Shop winch (not wench)

[Dean Jenkins]

For years if I wanted to move a non-running vehicle into my shop, I had to find someone to help me push it up the driveway and over the lip of the shop floor. No matter how I strained, just could not do it alone. Totally sucked.
So, a few years ago, I installed a winch in the shop. (no wenches in my shop at this time.)
Finally got to use it today to pull the el Camino back in.
It rocked!
Here is a 12 second video of victory!

The back story:

A buddy of mine borrowed my car trailer a few times. To get a car up or off of it you used a come-along. PIA!
He said "hey, I'll go in halves with you for a winch to put on the trailer."
Awesome, let's do it!
So, he bought a 1500lb winch from Harbor Freight and brought it over.
I said, "Dude, that is for a quad or something, nowhere near enough for a car or truck."

But, it seems that we now owned it. So, lemonade, right? I anchored it to the cement floor under a cabinet, got a motorcycle battery and trickle charger hooked up to it, and there it sat, until today.
It worked like a charm. I was able to pull the car in all alone, with no muss, fuss or drama.

Oh, and he was right, I did need a winch for the trailer, so I got a 12,000lb Badland unit (yes, from Harbor Freight) and mounted it to the frame, inside a tool box (from Tractor Supply) and added a full size car battery and a solar charger. Even popped for the wireless remote thingy, which is really nice.
I've used that a few times and it rocks as well!

I bought this trailer 25 years ago and the wood had rotted and the frame had a lot of surface rust.
When I did the winch, I refurbished the whole thing.
New pressure treated deck wood, new brakes, new tires, upgraded wiring, the works.

And I had never heard the letters "SPI" and was not aware of the collective wisdom here.

I found a miracle product online, "rust encapsulator" and eagerly purchased it and applied it liberally to the frame and then painted over it in black enamel.
Yeah, you know how that is going . . .

Oh well, it is just a trailer, and another refurb may be in my future. Live and learn

 

[v8garage]

Those are sure handy! I bought a cheap winch for loading boats on trailers and mounted it to a hitch. I have a couple of receivers bolted to the floor for when I need to move a roller from one bay of the shop to another. Being stubbornly independent takes some ingenuity.

 

[59vette]

I like the stabilizers you have on the rear sides, I'm going to put a pair on my trailer...

 

[Dean Jenkins]

I like the stabilizers you have on the rear sides, I'm going to put a pair on my trailer...

They make a big difference, especially for a heavy vehicle.

One time my buddy Joe asked me to haul his tractor. Sure, glad to.
Big tractor, right at the weight limit for the trailer.
His driveway is pretty steep.
I was lazy and didn't put the stabilizers down, uh oh, you know where this i going . . .

Trailer was hooked up to my Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel pickup, which I thought was so heavy duty, nothing would move it.

Joe started up the ramps to load the tractor onto the trailer.
Just about the time the tractor rear wheels got onto the deck, the weight of the tractor, leveraged by the fulcrum of the trailer deck and axles, lifted the rear wheels of the truck about an inch off the ground.

The truck, my kid strapped into his car seat, the trailer, the tractor, Joe . . . all went rolling down the driveway.

Luckily I was standing by the drivers door and was able to jump in and carefully apply some brake and get the whole mess stopped before anything bad happened.

Lesson learned!

 

[chevman]

I'm sure that works good for you with a straight driveway, but I have twists and turns. I used the lawn tractor for a long time, but it wasn't ideal. Then once I needed to move a trailer where there wouldn't be room for the truck, so thats when I bought the Trailer Valet. Its remote controlled, has an attachment for car or trailer frame mount (as pictured), or ball attachment for trailers. It will move my 9000# loaded trailer up a slight grade. To move a car I just attach it to the car frame behind one of the rear wheels, then remove that wheel and get inside to steer it. On some cars, like mustangs, it can be attached to the front cross member, then remove both front wheels and steer it with the Valet, traction with the rubber tracks is impressive. Its expensive, but for me its well worth it. Weighs about 45 pounds, so I can carry it where ever its needed, and it stays in the warm shop with its battery charger, so I plug it in monthly.

 

[RosharonRooster]

They make a big difference, especially for a heavy vehicle.

One time my buddy Joe asked me to haul his tractor. Sure, glad to.
Big tractor, right at the weight limit for the trailer.
His driveway is pretty steep.
I was lazy and didn't put the stabilizers down, uh oh, you know where this i going . . .

Trailer was hooked up to my Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel pickup, which I thought was so heavy duty, nothing would move it.

Joe started up the ramps to load the tractor onto the trailer.
Just about the time the tractor rear wheels got onto the deck, the weight of the tractor, leveraged by the fulcrum of the trailer deck and axles, lifted the rear wheels of the truck about an inch off the ground.

The truck, my kid strapped into his car seat, the trailer, the tractor, Joe . . . all went rolling down the driveway.

Luckily I was standing by the drivers door and was able to jump in and carefully apply some brake and get the whole mess stopped before anything bad happened.

Lesson learned!

2 things...

I bought a harbor freight atv winch to pull cars over the baseplate on my lift. It's alot for 1 guy to push a non running car over that baseplate....works great.

Second was your story about the trailer lifting up. Long time ago I was loading a 1992 4 door cadillac with 14 batteries in the trunk (hydraulics) on my trailer with my half ton silverado ...the whole tongue. Hitch, and back bumper and rear end of the truck lifted up and the whole rig slid down the street about 30 ft. Lucky there was no one parked in front of me. I'll never forget that night lol

 

[RosharonRooster]

I'm sure that works good for you with a straight driveway, but I have twists and turns. I used the lawn tractor for a long time, but it wasn't ideal. Then once I needed to move a trailer where there wouldn't be room for the truck, so thats when I bought the Trailer Valet. Its remote controlled, has an attachment for car or trailer frame mount (as pictured), or ball attachment for trailers. It will move my 9000# loaded trailer up a slight grade. To move a car I just attach it to the car frame behind one of the rear wheels, then remove that wheel and get inside to steer it. On some cars, like mustangs, it can be attached to the front cross member, then remove both front wheels and steer it with the Valet, traction with the rubber tracks is impressive. Its expensive, but for me its well worth it. Weighs about 45 pounds, so I can carry it where ever its needed, and it stays in the warm shop with its battery charger, so I plug it in monthly.

I didn't know this existed. This is genius

 

[Lizer]

I just have a little bottle jack that I put under the dovetail of my trailer when I load it.

Regarding winches, there is some physics that I think are often overlooked. A car’s rolling weight is much lighter than the curb weight. A 4500 pound winch, which is what I have on my trailer, is capable of pulling a 13,000 pound rolling load up an incline.

I load tractors with it!