Trailer mounted winch

[Grit dog]

I just happen to have an extra lawn mower battery out in the shop. I had wondered if it would be enough, but if I’m charging off the truck then it should be fine.

2500lb winch runs quite well off a 4wheeler/mower sized battery fwiw(assuming sporadic use and recharging).
If you're considering powering anything off of your 45 year old truck and you'd prefer to keep the original electrical system from cooking itself, I'd advise against using any existing wiring for any significant loads.
If the winch is for occasional use, it's just too easy to re-charge it periodically with a battery charger. If for more frequent use, I'd run a dedicated circuit to the trailer plug or separate connector to charge the trailer battery. But that's just me. I think you'd be wise on an antique truck to not mess with anything original that still actually works.

 

[85K304SPD]

What are you going to be pulling with the winch? How often are you going to use it. Like Grit Dog said, just putting a battery charger on it once in a while is usually enough to keep it charged, without all that complicated wiring that is bound to short out under the truck. You can also have a long set of jumper cables on hand and just run them from the truck battery to the trailer battery if you do run out of power while you are away from the battery charger. Just a thought.

 

[bigcountry78]

I’ll probably be using the winch only a few times a year, and the heaviest thing I’ll be loading might be a dead golf cart. So not any serious use. I also should have specified that I’ll be pulling the trailer with my 2009 Nissan Titan, not my square. I just didn’t know exactly how the wiring worked for the 7 pin. I knew charging a battery was possible, I just didn’t know how it worked. I will most likely just throw a charger on the battery every now and then to keep it topped off, and I have heavy duty booster cables in the truck I could use to run the winch if I needed it. Thanks gents.

 

[calredneck]

Just get long set of jumper cables hook up to the truck no battery no charging works when you need it

 

[oldretiredafguy]

Way I did it when collecting trucks all over the country was to install a 2nd battery tray, and carry my winch battery in it. I could then move the battery to the trailer winch, or take it into a motel room and charge it overnight. Never liked those battery boxes on any trailer tongue-sort of like asking "steal me, steal me" to any yayhoo walking or driving by.

 

[bigcountry78]

Way I did it when collecting trucks all over the country was to install a 2nd battery tray, and carry my winch battery in it. I could then move the battery to the trailer winch, or take it into a motel room and charge it overnight. Never liked those battery boxes on any trailer tongue-sort of like asking "steal me, steal me" to any yayhoo walking or driving by.

That’s a good idea. For now I just throw the battery in the bed of the truck until I need the winch. My trailer stays locked inside a shed when not in use so I’m not too worried about theft.

 

[oldretiredafguy]

Watch out with a "locked" shed. I had two local druggies that broke into my barn, and both RV's. Did $7000 damage to the barn, and $1500. to each RV. I caught them in the middle of ransacking the RV's. Only three years in a state prison. Next time, I won't call the sheriff until after I take care of them.