Harbor Freight Winches

[bigb]

Thinking about getting a Harbor Freight winch to help retrieve the fishing boat when we retrieve on shallow beaches. I've never owned or installed a vehicle winch before. I want it to mount in a receiver hitch, the truck has front and rear receiver hitches. I see they sell hitch mounts or I could easily make one. I want to be able to move it from front to back and have it functional on both. Can I get harnesses with quick disconnects so I can just plug it in at either end? Also it's getting pretty crowded at my battery terminals with the sub woofer amp and the on board air, thinking on adding a terminal block. I have #6 running to the compressor and I am guessing the winch will want at least #6 as well.

edit: looking at some videos looks like the bigger winches will need #4 or #2 cable.....pricey!

[Sandy]

They won't have very big termination lugs to start with, plus they have pretty short recommended run times (duty cycle)..

[bigb]

They won't have very big termination lugs to start with, plus they have pretty short recommended run times (duty cycle)..

The Harbor Freight ones or winches in general?

[CAVEMANN]

I read an article on the 8000 lb unit, the winch performance was respectable but duty cycle sucked, I think the duty cycle was at rated capacity. The actual capacity only applies to the first wrap on the drum. I have a 2500 lb unit for the blade on my little tractor & it has been great so far.
I've wired several emergency vehicles and always like to run a heavy cable to a continuous duty relay(300 amp or more) to a convenient location and give it key power, this gave me power for battery hot, key hot etc. I decided on this after stripping one out that had a separate wire run for each and every accessory or component on the vehicle, It was so much easier to troubleshoot and easier to wire.

[bigb]

I read an article on the 8000 lb unit, the winch performance was respectable but duty cycle sucked, I think the duty cycle was at rated capacity. The actual capacity only applies to the first wrap on the drum. I have a 2500 lb unit for the blade on my little tractor & it has been great so far.
I've wired several emergency vehicles and always like to run a heavy cable to a continuous duty relay(300 amp or more) to a convenient location and give it key power, this gave me power for battery hot, key hot etc. I decided on this after stripping one out that had a separate wire run for each and every accessory or component on the vehicle, It was so much easier to troubleshoot and easier to wire.

I think I'll get the 2,500 as well, it'll be plenty for an aluminum boat. Should be able to use smaller wire too, maybe just one to the battery and ground to the truck frame.

[Sandy]

The Harbor Freight ones or winches in general?

The low budge new name today winches. Some don't have lug as big as a number 6.

[Denis G]

There are gasoline-powered versions (but also pricey):
https://www.chainsawjournal.com/best-chainsaw-winch/

[bigb]

Finished the project and here's some pics. Went with the 2,500 ATV winch and it has plenty of power and duty cycle to pull the boat onto the trailer. Ran #6 from an under hood circuit breaker and another automatic circuit breaker at 50 amps on the winch itself. Used Anderson type connectors. A double receiver lets me slide it in while the boat trailer is attached. A pulley wheel fastened to a piece of receiver tubing slides over the end of the trailer hand crank mount and keeps the winch line up and away from everything. Only bummer is now, due to the pandemic, we probably won't be going on our annual Mexico fishing trip.

[whtbaron]

Looks good, but when you are driving around with no winch in that top bracket, I wonder how long until you end up in somebody's "trailer fail" posts...

[Rondo]

I did the same except I mounted the winch on the boat trailer with quick couplers for the wires. I mounted it right below the crank which is used now for back up.

[bigb]

Looks good, but when you are driving around with no winch in that top bracket, I wonder how long until you end up in somebody's "trailer fail" posts...

The double receiver will only get used at the beach, not on the highway. I am a bit thick though, are you making a joke?

[CAVEMANN]

While still working for the Ambulance I got to the point of replacing the battery cable clamps with military style clamps, I did it on ALL the batteries in every Ambulance and support vehicle, they were great, a lot of room for lugs and dang near impossible for the idiots to screw up! Only drawback was price.

[MetalMan23]

Finished the project and here's some pics. Went with the 2,500 ATV winch and it has plenty of power and duty cycle to pull the boat onto the trailer. Ran #6 from an under hood circuit breaker and another automatic circuit breaker at 50 amps on the winch itself. Used Anderson type connectors. A double receiver lets me slide it in while the boat trailer is attached. A pulley wheel fastened to a piece of receiver tubing slides over the end of the trailer hand crank mount and keeps the winch line up and away from everything. Only bummer is now, due to the pandemic, we probably won't be going on our annual Mexico fishing trip.

Just tell them you're investigating the effects of Corona in the fish population, they'll let you through

[whtbaron]

The double receiver will only get used at the beach, not on the highway. I am a bit thick though, are you making a joke?

Sort of... I can see people looking at that 2nd receiver thinking you might put a ball hitch up there as well...

[CAVEMANN]

Hey bigb, they altered the hours at the port in Lukeville, I think it's 8 am to 6 pm IIRC.