Winch Battery-Deep cycle vs Reg.?

H

HCO41

Senior Member
I wanted a way to pull non-running vehicles from outside my garage back in. This would allow me to push/pull the vehicle out to pressure wash or other messy job then pull it back up into the garage.
I have cemented the center section of a 2" receiver into the floor and made an insert that will accept my trailer winch plate (2"x2").
My question: Would it be better to use a regular 12v battery or would a deep cycle battery last longer in this application? (I also plan to use the battery as a 12v power supply and jumper. It will be kept on a maintainer when not in use).
Howard
 
Well, many car batteries are used on car trailers for their winches and you are pulling the car "up" a ramp. I am assuming you are on a flat surface so I would just use a car battery (I usually get the "mid grade" battery just because) and see how you make out ...
 
Thanks Tom. I have less grade coming into my garage than coming up the ramps of my trailer, but I power the winch off the truck batterys (diesel w/two) and I usually leave the truck running, so I don't have any experience with a separate battery on the trailer. Maybe I'll test the setup using jumpers off my car.
Howard
 
If you buy a group 24 it will probably fit two or three of your other cars in case of an emergency. Always handy to have a charged up 12 volt battery on hand.
Bruce
 
I use a Blue Top Optima with a solar trickle charger on my trailer and have had excellent
service from this combination for over 7 years...knock on wood!
 
I agree with Bruce that an extra group 24 battery is nice to have around. I also have a 3000 lb Harbor Freight winch I use in my boat lift (20 ft pontoon). It has a solar charger, and I have never had a single problem with it in the 5 years I have used it. (I keep my "extra" group 24 battery in it in the summer.) I have measured my solar charger and it puts out a quarter amp during the day which is enough to keep the battery up. If you put a maintainer on it, you should have no problems at all.
 
Thanks to all. BTW the winch is a Ramsey REP 8000. The extra group 24 sounds like a good idea. Optima is a little expensive if the 24 will work. Our car has a group 35 battery so I'm going to test the setup using a jump from the car (not running) and hook the winch cable to my 3/4 ton PU to see how it pulls that in. That should represent worst case. I'll let you know.
Howard
 
Howard,

For your application - any 12VDC automotive battery will do as long as you are
not using it for more than 5 minutes at a time ...


Jim
 
I used an optima red top in my enclosed trailer to pull a rolling chassis up a hill onto a rack that double decked chassis when I was doing trade shows. Used the same battery for several years without problems. Charged it once or twice a season and I did 7-9 shows a summer.
 
A short course in Battery 101..
The average car battery is designed to start an engine, high amperage draw for a short period of time.. An automotive battery generally has a short run cycle.
A deep cycle battery is designed to run motors, electrical devises, etc., over a long period of time. They can be repeatedly run down to a minimum charge level, being recharged over and over with very little loss of capacity.
Battery's do not store electricity, they make electricity via a reaction of the acid to the plates. "Charging" a battery flushes the accumulation of sulficatation/oxidation from the plates, allowing the galvanic action to work.
My definition may not be spot on, it has been almost sixty years since I was in electronic school..
 
Many good choices out there - I chose the Optima Yellow Top - see below per mfg

"The YELLOWTOP® high-performance AGM battery has everything you need. It’s one of the few true dual-purpose automotive batteries available, and performs above expectations as a tractor battery, forklift battery, or for other applications. With premium cranking power and impressive cycling capability, this heavy duty battery is also perfect for modern accessory-loaded vehicles. The YELLOWTOP can repeatedly be brought back from deep power drains to full charge, so it can power plenty of electronics and still start you up time after time. Low internal resistance also provides more consistent power output and faster recharges.

Trucks with winches, vehicles with high-demand electronics and audio systems, commercial vehicles and heavy equipment can all rely on this battery to provide ultimate starting and deep-cycle power. It also functions well as a forklift battery, tractor battery, or for other applications.
 
PeterC, thanks for the information on the Optima yellow top. I went to the Optima site and reviewed the applications for the three styles they offer. I hadn't noticed the reference to some of the heavy uses for the yellow top. Optima makes ten yellow top batteries with significant variations in CCA, reserve minutes and post configurations. What is the model of the battery that's worked for you? For my use, I can use any physical size or post configuration.
Howard
 
My Dad used a regular car battery mounted on a trailer to pull his boat onto the trailer, he charged it once in a while and never had a problem, battery lasted for years.
 
HCO41 said:
PeterC, thanks for the information on the Optima yellow top. I went to the Optima site and reviewed the applications for the three styles they offer. I hadn't noticed the reference to some of the heavy uses for the yellow top. Optima makes ten yellow top batteries with significant variations in CCA, reserve minutes and post configurations. What is the model of the battery that's worked for you? For my use, I can use any physical size or post configuration.
Howard
Click to expand...

this is the unit I have used fro my trailer winch -
Optima Batteries 8071-167 D51 YellowTop Starting & Deep Cycle Battery

Batteries 8071-167 D51 YELLOWTOP… this model is the same as batteries marked 8071-167… SAE Post D51 8071-167 12 volts 6140
Purchase the 8071-167 D51 YELLOWTOP® Starting & Deep-Cycle Battery from OPTIMA® Batteries.
 
PeterC said:
Many good choices out there - I chose the Optima Yellow Top - see below per mfg

"The YELLOWTOP® high-performance AGM battery has everything you need. It’s one of the few true dual-purpose automotive batteries available, and performs above expectations as a tractor battery, forklift battery, or for other applications. With premium cranking power and impressive cycling capability, this heavy duty battery is also perfect for modern accessory-loaded vehicles. The YELLOWTOP can repeatedly be brought back from deep power drains to full charge, so it can power plenty of electronics and still start you up time after time. Low internal resistance also provides more consistent power output and faster recharges.

Trucks with winches, vehicles with high-demand electronics and audio systems, commercial vehicles and heavy equipment can all rely on this battery to provide ultimate starting and deep-cycle power. It also functions well as a forklift battery, tractor battery, or for other applications.
Click to expand...

I have a yellow top 12v Optima in my '39, it has been in use since '07, never a problem. I also have a yellow top in another old car.. Again works great.
The one thing you did not mention in your comments is that the Optima batteries have to be charged with a slow "trickle charger", a normal fast charge will kill them..
I believe this is true of all Glass Matt, AGM's, etc., type of battery's..
 
Thanks blucar, I saw the charging data on the Optima site. I plan to use a Battery tender to keep it charged. 750ma should do it.
Howard
 
As a general rule, a "Battery-Tender" will not charge a battery that is @ less than 50% of charge...
 
My boss got a trailer that had electric winch, I picked a battery off the junk pile, not much choice that day, the only one that fit in the box was one was 12 years old, agm from Mercedes --- I didn't consider it good enough to use in a car, it worked the trailer winch for 2 years (I have used junk pile batteries in my modern cars for the last 20 y, usually get 3-10 years more out of one)
 
For my roll back trailer winch, I get the same battery as my truck has and swap them out every so often. The cost is as good or better than the high dollar batteries even if I have to replace one more often.

Sulfation is knocked off more so during high rate discharge than it is during charging. Batteries need to be used on a regular basis for good health. If they don't get discharged & charged often enough, the sulfates get harder and less likely to come off when in use or while being charged. The more of the hard stuff builds up, the less capacity the plates will have. I use a trickle charger of no more than 3-amps to charge them. It takes longer but the battery will last longer as well.
 
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