I built my own front mount hitch to mount my new winch (PICS)
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#51
I looked at the photos in your first post and without looking at the rest of the replies see your choice of materials is not the best for the application.
You should have used the tubing meant for tow hitch applications.
The materials you have is soft steel and has holes yet, that weakin it's strength.
Normally a tow hitch receiver is rated for up to 10,000 lbs and the ball mount at 6000 lbs and the weight on the frame at about 600 lbs.
This points to the fact that there is some engineering and strength of materials involved with such applications that should not be taken to lightly.
Your lucky your application will be for a horizontal pulling application and not so much for weight but even then you might pull the stucture out of shape and do damage to other parts.
Good luck.
You should have used the tubing meant for tow hitch applications.
The materials you have is soft steel and has holes yet, that weakin it's strength.
Normally a tow hitch receiver is rated for up to 10,000 lbs and the ball mount at 6000 lbs and the weight on the frame at about 600 lbs.
This points to the fact that there is some engineering and strength of materials involved with such applications that should not be taken to lightly.
Your lucky your application will be for a horizontal pulling application and not so much for weight but even then you might pull the stucture out of shape and do damage to other parts.
Good luck.
#52
#53
I looked at the photos in your first post and without looking at the rest of the replies see your choice of materials is not the best for the application.
You should have used the tubing meant for tow hitch applications.
The materials you have is soft steel and has holes yet, that weakin it's strength.
Normally a tow hitch receiver is rated for up to 10,000 lbs and the ball mount at 6000 lbs and the weight on the frame at about 600 lbs.
This points to the fact that there is some engineering and strength of materials involved with such applications that should not be taken to lightly.
Your lucky your application will be for a horizontal pulling application and not so much for weight but even then you might pull the stucture out of shape and do damage to other parts.
Good luck.
You should have used the tubing meant for tow hitch applications.
The materials you have is soft steel and has holes yet, that weakin it's strength.
Normally a tow hitch receiver is rated for up to 10,000 lbs and the ball mount at 6000 lbs and the weight on the frame at about 600 lbs.
This points to the fact that there is some engineering and strength of materials involved with such applications that should not be taken to lightly.
Your lucky your application will be for a horizontal pulling application and not so much for weight but even then you might pull the stucture out of shape and do damage to other parts.
Good luck.
Well... I pulled a tree out of the ground a couple days ago about a foot in diameter. Also, yes, these materials are not the same the hitch manufacturers use. The difference is in the engineering. Most hitches are held on with 4 bolts. This has 24" of weld holding it to the frame. Also, every hitch I have seen uses a single crossbeam. This double offset parallel beam more than makes up for the weaker materials. In addition it's gusseted and cross braced.
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#59
Still working great.
We decided to do a little exploring on a road nobody has traveled for a long time - and a river bed. I had to use the winch a couple of times. The pictures make this stuff look so easy, but we were STUCK! I would have been fine with a shorter wheelbase, but the long wheel base and running boards was a perfect recipe for high centering. My home made front winch mount and Harbor Freight winch pulled us right off the rocks without a complaint.
I didn't realize it until a couple days ago, but the passenger side running board is bent up a couple inches, so there was a lot of the trucks weight on it.
We decided to do a little exploring on a road nobody has traveled for a long time - and a river bed. I had to use the winch a couple of times. The pictures make this stuff look so easy, but we were STUCK! I would have been fine with a shorter wheelbase, but the long wheel base and running boards was a perfect recipe for high centering. My home made front winch mount and Harbor Freight winch pulled us right off the rocks without a complaint.
I didn't realize it until a couple days ago, but the passenger side running board is bent up a couple inches, so there was a lot of the trucks weight on it.
#60