I have an 1984 Dodge W250 4WD farm truck and I am interested in buying an electric winch for the thing. I checked out the better offering from superwinch and the price for a 9500# is around $700.00. the bad is the $175.00 they want for the mounting plate, which looks very simple. I am not real interested in looks I just want function and affordability. I welcome any ideas on winch mounting and mount fabrication. I had thought about replacing the rusty bumper with a piece of 8" channel steel and maybe mount from that.
go get a harbor freight 12000lb winch for under $300.00, they are badland brand, made in china like all the rest, including your superwinch im sure, and weld up your own mounting bracket.. here is the 9000lb.. http://www.harborfreight.com/9000-l...-with-automatic-load-holding-brake-61325.html and the 12000.. http://click.harborfreightemail.com...fe671cba9334793b05aeb62932d9777adaefc7e8d109e
The mounting plates usually just give you offset holes so the holes on the winch that would be hard to get at when mounting direct to a bumper... but with a piece of channel it would be easier... as long as your holes weren't too far apart on the superwinch(vertically) for the ~6 inch opening on the rear of the channel. Does the superwinch list it's mounting dimensions? I'm just guessing, but 8 inch might not be big enough. EDIT: Like hobby says HF winches are a lot cheaper... however I think it would depend on what your plan is for usage... now and then farm type work or jobsite (has to work when you need it most!)
go to a junkyard and get you a reese hitch, that fits the frame width of your truck. Bolt it up front,(you will have to drill the frame) and make a receiver tube adapter plate, to plug the winch into the reese hitch. That way, you can mount the winch in seconds, on the front or on the back, if you have a reese hitch, there. And you can dismount it, and keep it away from thieves, by putting it in the cab...:idea
Years ago, I put a front bumper on a 85 Land Cruiser FJ60, 5" schedule 40 pipe, on 8" standoffs, put a winch plate of 1/4" A36 structural steel across the standoffs and it worked great for about a decade. Howard
Thats what I did. I use 400 amp welding cable connectors to connect to the batteries. I carry a couple sections of good welding lead extensions But use the winch on the front without them. I use it on the back reciever, and on my reciever equipped trailers using the welding cable extensions. I use 2-0 cable and have no noticable power loss thru the extension leads. I have 3 parted the line and easily loaded a dead D4 Cat onto my gooseneck with my 25 year old 8,000 lb Warn winch.