Howdy,

Looking for some advice as I'm not too familiar with using a winch but would like to attach one to the front of my trailer to pull a BBQ Pit for loading. My thought is that I could attach a small 2500lb-3500lb rated winch to the top railing right about where the firebox is lined up in the attached picture but was curious if anyone thought whether that top rail would be strong enough.

Winch
Mounting Plate

Figure I would just attach the winch to the mounting plate and then to that top rail by drilling through it and then bolting it all together.



Any advice or suggestions are very much appreciated.

We have boat winches on all of our outfitter trailers that we use to secure our SxS on duck hunts. I have used the winch for a number of other reasons.

Check on that angle iron. If the wench really started binding up it might be too much for that to handle. Someone on here should know about how much it can handle.

I have a 3000lb heavy ATV winch bolted to the front of my utility trailer to pull up disabled vehicles if need be.

I did not put it on the rail, which I think may bend under a heavy load. I drilled holes in the floorboards at the front, made a top and back plate from some 2/6, and bolted it there. It isn't going anywhere, and is generally out of the way up there.

MouthBQ98 said:

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I have a 3000lb heavy ATV winch bolted to the front of my utility trailer to pull up disabled vehicles if need be.

I did not put it on the rail, which I think may bend under a heavy load. I drilled holes in the floorboards at the front, made a top and back plate from some 2/6, and bolted it there. It isn't going anywhere, and is generally out of the way up there.

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My only concern with putting it down on the floorboards (similar to what you have described) would be that the wire rope would rub across the back of the trailer when I'm trying to pull the bbq pit up from the ground level. Maybe that isn't an issue but I thought that you wouldn't want that wire rope to touch anything when there is tension on it.

When you say "from some 2/6", could you be a little more specific? Sorry not entirely sure what all you a referring to.

No way that holds. It might hold if you ran two more cross braces the whole width and then added a steel plate attached to all three so that the winch is pulling on them equally.

It's a concern but I never plan to load my winch to the point it would be a serious issue.

MouthBQ98 said:

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It's a concern but I never plan to load my winch to the point it would be a serious issue.

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Got ya. Ya most I think I'd ever really be pulling up would be around 1000lbs (weight of each of my bbq pits). Can't imagine pulling much more up onto the trailer I have as its a single axel and isn't rated for very much.

If you have a picture of your set up you wouldn't mind sending over I would be curious to see what that mount looks like.

Thanks again for the advice, very much appreciated.

I have a Badlands 2500lb winch on the front of mine. The guy that I bought the trailer from installed it - he had a plat welded to the top rail with a couple of supports that the winch bolts to. I've used it multiple times without any issues at all. It's a great tool to have.

I welded 1/2" plate steel to the trailer frame and then drilled out bolt holes. Mounted a 2500lb winch.

We then ran the control unit and trailer lights wiring to the 7 way. One plug into the back of the truck.

It's seen better days but it works well enough provided the board ends are fitted into a something that secures them down, but three 2x6 aren't going to give much in any case.

One other thing, if you plan on doing this often, bigger wheels on the pit would help.

wadd96 said:

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this is one hellava setup. OP if you're gonna be loading this pit a lot, I'd figure out a way to put tires on it like this.

BQ_90 said:

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wadd96 said:

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this is one hellava setup. OP if you're gonna be loading this pit a lot, I'd figure out a way to put tires on it like this.

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Definitely heard yall on the wheels. My next pit (ready in December) will have golf cart wheels on it and the one in the picture I posted will get transported to a permanent location at my dads so we don't move it anymore. It is a pain in the ass. Next one should be much easier to transport though.

Well, Wheels are awesome.

Is AJ's doing your next pit too?

Backline built mine and the cart.

You do have one great asset there in the ramp. My trailer is tilt bed, so I take out the pin and the rear end lowers until the pit hits the balance point.

wadd96 said:

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Well, Wheels are awesome.

Is AJ's doing your next pit too?

Backline built mine and the cart.

You do have one great asset there in the ramp. My trailer is tilt bed, so I take out the pin and the rear end lowers until the pit hits the balance point.

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Wadd - that is a really nice pit!

Yes I'm going with AJ again. Tried him out getting a modification to the pit in first picture I sent and then decided to order another one I'd have for myself when we retire (give to dad lol) the first pit.

Thank you sir!

Congrats on the new pit!

If you didn't want to leave the winch on the trailer permanently, you could mount a 2" hitch receiver to the trailer and put the winch on a removable tray.