Which winch on dolly?

Die.Fledermaus · Aug 5, 2013

So I just acquired an old tow dolly, not bad but not great other than being the exact size I wanted. But something occurred to me during the first use, not everything is self propelled.

Lucky for me I have a few inexpensive winches collected over the years that I never use;

SuperWinch - obsolete model smaller than the current smallist, power in and out no free spool
Atwood Boat – unknown, yard sale? Seems in good shape
Knock off boat winch – complete with handle, leash, works well purchased new decades ago, power in, clutch

Now the dolly is rather short, it is sporting 13”s with car tires, it is a little to low a flat would have it on the axle. My long term goal is find a pair of same 15” I use on my B2 but with trailer tires (so no spare, use the tow's spare).

I have run a battery cable to the rear bumper on the B2, so no plans on a battery box.

The other big feature is that the table is only 66” wide, plenty for RBVs and everything I own, but too narrow for full size. This is also fine as my tow vehicle will likely be my stock B2, and if I am having a bad day only carrying the B2.

Which winch should I semi-permanent mount to the tongue and what would the practical limits be?

Captain Ledd · Aug 6, 2013

I've just got a little Harbor Freight hand winch (I forget the rating, but it's around one step up from the 2,000 lb one). Some cars are a little harder than others, probably should have splurged for the higher capacity one. But it works. *EDIT* Hand crank winch.

Actually my only real complaint with it is that if I can't hook on the center of the vehicle it drags a bit on the side of the winch housing, and I've actually broken the wire once. So I'd recommend some sort of Hawse Fairlead for it too.

But yeah, any could work.

You could also keep a spare pulley and short chain around. Latch the chain to the car and mount a pulley on the other end. Slide the winch rope/cable through the pulley and double your pulling power.

4.0B2 · Aug 6, 2013

I'd use the old superwinch personally.. but any of them should work, worse case.. you break it and put one of the others on (as long as its not the line that breaks lol). I'd do at least something rated for 3500lbs

Die.Fledermaus · Aug 7, 2013

That superwinch EX1 is also my favorite, seems well made. I wish I had bigger winches, figuring that the wet weight of my B2 is 4000lbs per road side scale and none of them are the recommended 1.5 x vehicle weight.

I was thinking ahead about using the cargo ties to help center off kilter pulls, the fairhead is not a bad idea but if I mount one to the table it might be impossible load with a winch point ahead of the tire.

wildbill23c · Aug 7, 2013

I have a 23' car trailer and have had it for about 9 years, it still doesn't have a winch on it because I don't have a way to install it and get power to it. Every vehicle I load on the trailer will not move under it's own power so, I have to drag everything onto it and all I've ever used is a 4 ton come-a-long. Never had a problem just takes a while, and on a limited income I have it works just fine. I have more time than money. The trailer only gets used maybe once a year, so putting an overpriced winch on it is not an option. The way my trailer is built its extremely easy to use a come-a-long because it has aircraft landing strip sections as its flooring, extremely strong and durable.

I really wouldn't waste too much money putting any sort of winch on a tow dolly, I've used one a few times, last time was to haul a 1993 Ford Ranger back to Idaho from California. Truck wouldn't move, so I dropped the ramps on the tow dolly, and backed the dolly right up under the front wheels of the truck, worked great that way, no pushing, dragging, etc. needed.

I'd look into a winch from harbor freight, don't waste your money on the overpriced so called "brand name" winches like Warn, etc. They're not gonna work any better in this application of using it once or twice a year maybe, then it setting for a long period of time in the weather. If it was something you would use every day multiple times a day then yeah get a $1000+ winch, but I really wouldn't get too carried away with a winch on a tow dolly.

4.0B2 · Aug 7, 2013

it's easy to get power to a winch...
toolbox with deepcell battery in it...
charged by the 7-pin wiring connector that hooks to your truck...
I have a 4500 pound winch on my 18' car hauler with the battery in the tool box that is charged by the hot wire on the 7 pin connector. I'll be adding a cheap solar panel on the top of the tool box to since it sits up so long without being used.

wildbill23c · Aug 8, 2013

4.0B2 said:
it's easy to get power to a winch...
toolbox with deepcell battery in it...
charged by the 7-pin wiring connector that hooks to your truck...
I have a 4500 pound winch on my 18' car hauler with the battery in the tool box that is charged by the hot wire on the 7 pin connector. I'll be adding a cheap solar panel on the top of the tool box to since it sits up so long without being used.

So on the 7pin connector if I remember correctly there's a pin that says auxiliary, is this the one you are running power from? Never thought of doing it that way, thanks for the knowledge. Gonna go find me a winch now LOL. My trailer is gonna be easy to install a winch on due to the way it was built, just gotta get the winch and a plate to mount it to the trailer.

This trailer was built by a construction contractor who hauled heavy equipment and those big landscape rocks on so it is heavy built, trailer weight empty is about 2160 pounds. Its hauled quite a few vehicles largest being a 1983 Ford Bronco 4x4. That was a PITA to load without a winch, the guy blew the rear axle on it, actually snapped the axle housing. I messed around with a come-a-long for about 30 minutes trying to get it on the trailer, and finally said the hell with it locked in the hubs threw it in 4Low and crawled over the trailer's fenders to load it. Winch would definitely have made that job only take a few minutes. That guy's day only got worse because I hauled his bronco home behind my 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee that he always made fun of because it had the 4.0L straight 6 in it. Well it may have only had the I6 engine but it would tow anything I wanted it to.

Anyhow I'm gonna look into a relatively cheap winch for occasional use as my trailer only gets used maybe once a year.

AllanD · Sep 24, 2013

I have a 2500# Dutton-Lainson hand-cranked winch on my dolly

Specifically this one:
http://www.dutton-lainson.com/proddetail.php?prod=14830

It's actually the hand cranked winch off of my old boat trailer.

But being a D-L winch it's AMERICAN MADE and I can actually buy parts for it.

The next thing I need to do to it is replace the wire rope.
Don't forget that wire rope on a pulling winch has a limited lifespan.

I managed to score a 105foot length of 1/4 stainless steel wire rope
from a Military surplus dealer, a long enough piece to replace the cable twice.

With a crimped on eyelet at both ends.

I wouldn't put an electric winch on a dolly on a bet...
because sure as shit I'd lose when the bugger decided to not work.

Steel gears and a hand crank are far less failure prone than electric motors and wiring.

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Which winch on dolly?

Die.Fledermaus

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Captain Ledd

Well-Known Member

4.0B2

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Die.Fledermaus

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wildbill23c

Well-Known Member

4.0B2

Well-Known Member

wildbill23c

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AllanD

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