Winch/trailer questions.

[Small White Car]

I got a part time job hauling trash bins to location shoots, we use a twenty foot trailer with a winch mounted on the front to haul full bins up the ramp, right now the winch is powered by a deep cycle marine cell that gets charged often. The truck that tugs the trailer is an F-250 super duty with a power stroke diesel. There are two batteries under the hood and the big alternator comes standard.

So the questions are:

1) Given the frequent use of the winch, would the two batteries and the alternator would be enough get the job done or would you think it would be too much for the stock set up to power things as is? Like could I run a hot lead to the rear of the truck right off the battery and a short ground to the frame in the rear and quick connects directly to the winch?

2) If the answer to one is 'probably', would it be possible to run quick connects to the battery already on the trailer to keep the battery charged, is the alternator enough to charge three batteries and would it make sense to do that? Since we rarely if ever run the truck without the trailer would it even be worth the bother to have the third battery?


Help a guy out here...

[94cobra69ss396]

The stock system should be more than enough. My brother has 9,000 pound winches on his FJ40 and K5 and is running the stock alternators with a single batteries on both.

[blackax]

If you already have a battery in trailer you should be fine. I doubt that you are really pulling to many amps to kill it that quickly. And even if you are you aren't doing it for 20 -30 mins pulls

Just wire up the trailer battery to charge from the trailer connector this way you will always have a charged trailer battery. If anything add a second battery to the trailer to increase you pull time.

If you do pull a hot lead from the front of the truck you are gonna need some thick cable to keep everything safe. Winch's use alot of amps under load.

[Small White Car]

If you do pull a hot lead from the front of the truck you are gonna need some thick cable to keep everything safe. Winch's use alot of amps under load.


0 gauge be good you think?

[Vettezuki]

0 gauge be good you think?

Do you have any idea what the load is? This may be of some help.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/amps-wire-gauge-d_730.html

[Chuck]

I would do as blackax suggested use the truck to charge the battery via the trailer harness this way your not pulling power directly from the truck and the longer the run the thicker the cable has to be. Just use the truck to charge the battery on the trailer. If you need to get rid of the battery for space issues yes 0 awg welding cable should be more than enough for your needs. Good luck.