Winch question.. need advice, will this work??

[Michigander]

Ok.. this might be hard to explain. I'm thinking of buying a Warn winch and wiring it to be portable. I would also have a winch plate made that I could carry it easier with. On the plate I would also put 2 holes on the rear so I could hook chains to it (you'll see why soon). All of this is not hard to do... now here is my question.

I want to be able to hook chains around my tow hooks and connect them to the rear of the winch. Then I would wrap the winch wire around a tree or whatever and pull myself out. Since I don't have it mounted on the front, I could also move it to the back. Then I could pull either way.

My only question is will the weight of having the winch suspended in the air hurt it at all? I wouldn't think so, but I figured I better think this one through.

Any thoughts?

 

[RangerX]

Somebody, maybe Warn, makes a winch mount that fits a 2" receiver, specifically so you can use it front or back.

Also, never wrap a winch cable around a tree, you'll kill the tree. Use a tow strap or tree saver strap.

 

[Michigander]

yeah.. I know about the tree.

The thing is, I don't want it on a hitch. I don't have a front reciever and would be using this for other reasons than offroading. I would be able to use it away from my vehicle.

 

[kvo]

It's legit right? You're not going to use it to pull a bank safe or break someone out of jail right? I must have watched too many old cowboy movies!!!

Having it suspended or having it mounted does not hurt it one way or another. However, it will definitely decrease your pulling ability because you'll have many weak links. Safety is also another issue where you may not want to suspend the winch. If something snaps, the winch, cable, and whatever attached to it could be flying everywhich way. It will also be very unstable and the cable will not wind back properly on the spool, so you can ruin the cable also. Definitely not recommend it. Lots of bad things could go wrong with it.

 

[Michigander]

hmm... maybe I'll just get a high-lift jack