Maybe some of you can copy this design, maybe some of you have already done this and will be interested in seeing how i did it. Today, i added a 2" receiver to the front of my 24' equipment trailer. Hitch is something i found on ebay. Its a bolt on 2" receiver for a step bumper. Usually for like a chevy or something. Paid $25 shipped for it and its supposed to be rated for 5k lbs. The thing is alot beefier then i thought it would be, i was super impressed with it when i got it unboxed. Im still buying stuff.. But my plan is to buy one of those winch mounts that is made to slide into a 2" receiver. Im going to mount a 9k lb winch (maybe a 5k, im undecided) to a 2" receiver winch mount. This will allow me to remove the winch from the trailer when its not needed, i'll still have the same amount of deck space this way. It will also keep the winch out of the elements. Im going to build a removable tray between the frame rails up front that will hold a pair of deep cycle batteries. Tray will simply be bolted at each corner. I'll be building it out of angle iron, not sure on what size yet. My hardware selection got all types of messed up. Im not too proud of the way its all mounted but it'll work for now until i get the hardware that i prefer. 6 bolts total. The 4 that are on the hitch its self consist of 2 3/4x3" grade 8 bolts and 2 1/2x5" grade 8 bolts. At the very ends there you can see, i have 2 5/8x4" bolts. The 5" bolts are too long, so i have a stack of washers on the back side that looks horrible. The 3" bolts are too short, so i couldnt use a lock washer.. On the back side, there is a 42" long piece of angle iron. Believe its inch and a half or 2 inch. The angle iron is too thin in my opinion, it is what lowes had to offer and i didnt want to wait.. It'll work for now but i am planning on changing it. Also planning on changing the 1/2" bolts over to 3/4" bolts as soon as i track down the proper length. Need some 4 inchers, lowes didnt have any.
That looks like it will work very well, and you'll only make it better. I'd say that's a great low profile mount that won't ever get in the way, but will allow you to quickly mount and secure whatever you want.
I'll be much happier with it after i get the right length of bolts and another piece of 42" angle iron that is thicker. its solid, i know it'll do its intended job.
I do something similar. I buy the Reese 2 inch receiver tubes and weld them to log arch/trailer etc. Whatever doesn't have a receiver. I also made a plate for the winch that you are thinking of. A 5k winch and a few snatch blocks you can double or triple the pull while not being to heavy to move around.
great idea, I would raise the receiver about an inch or two in case you want to put something in that is not flush on the bottom, possibly a clevis or D ring.....
Raising it is simply going to put more stress on the whole area while winching. Taller it is, the more leverage there is going to be. I dont want to stress anything more then i have to. Ya know what im sayin? I mounted this specifically for a winch. This trailer doesnt get used for much of anything anymore actually. If i need to use a clevis for whatever reason, i can simply slide in a draw bar with a 2" rise or so and go from there. Ive kept it simple for sure.
Mount came in a couple days ago. Here are some rough night time pictures. I have about a half in gap between the mount and the trailer deck. I'm going to fill that gap in with some flat stock steel. Keep the deflection and bending to a minimum while winching.
I think that's going to be really strong when your done with the steel. Be cool to see you test it out.
Looks good LinkedXJ, that should work well ... I'm curious what the round rod is used for at the driver's side front of the trailer...
Jack/Landing gear. Has a 10k jack mounted in the center front of the deck, between the frame rails. That round rod reaches over to a handle at the corner that is used to operate the jack.
Its literally as close as i can get it to the deck. I wanted to mount it directly to the structure of the trailer rather then mounting it to the deck and having to create a larger backing plate to help secure it all. My original plan was to bolt it down directly to the deck and butt weld the edge of the 2" receiver to that black steel frame that its bolted to now and then use some 3/16" plate below deck to secure it. This would of put more of the receiver on the deck, causing more of an obstruction. Ive made wood sides for this trailer and even still with the way its mounted now, more out of the way, i dont think my front piece of wood is going to fit. Easy to modify that though, its just wood.
I have a 18' trailer that I'd like to outfit similarly. I'm wondering though if I couldn't mount a pulley where you've mounted your receiver and then mount the winch to one side just in front of the forward rails to allow for more forward load placement. The ability to stow something against those front rails is important.
