HF Winch

[Walkin Horse]

Last week when they were on sale I bought a 12000# winch. I plan on putting it on the back of my truck.

I am thinking about using 1/0 welding cable with twist lock connections at the winch. Running it from the battery to the back is about 25'. Does this sound ok electrically. Or am I going to burn something up.

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[JRP]

You need to tell us the amp load specification for the motor. All wire heats up when current goes thru it. NEC tables show the maximum allowable amperage to prevent the heating from damaging the insulation. The fine wires of welding cable will help with current capacity. I think 1/0 will be cod, but look for a spec. It is pretty simple, if the cable gets real hot, like above 60 C then stop and let the cable cool off.

 

[BHD]

I would use welder lead connectors for the "plugs"

 

[ishiboo]

The cable is going to have a better duty cycle than the winch, 1/0 sounds like plenty. Sometimes it's better to mount another battery near the winch with an isolator and some #10 wire for charging, if you are going to be frequently using it for stuff.

 

[Walkin Horse]

The cable is going to have a better duty cycle than the winch, 1/0 sounds like plenty. Sometimes it's better to mount another battery near the winch with an isolator and some #10 wire for charging, if you are going to be frequently using it for stuff.

I like that idea even better than stringing welding lead from under the truck. I am going to use welding lead plugs for the connections. I said twist lock but I meant lead connectors.

 

[Walkin Horse]

You need to tell us the amp load specification for the motor. All wire heats up when current goes thru it. NEC tables show the maximum allowable amperage to prevent the heating from damaging the insulation. The fine wires of welding cable will help with current capacity. I think 1/0 will be cod, but look for a spec. It is pretty simple, if the cable gets real hot, like above 60 C then stop and let the cable cool off.

It draws 300 amps at full pull. The table I have only goes to 200 amps. At 30 feet it calls for # 2 wire.

 

[George2615]

I have a similar setup on my trailer. The trailer has its own battery for the tilt bed hydraulics and I wired my winch to the battery. The trailer battery gets charged when it's plugged into the truck and the truck is running.

 

[CNC Dan]

I would use Anderson power connectors. They are used on electric fork lifts to connect the battery. They have polarity (+/-)but not gender(M/F). Might be important if there is any electronics in the forward/reverse parts.

 

[BukitCase]

I wouldn't worry so much about overkill on wire size - at full load the duty cycle of the winch itself is 5% - 45 seconds on, 14 minutes 15 seconds OFF -

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/61000-61999/61256.pdf

This is why most people who intend to use a winch heavily tend to go hydraulic if they can... Steve

 

[franklin2]

I just bought one of those myself, but haven't hooked it up yet. The big one seemed to be the best deal, and I thought "why not, might as well get the big one in case I need it". I started having second thoughts as soon as I went to get it off the shelf, that thing is heavy. I had ideas on moving it around from the front of the truck to the trailer and back, but if I add a quick mount of some sort, that's going to make it even heavier to move.