winch mount for receiver hitch

[supermanotorious]

I'm going to get the HF 12,000 and decided to weld my own hitch mount, any thoughts as to how thick wall I should use for the 2" square tube and the flat plate?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

12,000lbs? I'd go 1/4".

 

[supermanotorious]

that's fine by me then, used it before

I know many wouldn't recommend the HF winch but only 6 of 42 reviews give it less than 4 stars and I'd go with the extended warranty anyway

 

[souperman000]

The winches are one of the more heavy duty items at HF. At the testing facility, they have had one in water for more then 8 months and it still works.

I believe they are mad by an independent company as well.

 

[machinist@large]

I'm going to get the HF 12,000 and decided to weld my own hitch mount, any thoughts as to how thick wall I should use for the 2" square tube and the flat plate?

12,000lbs? I'd go 1/4".

To amplify; 1/4" wall tubing with at least a 3/8" mounting plate and underneath wing gussets to help keep it from twisting out of line if you have to pull at an awkward angle. Technically, a winch with that capacity needs more structure, but since you are planning to use it as a slide in in the truck's towing hitch, the truck's hitch becomes the next weakest link.

You'll need to keep an eye on it and be careful; it would REALLY SUCK to try to use the winch in anger, only to rip out the back end of a brand new truck.....

 

[FatCat]

I hope it works good for you. I've never played with a HF winch. The extended warranty won't get you out of the hole though. I made this mistake back when I was into the jeep thing. Bought the biggest winch Smittybuilt(aka:****tybuilt) made. Went wheeling and thought I had nothing to worry bout. First time I needed it the pos wouldn't work. In my backyard it worked like a champ. First mudhole that piece of trash failed me. I had the extended warranty to. Sure didn't help me that day. When the replacement came in the mail I sold that junk. Lost my butt on that thing. Had to sell it brand new in the box for half what I payed for it. Saved up the extra cash and bought a smaller Warn winch. The rest was history. Used it probably a hundred times. I still see my old jeep at the cliffs occasionally. That winch is still on the jeep working great. Was a lesson well learned. You won't ever catch me in a mudhole with anything else.

 

[supermanotorious]

still waiting on my front hitch, should arrive today

I've been welding up the mount, I'll admit there's alot more welding going into it than I expected, for now the whole thing is crazy hot so I'm taking this little break to upload the progress and let it cool down

I went with all 1/4" for the plate, tube, and gussets

most of the steel was REM so I'm only into this for about $23 plus welding rods

these welds aren't my best but the important thing is they have good heat penetration

 

[supermanotorious]

I love how black paint hides the sins of welding and fabrication

how awesome is this, I used 20% coupon on $399 sale price and paid $319 (at the time the 2 year extended warranty was $79 which I wanted to buy but held off), but just 3 days later (today) a new HF ad showed up and had coupon for $299 for the same winch, I took in the original receipt and they honored the new coupon, now that the winch was less than $300, the 2 year warranty went down to $49 so I bought it on the spot

I've been going over the reviews again and am following this guy's recommendation:

I Bought a 12,000 winch and installed it on my Jeep CJ7, yes it is overkilled but for the price I couldn't pass it out.
Now I have read all the reviews and since I have no emediate plan to use my winch I did take the following actions to make this product even better and durable.
Problems: control box is too clause to the wire and could be ripped off or damaged during operation.
Problems : control box is not water proof.
Fix : I bought four longer 10MM bolts and 8 10MM nuts, unscrewed the four top cover screws, replaced the four rail mounting bolts with the longer bolts making sure the bolt are inserted from the bottom to the top, also install two 10MM nuts between the rail and the control box. This will raise your control box at least ½ inch above the wire and prevent it to be ripped off.
Fix : since your control box has to be opened it is a good time to water proof it, I used RTV and made a seal for the top cover and the mounting screws and a hole in the corner of the box making it totally water proof.

