.