Re: Trailer for Packard

Posted by Fred Puhn On 2012/1/27 15:51:03

The winch power is a real pain. I bought a winch for my smaller trailer and I found that the winch battery was dead each time I occasionaly used it. Then I bought a solar panel charging system and put it on the roof of the trailer. That helps, but batteries don't like to sit without being used. My new Nissan Titan has a 50 amp power plug in the rear of the bed so I tried the winch with that. It worked for a few seconds until it blew the breaker in the truck.

On an older 1956 truck I put a second battery in it under the hood and used a charging system made for campers to keep it charged up while driving the truck. That worked pretty well, but my 2004 Titan does not have the extra space under the hood for the extra battery.

For my newest trailer I bought an AC winch at harbor freight. Since they run on 110 volt power instead of 12 volt DC the current draw is much less than a DC winch. This makes the winch smaller lighter and cheaper. I can us an extension cord in my driveway to power it or a portable gasoline generator that I can roll into the trailer and tie down. I have yet to try this new system. The portable generator has other uses besides sitting around for the day I need the winch.

Thanks everyone for the nice advice on the trailer issues.