A Winch to Pull My Trailer Into It's Parking Spot

I have some winch experience.  I used a small (I forget the actual # rating) 12v ATV winch to pull a 1650# VW race car up trailer ramps onto a flatbed car trailer for 15 years without any problems.  I would not think a 110v to 12v converter would be a good choice.  It's not just the 12v voltage you need but the amperage draw.  This amperage would be better supplied by a 12v battery or the 12v seven-way plug on your tow vehicle.  In our case since we attended races every few months, I did not want to maintain a battery on the trailer only to power the winch when it was needed.  As you know, if a lead acid battery is not maintained at full voltage it quickly sulfates and fails.  So........what to do?

The winch was bolted to our trailer inside the storage box for theft and exposure protection during storage.  I made up an 8-foot-long power chord with about 8ga wire.  One end had a plug that connected to the winch.  The other end was a male seven-way plug with only the two wires.  I would unplug the trailer from the tow vehicle and connect the seven-way jumper chord.  The seven-way plug on a F150 will not function unless the engine is running, so I started the trucks engine.  And the winch had a long remote-control cable so I could walk alongside and steer the car and also control the winch speed and direction as the car went up the ramp.  You need a winch that has the roller fare lead guide.  Maybe once or twice in the 15 years when loading the car in the dark the cable would get jammed and I popped the trucks fuse located by the passenger's foot panel.  It worked great.  Keep in mind that we were not lifting the 1650#, only trying to roll it up the grade of the four-foot-long ramps.  It does not take much pull to make it all happen.

One thing I would look into is a cable pulley block.  By connecting the cable "looped back" to the vehicle with the winch, and using the pulley block you double the pulling power, at the expense of pulling twice the amount of cable.  You have lots of options.  If you have an existing house battery inside the trailer and are using a seven-way plug you are already there with a power source.  Just make up a female plug and a short power chord to the winch.

You will be pulling a good amount, and the cable will be taught.  You absolutely do not want something to come loose or allow the cable to snap back.  I would never trust some stakes hammered into the ground.  You do not need to get hurt in the process of moving your trailer.  Using your trucks receiver would be a good mounting point and you could make the winch receiver removeable, and you have the sever-way plug already there for the power source.

John Palmer

Thanks all...

Thank you John for sharing your experiences with this. So, are you suggesting that the 12V winch is fastened to the front of the trailer and that I use the trailer battery to power it? Where is the tie down for the winch hook? There is no room anywhere for a "truck" or "tow vehicle" in this scenario. The TV drops the trailer about 25' in front of the trailer shelter and then I have to pull it into the parking slip in a straight line with the winch. Ground is nearly level.

Thanks again John. I'm not looking for direct answers here... just to hear some experiences and make some choices for myself.

Thanks Rod, I'll check out Matt's Off Road... and good luck with your insomnia .   I can chime in on that, but the moderator might banish us to an entirely different forum  ! 


As far as getting out of the parking area... The old canned ham has a tubular bumper that is welded onto the trailer frame.  I rigged a towing strap, slip knotted it around the bumper and ran it (double up) through a piece of PVC tube in order to prevent any issues with the TV and trailer bumping into each other.  At the TV end the two hooks from the towing strap emerge and attach to the safety chain loops on my hitch.  I would have to pull the trailer about 2 lengths, then I could get the TV in front and hook up as normal.

Truthfully, and without trying to describe every aspect of the parking place and its conditions, a winch is not the only way I can accomplish what I want... it's more a matter of balancing out the pros and cons of those different scenarios.  I can post images of my final solution.  So, this is the research period in looking for a "permanent" solution.  For now, I may just back the trailer into its slip, which is a straight line approach and easily possible.  But that leaves the entry door kind of on the "wrong" side of where I want it.  A winch or pull-in solution would put the door on the "right" side, which I would prefer and relive me of any back in parking.  The door orientation is somewhat important because I am trying to create an "at home campsite" around the trailer, which may include Airbnb renting.

Mike

Do you have a lawn tractor

With Your Safety in mind.

Use the dolly to carry the trailer's tongue weight.

Use the dolly to steer the trailer.

Use the trailers coupler, or safety chains for your "pull point", NOT the unstable tow ball dolly.

Use the wire gauge recommended by the winch instructions.  It does not need to be like a Battery Cable, you are only going to use the winch intermittently (allow it to cool), not continuously.  The circuit powering the winch should have a resettable circuit breaker, not a onetime fuse.

You need to have a way to brake the rolling trailer, maybe just another person.  You will need to have chalks handy to hold it in place until your secure it from moving.

John