Winch mount - Dis/Connect Front or Rear project

[GrantBerry]

G'day from Qld, Australia; I thought I'd share my little winch-mount project with you all. Vehicle is a Mistubishi FUSO Canter FGB71 , but you could do this on ANY vehicle.
Photos show ONE winch, which can be dis/connected front or rear. (because an engineered cradle was cheaper than a 2nd winch, and also saves on adding to GVM.)
Winch cradle "drawbar" has horizontal hole for rear pin, and a vertical hole for the front pin (the padlock goes through the pin to prevent theft) * Bull-bar was built with "pintle" pin, but you could just as easily have a 'regular' tow-hitch mount on the front, as a few Boaties do.
King-size 500A Anderson plugs are fed from a 450A fuse block mounted by the battery. I used 90mm heavy battery cable cos that's what I had left over from Telephone exchange jobs years ago Winch current draw will depend on load, but I figured 450A fuse will suffice.
Dyneema synthetic winch rope essential, because the unit weighs in at 36kg. Not unwieldy. Quite easy to unplug and move. But steel rope would have made it too heavy.
Added bonus I've discovered, is that to help others, I can take the winch to another vehicles tow-hitch, and use jumper-leads to power it. Likewise, if needed I could chain the winch-mount to a tree, connect battery (or jump to a nearby vehicle) and pull from there.

 

[cwadej]

I have a very similar set up for my Tacoma. Added bonus is I keep the winch out of the weather, and away from prying eyes and itchy fingers

 

[Tudor Tanase]

Not a bad concept. Fleabay has winch cradles for about AUD80 including postage.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I built my own for a Warn 16.5Ti 16 years ago. I have the advantage that the crank battery is at the font and the house batteries (400Ah of AGMs) are at the rear.
Then I added a 4m long very heavy "extension cord" cable and a couple of identical length synthetic cables and the whole thing becomes 10 times more versatile.
I can now attach the winch to almost anything, either on the vehicle or completely remote from the vehicle.
It works extremely well. In theory, I can put the vehicle back on its wheels if it falls over.
One feature that I did not anticipate is that the winch ALWAYS points in the direction of pull, so the cable lays up on the drum evenly and that is really useful.
The winch travels up front, but it could just as easily be in a box somewhere.



The yellow spreader bar was the prototype. That feature is now built into the winch mount cradle and is much smaller.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[jgaz]

I built my own for a Warn 16.5Ti 16 years ago. I have the advantage that the crank battery is at the font and the house batteries (400Ah of AGMs) are at the rear.
Then I added a 4m long very heavy "extension cord" cable and a couple of identical length synthetic cables and the whole thing becomes 10 times more versatile.
I can now attach the winch to almost anything, either on the vehicle or completely remote from the vehicle.
It works extremely well. In theory, I can put the vehicle back on its wheels if it falls over.
One feature that I did not anticipate is that the winch ALWAYS points in the direction of pull, so the cable lays up on the drum evenly and that is really useful.
The winch travels up front, but it could just as easily be in a box somewhere.
View attachment 605064

View attachment 605065
The yellow spreader bar was the prototype. That feature is now built into the winch mount cradle and is much smaller.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Nice set up! I like the versatility.

Just an FYI for someone looking at your winch. The rescue truck I used to maintain for the local Fire Dept. had a receiver mounted to the frame between the wheels on each side. This gave them another couple of options for not a large weight penalty.

 

[GrantBerry]

Not a bad concept. Fleabay has winch cradles for about AUD80 including postage.
View attachment 605063

Yep, these are fine if you have a winch rating less than about 10,000lbs. Mine is 17,500lbs (8-ton winch to pull a "9-ton" truck). The bolt-mount holes are same standard as smaller winches, but the winches themselves are bigger/fatter, and don't fit into these cradles. (I know, cos that's what I tried first, and then took that to the Engineering co who made a more robust version for my Canter)

 

[aardvarcus]

I have a similar set up in my 4 runner, only at 8000 pound winch though, but the Anderson power Pole bolted to the bumper is very handy. Made an extension cord from some actually copper jumper cables, with ends for the jumper cable in a place to plug up the winch and the air compressor all with app connectors. The extension allows the use of the winch in the back without having to run full time power back there. I echo that synthetic line and anything that can be done to keep the winch cradle light is a neccessary feature.

 

[Kenny Mac]

G'day from Qld, Australia; I thought I'd share my little winch-mount project with you all. Vehicle is a Mistubishi FUSO Canter FGB71 , but you could do this on ANY vehicle.

Awesome! This is exactly what I was thinking of. I've been trying to figure out how to fit a winch, but my Canter FG84 already has too much weight on the front and not enough space on the back - there are water tanks in the way.
Do you have drawings or more photos of the framework (particularly the front because the rear is kind of clear)? It looks like you have dropped down a bit at the rear, which is what I'd need to do.
I'd come and see you but I'm in Melbourne - and just gone back into lockdown

 

[Metcalf]

I've always liked this idea in theory, but hated it in practice.

Moving the winch, especially when the vehicle is stuck on the side of mountain on an icy road, has a real risk of mechanical injury. I suggest the lightest winch that you can practically use. The winch will never be on the end of the vehicle you need it to be.

Typical 2" receiver setups are not going to hold up to very much side load. When I typically get stuck, needing to pull to the side is a very real possibility. Keeping the winch as close in to the receiver mount as practical will make it the strongest. Up-sizing to a 2.5 receiver is a great idea if possible.