wnaplay1647545503 Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 How big of a wnch do you need to pull a car onto a trailer? My father in law has a 2000lb winch and he doesnt think its big enough. I can see if it was pulling 2000 dead w eight but pulling a car on wheels your not necessarily pulling the cars full weight.. so whats a decent size to go with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretch Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 It's dead weight until you get it moving. Weighs even more if it has ramps to go up to get onto the trailer. I used to use a 5000lb one and never had issues. I'd say you'll need a little larger than the 2000 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 So what is the smallest winch you can get away with you think so you arent just pissed you didnt go bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretch Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Personally I'd go 4000 just so I know I wouldn't have to worry about it. You could probably get away with something in the 3000-3500 range depending on the cars you're using it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotart Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Keep in mind, that a 2000lb winch is only 2000LB on first coil on the spool. the 2nd coil of cable is less 3rd less than that and so on. When I looked at 2000lb ATV winches, that had 5 wraps/coils, the last coil was only rated a few hundred pounds. From the user manual on the 3500lb badlands winch at harbor freight Layer 1 3500lb Layer 2 2988lb Layer 3 2606lb Layer 4 2311lb Layer 5 2076lb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 I'd get a 3,000-4000lb winch and use a snatch block. It takes twice as long, but doubles the power so 6,000-8000lb at half speed. I had one of the Harbor Freight 9,000lb ball hitch winches on my trailer and it worked great for years, but was slow. I'm sure it was 9,000 pounds using the snatch block and first wrap of the drum, but still it got the job done for $100. I even pulled a couple of car bodies onto the trailer so no wheels to roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboNova Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 ive got a superwinch lt2000 winch for sale... 50.00 bucks... will pull a car onto car trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 might be slightly overkill but I ordered a superwinch tigershark 9500. Its about $350 on amazon with great reviews (in and outside of amazon. Its a 9000lb winch. Last thing I want is to have a broken down car and then be frustrated when my winch breaks. BTW look up the runtime/duty cycle on the HF winches. Other winches have a higher on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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