Toys and Winches

If anyone has been contemplating buying a winch to facilitate loading their toys I stumbled onto a very good deal on a Dutton-Lainson Strongarm 115v winch. I'm going with 115v so I don't have to carry an extra battery or run heavy wiring 40' to the garage for a 12v model. Here's the link: Dutton-Lainson Winch

After loading our 2 Harleys in the back of our 4200 Cyclone for one summer, I told my son "I may sound like a wuss, but you know, one of these days I'm gonna dump one of these loading them." His reply "yup, probably". With the patio door swung open in the back, it makes it a pretty tight fit to ride them up the steep ramp and get them lined up in the Biker Bars. We purchased a Super Winch 3500 with nylon cable (not wire cable). Since wire cable has a tendency to "fray" over time, I didn't want to have wire marks on the floor. It's run by 12 volt battery, but I just put the battery under the sink that's in the toy hauler and put a curtain around the sink for looks.......you don't even know it's there.

I also purchased a longer remote cord so if needed, I could load bikes myself. If you are interested in the winch positioning so we can load both bikes, I can give detail in another post.

It has made loading the bikes a lot easier AND safer!

Being a cheapskate the <$80 Harbor Freight 12v with a wireless remote looks nice. And I'm very familiar with the quality. Probably ought to have one "just in case" I can't ride the bike in for whatever reason.

Sigh!! The shopping list never quits.

I bought a 120v Warn winch, and use it to load the motorcycle with the ramp angle is steep, or if I'm trying to load two items and need to be precise with the loading. Dumping a bike on a steep ramp did not sound appealing to me.

Just to throw out another option. I purchased a 4k pound "trailer" winch for my 28' gooseneck to load and unload my project '71 Camaro. the "trailer" winch not only has a power in but also a power out to unload the car in a safe and sane manner.

Just my $0.02 worth.

-Mark