Mounting and wiring an ATV winch

[Dave in WV]

I bought a winch to mount on my ATV. Any tips to share. I'd like to wire it so it's less subject to damage due to "hey, what's this do?" switch farkeling. IIRC a fellow I know wired a two position switch in series to deactivate his the rocker switch. Any better or other suggestions? Thanks in advance, Dave

[Paladin]

I've put on a few winch kits that came with a toggle switch just for that. kit should of came with instructions, not knowing the configuration, I can only suggest installing a cut off switch in the feed wire to the control switch, also take the B+ from a source controlled by the key switch. Good Luck  Ken

[Dave in WV]

Thanks Ken. That's how I thought I'd wire it but wanted to check if there was a better way. Dave

[weasel]

Dave, I am gonna redo mine, I have it bolted to the plate on the front, but I want to modify the mount so I can move it to the back if I need to pull backwards. As for the wiring, I'm thinkin' the 2-prong weatherproof connectors on both front and back.

[Siskiyou]

Dave,

Have you explored the electrical draw from you ATV by the winch?  I know of a couple cases that electric wench’s have killed, original equipment batteries on 4x4 pickups.  The charging system and the light duty batteries could not keep up with the draw.  I am making the assumption that the same risk is present with an ATV setup.

[Dave in WV]

I have not heard of winches trashing batteries but I'll look into it. I'm going to raise my snow blade with the winch and use it if needed to get deer out of hard to drag places. I hope I never get into a place I need the winch to get my ATV out.

[deerhuntertyler]

I have two warn 2500 winchs on mine, one on the front and one on the back. Know I'm wishing I got a 3000 for the front because I almost always have to double the cable with a pully to pull myself out.

[hobbles]

Mornin Dave in WV
How ya doin with your winch install? Iffin ya need any help on it, check this post on here. 

[Dave in WV]

hobbles, I've had it done for several weeks now. I got it done with just one problem. I had tapped into a wire for control power that wasn't "hot" with the ingnition switch on. I got it right. I went back and soldered the connection where I spliced the wires together, wire capped them and then coated it with liquid tape. Thanks for the link. Dave

[hobbles]

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