Are the Superwinch S4500's the only game in town for trailer winches? Anybody have anything good or bad to say about them?
Bought mine in '96, never a problem. I wired the remote so I can plug it in at the back of the trailer, usually stand behind the car when I'm pulling it in. My first trailer had the winch mounted in front under the bench, seemed like the cable was always in the way. My current trailer has it mounted on the left side with a snatch block in the middle of the floor, keeps everything out of the way when the cars in there.
My sister-in law I have a 4500 in my trailer for about 6 years and I drive the car in,tie the 4corners and put a strap around the K-frame and just snug it down. The cars never move. I would think that the 4500 would have more balls when you try to winch up a dead carcass into the trailer. Mine grunts a little when the car is going up the beavertail area on the trailer but then has no troubles. Thanks Jim
4500, I think it was like $20.00 more but had more cable?....o No: I really don't remember.. I do have one problem with it, the freewheel lever doesn't work, never really worked.......not really a problem for me
When you are using your winch, please make sure that the beavertail is tucked in, not exposing the snatch-block ....... uzzled:
Here we are having a nice clean talk then you bud in and start talking about my box like that....Jeezzz
Re: ut oh... Is that what happens when you get to be an OLD guy......Can't fill the box anymore...... o No: ........ :laugh:
Ironically........ Usually it's is Mikey who drags a post into the gutter..........here, he is Mr. Serious Tech Question Boy and the rest of you are doing the gutter work! BTW: I don't have either a winch, snatch block, or 28' box so I'm staying outta this..........p
My box is a 28'er as well. She's got a beavertail, but fortunately it's big enough to hold all my goods. This year was a bit tough on her though. Two of the rubbers had blowouts. Fortunately, I had spares, or I'd have been still sitting on the side of I-96 with the rim exposed. uzzled:
Back to the subject I have a Warn U3500 utility winch on my flatdeck trailer. Rated at 3500 LBS it drags a full size car (4500 lbs) with little effort. I believe the 3500LB rating is for dead vs rolling rate or it could be vertical. The 3500 has a free wheeling spool and a brake. The brake is very important on winches. Has a 30 ft remote as well. I have also seen an option to attach a winch to a plate that slides into the receiver on a trailer hitch. This facilitates pulling a vehicel from an awkward spot without the trailer being in the way. The winch can then be made portable by welding a receiver to the deck of the trailer. Portability prevents theft as well.
Cheapie version of the detachable winch Paul: I bought one of the el cheapo portable winches that either hook over a trailer hitch ball or you can mount the adaptor plate to the trailer deck. I bolted mine on my flat top open trailer since I figured it wouldn't last longand didn't want it welded there. It cost $65 at Norwalk at the FAST meet in July from the tool guy vendor. I've used it 5 times to load complete cars and it works OK, but takes forever. A more expensive, better quality version of this would be the super for open trailers. Sure beats the 10 foot hand ratchet that it replaced. Best thing I like about it is being able to detach it from the trailer and stow it inside the truck when not in use. Most winches I've seen on open trailers get all rusty and inoperable very quickly no matter how nice or expensive.
