Boat winch wiring

[Grand_Pooba]

My father has a electric winch on his boat trailer and I'd like to wire my truck so that I can run the winch. He ran 8 gauge wire from his truck battery to the back of the bed with an inline 30amp fuse, from there he plugs in a pigtail from the winch. I could do the same on my truck but would rather not have a live plug dangling there all the time. My 09 GMC 1500 is prewired with 7 way trailer plug which I believe (still need to confirm) has a aux. power lead on it with a 40 amp fuse in the main fuse panel. Question is can I make a 7 way plug to get power to run the winch. It would be much cleaner and easier to do plus I wouldn't have un wire and rewire when I get a new truck.
Thanks
Steve

 

[sldva00]

I don't see a problem. The #1 in pin is ground and the #4 pin is the 12v source on 7-way connectors. If you connect just those two pins on the trailer end (in this case winch end), it should work fine. The #7 pin or auxillary may be hooked up to the reverse lamps. That's how my dodge came from the factory with tow package. Just keep the 12v line properly fused (which appears you do).

The only caution I have is most winches have 8gauge wire on them. I do not think 7-way connectors are that big, or the wires that supply them on the truck end. You might melt the wire before the fuse blows.

 

[Raspy]

You will not be able to run a boat winch off the 7 pin trailer plug because the wire size is not up to it. For 30 amps you need a 30 amp fuse and number 10 wire minimum. Number 8 is better. I think you'll have to run a new set of number 8 wires back there and fuse it at least to 30 amps. See what he winch needs and match it. The trailer plugs are not meant to carry that kind of load, just brake lights and braking loads.

 

[Willl]

What Raspy said, won't work, not enough wire in the stock loom.

I stuck one of these disconnects at the battery for my winch wire.

 

[Raspy]

Those are great disconnects and can be used for number of purposes.

 

[brokenot]

You might be better off installing a small battery box on the trailer tongue to power the winch. The battery can be charged via the trailer connector. That way, you needn't be concerned about the wire gauge/fuse size your truck has.

The other reason I'd do the remote battery is that when I back my boat trailer into the water, I disconnect the trailer plug from the vehicle. If your winch needs power from the receptacle, you have to keep the connector plugged in....

 

[medicshawn]

DiamondPilot talked about using a jump box and some terminals installed in a plastic cutting board. Works good when you have multiple trucks and or trailers.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would not wire it off the 7 pin plug. As others stated the wires are just not big enough. I would do the jump pack thing or put a seperate battery on the trailer. It that is not a option just do as others have stated and use a battery shut off and some 8 gauge wire from the trucks battery to the rear of the truck.

Personally I do not like the electric winch on boat trailers. The seem to be more trouble than they are worth and its not that hard to crank up the boat as you use a little power from the boats motor to push it up.

Chris

 

[VitaBene]

As was noted by others, I use a plastic boat battery box with a 26 series battery in it. I charge it a 2 times a season with a charger because I only have about 400 yards to drive to the ramp. The winch is used 40 times a season.