Winch Size for Car Trailer
 

I know this isn't drag racing info, but it is part of the sport so I think it best fits this section.

I just purchased a 24' enclosed trailer for towing my car to the track. I want to install an electric winch in the trailer for the day when I break the car at the track. I also want the ease of loading since the trailer doesn't have an escape hatch for loading/unloading.

My car weighs ~3500 pounds give or take. What size winch is alright for a car my weight? As I understand it, winches are rated at dead weight and my car would always be rolling weight which is considerably less?

Will a 3000 or so winch be alright? Is it worth it to have the extra? 3000lb winches appear to be ~$250 and 4-5000lb are in the 3-400+ range. Any good brands?

3000 lbs would be pleanty of winch. You do not need a winch to match the weight of teh car. Remember the car rolls and you are not pulling it straight up in the air. You are just pulling it up a slope. I have a 1500 lb manual ratchet winch (just a little hand crank with 30 ft of cable on it) on my trailer in case of emergency... I've used it several times and no problems pulling a car on it.

Now if you trying to pull a car that doesn't roll.... different story.

wat if u bust a tire or a rim.... better to be safe then sorry get a 4k one

I have an old superwinch 2500....it has dragged a car on the trailer with a locked up trans. It has been o.k. I would get a little bigger but it came with the trailer and it works o.k.

I'm using the smallest electric ATV winch available. I think it's rated for 1000 lbs line pull. Works great, winches the car in and out just fine.

Providing the car still easily rolls, a small winch will do for normal days. It's when it doesn't roll and is dead weight that a stronger winch is needed. Providing you have enough cable, you can always use a snatch block and do a two to one pull with a smaller winch.

The only reason that I can think of would be jambed up rear gears or a flat tire and a tire can be changed.

And as you say I always carry a snatch block for line doubling.

I never even considered the snatch block. That would be a perfect way to insure that the winch had adequate power.

I was trying to avoid the huge weight penalty of the big winches, so I'll just look for a 2-3000lb winch with a 50 to 80 foot cable or there abouts.

Thanks for all the response guys.

Nobody carries these?? http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

How would I get those to roll in the gravel then up my ramps if I had to drag my car onto the trailer? Those are designed for moving a car around on a smooth shop floor.

All the times I hurt my car so it couldn't be driven onto my trailer (blown engines), it was always rolled off the back of the deck of the tow truck right onto the trailer. :)

I have used my little hand crank winch several times. Once for mine for a bad ignition box (unknown at the time) and maybe half a dozen times for other cars. 1 with a blown motor, 2 times with broken tranies, 1 time was a broken rear... ect. 1 time I even had a friend who broke the output shaft and trans case in his M6 Z. Twisted the driveshaft like a pretzel and the car didn't roll. We beat the shaft out with a BFH and pulled it on the trailer. Never had the need for a 4 or 5000lb winch.