OT Trailer Winch battery?

I am getting ready to mount a 12000# winch on my tractor hauler. I need ideas as to what battery to use. I will have it wired to the constant power from my pickup. Do I
need a deep cycle, or just as big of 1 as I can get?

get the biggest amps, like the ones used to start diesel trucks,, 1000 ca, even get two and have extra pulling power

Been using the biggest deep cycle/starting combo marine/RV AGM(maintenance free) battery I could find on Viper winch. So far so good, it is also wired into truck, but we maintenance charge it as well.

The deep cycle is suggested for winches because you are more likely to do a deep discharge on long or hard pulls. Starting batteries are not well suited for that and will have a shorter life span. Keep in mind a deep discharge is very hard on your truck alternator as well. If you know you are going to being sucking most of the juice out of the battery, you should probably disconnect it from the truck and put it on a deep cycle charger when you get home instead. The alternator should just be maintenance topping off, not trying to restore it from dead.

Hello Lazy WP


Yes on both questions. If it were my set up I would not use lead acid battery,

Guido.

i put a deep cycle battery on my trailer when i put on the winch, also wired in a small solor panel to keep battery charged up when not in use, 5-6 years ago, still good

Constant power to the truck? Do you mean it will be direct wired to truck battery? If so, keep in mind that if the trailer battery has a problem or gets real low then the winch is going to try to draw power through the wiring to the truck. Electric winches of that size can draw 300-400+ Amps. The same thing can happen the other way too. If direct wired and there is a problem with the truck battery then the truck will try to draw its power off the trailer battery.

I've seen this happen both ways and melt wiring and cause fires. You either want an battery isolator for the trailer, a trailer battery charger for winch battery or very heavy gauge wiring going to the truck battery with a huge circuit breaker in case the winch or leads short out

Oh, what I would do is whats mentioned above with the solar panel and deep cycle. If you didn't want to do that I would get the trailer battery charge so it would charge the battery through the trailer plug but not be able to draw winch power through truck

Constant power to the truck? Do you mean it will be direct wired to truck battery? If so, keep in mind that if the trailer battery has a problem or gets real low then the winch is going to try to draw power through the wiring to the truck. Electric winches of that size can draw 300-400+ Amps. The same thing can happen the other way too. If direct wired and there is a problem with the truck battery then the truck will try to draw its power off the trailer battery.

I've seen this happen both ways and melt wiring and cause fires. You either want an battery isolator for the trailer, a trailer battery charger for winch battery or very heavy gauge wiring going to the truck battery with a huge circuit breaker in case the winch or leads short out

"constant power"

FWIW, likely if it is a newer pkup, the "constant power" terminal at the trailer connector only has power when the ignition switch is "on".

I've been running regular truck batteries with 1000+ CCA for years on trailer winches with no problem and they are wired into the truck to keep them charged.I don't constantly
use the winch just to use it to load something like a tractor.

I run twin 1100 amp group 31 big truck batteries on mine, I power both my winch and the hydraulic pump for my ramps.
I like these because you can get them on sale at the truck dealers usually for under $70 each

Just for all of you that tell me I don't have constant power, I do. My center pin on the 7 pin RV plug is hot all the time. As for the rest of you, thanks for the advice. I think I will be putting a group 31 on it. I also have to option of running 2/0 from the battery on the pickup all the way back and using the twist plug and not having any batteries out where someone can steal it.

Although YES Billy Bob any old battery will "work" to an extent. For long term deep discharges its better if you used a true deep cycle golf cart type battery (12 volt or two sixes in series). Also, sure, a cheaper so called RV/Marine battery will "work" but that's at best a semi deep cycle battery and for long deep discharges its still NOT as good as a true deep cycle battery. BUT YOUR MONEY AND YOUR CHOICE just because a true deep cycle is better for your application it will cost more while the cheap setup will still "work". IT DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH AND HOW LONG AND HARD YOU USE THE WINCH as to what you can get by with. For rare short term low load use heck the cheap route will get you by, but if you're out there winching big loads often, you need to upgrade BOTH your batteries PLUS charging circuit (see below)

CHARGING at best you may have perhaps a 20 amp or 30 amp setup and cord and connection and plug/receptacle so the trucks alternator keeps your trailer battery charged AND THATS GOOD AND WORKS. HOWEVER don't think that light duty arrangement will supply any continuos say 50 to 100 or so amps (its likely protected for only 20 or 30 remember) the winch may draw subject to its load. The lighter your battery is the greater need to supply current when the winch is running. Its possible to use bigger wire and high amp connectors to supply more winch current from the alternator, but a light duty 20/30 amp CHARGING CIRCUIT isn't gonna keep up the energy big loads require

nuff said

John T

For years I have used the same Optima 1000 CA car battery on my 9000 lb Harbor Freight winch.....
I have used it on dead pulls with a snatch block where the tractor or combine wheels wouldn't turn...
I have never come close to ever draining it..Before that I used a 800 CA battery with no problems..

When its not on the winch this Optima battery is used on several different tractors with no charging
systems including my U MM puller which some times is hooked 4 times at a pull..This battery has been
charged 100's of times..I have an identical one that I always take with me but I have never needed it..

To add I've tried the deep cycle batteries on tractors that didn't charge and pulling tractors and they never gave me as good of service and lasted as long as regular truck batteries.Back when scrap was high I was using my electric over hydraulic tilt bed trailer and 12,000 lb electric winch to drag old tractors,equipment and whatever on the trailer and used it several days at a time and only about 5 miles to the scrap yard to give the battery time to charge and never had a problem with the 1100 CCA battery losing power.I would let the truck run while I was winching.

I have a 12000 # winch from HF and use a Walmart Deep cycle battery, I put it on a a battery tender over the winter and so far it has lasted 4 years

All of the trucks here have cables running from the battery direct to the hitch with twist lock connectors. The winches are very light duty and only used with things that roll. The big deck over trailer has a massive winch but the semis both are four battery setups. I couldn't tell you the last time I used that winch.

It's nice to not ever worry about a battery. I always leave the tow vehicle running when using the winch.