This beast look really great in the front of my Jeep mounted on the channel winch mount from Harbour freight also, yes it as the power to winch three Jeep at the same time but since I spend less than $350 tax included for the entire rig….WHY NOT…BROTHER.

 

[supermanotorious]

oh man, not afraid to admit when I'm wrong, if your wife says men never do admit when wrong, show her this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpJFuMga9A&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCcnJuHkVs&feature=youtu.be

 

[supermanotorious]

has anyone come up with a decent quick connect/disconnect system for the 12V battery wiring to quickly move the winch from the front hitch to the rear hitch and vice versa?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Looking good!

And yes- Use the big plug-in connectors they use for forklift batteries. They are modular, cables attach easily, are attainable, plug in and out easily, and are more than capable of the current handling.

See image below- it shows one connector, you need two to plug together, and a third if you want a plug at the other end of the truck.

 

[supermanotorious]

that's great, thank you, now are they all identical, meaning there is no male or female, I could just order 3 and be set?

Looking good!

And yes- Use the big plug-in connectors they use for forklift batteries. They are modular, cables attach easily, are attainable, plug in and out easily, and are more than capable of the current handling.

See image below- it shows one connector, you need two to plug together, and a third if you want a plug at the other end of the truck.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I do believe they are identical, though it's been a loooooong time since I've been that close to an electric forklift. But I DO know that those are the connectors folks use for this purpose.

 

[machinist@large]

Safe connections

has anyone come up with a decent quick connect/disconnect system for the 12V battery wiring to quickly move the winch from the front hitch to the rear hitch and vice versa?

Looking good!

And yes- Use the big plug-in connectors they use for forklift batteries. They are modular, cables attach easily, are attainable, plug in and out easily, and are more than capable of the current handling.

See image below- it shows one connector, you need two to plug together, and a third if you want a plug at the other end of the truck.

I do believe they are identical, though it's been a loooooong time since I've been that close to an electric forklift. But I DO know that those are the connectors folks use for this purpose.

Toystory's correct about those style connectors being more than up to the task. I was going to suggest just hitting your local auto parts store for snow plow connectors as another option; then remembered that you live in the desert southwest (not to say you don't get snow down there; it's just that you probably don't have the snow removal infrastructure that we do up here in Michigan [with the parts supply chain to match]).

Try flagging down an off duty tow truck; some of the rigs I've seen in passing use that style plug for their jumper cables. Maybe they could give you some pointers on how to idiot proof you setup.

Pat

 

[fowler]

Those plugs do have male and female

We use them on the battery carts at work to jump the dump trucks

The problems with those plugs are they are made of solid plastic and vibration will kill it quickly
As will a small impact
Not to mention the fun u will have if u get dirt in the plug while its connected, very hard to disconnect

The black ones are what are the other end of our jump cables that are mounted on the front of the truck
They are plastic rubber and ate impossible to kill in comparison

 

[supermanotorious]

cool, what are the black rubber ones called?

 

[fowler]

Jump start receprocal

I think
That's what we call them

I'll get a part number next Monday when I go back to work

 

[supermanotorious]

so I got the front hitch and new tow hooks securely mounted and torqued to specs, however the bonehead issue... my winch mount doesn't clear the bumper, I could remedy by drilling a second hitch pin hole towards the rear of the 2" square tube, only leaving about 3/4" to 1" of steel remaining before the end of the tube, or use this HF hitch extender, which would you guys suggest?

 

[supermanotorious]

I decided to try the extender, don't know that I'm sold on it, here's some pics of the clearance

 

[machinist@large]

I decided to try the extender, don't know that I'm sold on it, here's some pics of the clearance

You would have most, if not all the questionable issues with just the hitch mount; to be at it's strongest, the winch needs to have a mount that can transfer the stresses in multiple directions safely. A Reese hitch mount isn't designed to handle massive the side loads that the winch can generate; throw the extension in, and it just gets that much worse.

I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but that's just the way it is.