Winch for truck bed

[Dean2]

I have an 84 inch long ramp. I ride motorcycles. But the same principal should apply.

Get a run at the ramp so that you are decelerating up the ramp. If you power up the ramp, you'll push the ramp away from the truck. Coast up. You should be at a crawl when your back wheels are on the tailgate.

You do not need a winch.

If you aren't ratchet strapping your ramp to the truck you are eventually going to have it slide out from under you. The way you describe the technique is correct, assuming you can ride the item on. In my case, I have to back my quad in, and have it go under the canopy. You cannot be sitting on it when you load, there isn't enough clearance. There is no way to do that without powering it up the ramp or using a winch.

 

[Hookedup87]

I ratchet strap my two ramps, one lined up for the left wheels and one lined up for the right, but don’t feel comfortable sitting on the quad and riding it up. Or for that matter backing it down under power. These things come off the trails with wet muddy tires. That’s an accident waiting to happen. I do like the idea of lag bolting a winch to some lumber and then using those front hooks to fasten the whole apparatus to the truck bed. That would probably work, and I could remove it when I’m not using it. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Brownbelfry]

I use a Warn Drill Portable Winch a lot. Have used it on some pretty good loads. It is rated at 750 lbs. https://www.napaonline.com/accessor...fdHjR9tKgVESihhtboxoCeRoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Dinky]

Ride it up Into the bed? Make sure you ratchet strap your ramps to the hitch.

 

[RLJ10X]

I don’t understand why you have to back the quad in, and I don’t understand the canopy thing, but ok.

I used to strap the ramp to the truck until I figured out it was a waste of time. When I coast up the ramp, I’m not pushing the ramp away from the truck.

I’ve been riding motorcycles for 42 years. Presently, I’m down to 7 motorcycles. But what works for me, and my bikes may not work for you.

 

[Tracy in IL]

check out U-tube for "truck winch deer loading" and you'll get all kinds of ideas.

 

[TorqueWagon]

Hey. Anyone out there like me that loads heavy equipment into the back of their truck bed up a set of ramps? I have a 300 lb quad that I throttle and push in combination with steer while I walk up behind it up the ramps into the back of my truck. It’s a bit sketchy at times and makes me nervous as hell. I was thinking. Imagine if I had a small power winch mounted in the bed all the way up front and just let that thing pull the quad up the ramps all by itself? Am I crazy? Anybody do this? If so, does it work? And conversely it could also work in reverse and let it slowly down the ramps when I unload it at my destination. And for power maybe wire it to a plug that I could just plug into one of the trailer connectors for power instead of hard wiring anything.

Am I onto something here or just spinning my wheels?

You might want to consider buying a winch for the front of your ATV instead, and just installing an anchor plate or commercially available tied down (recessed?) assembly front and center in the floor of your bed. That way, the winch is available for use on the trail when riding and can also do the double duty of helping you to load 'er up in a safe controlled manner.

 

[michael babb]

So I had two quads to take with me and a boat to pull so I built an 8 foot wide platform to fit them both over the top of my old pickup bed, so about chin high. I am old and thought it through because I am not interested in dying painfully or being on someone's fail army videos. I welded a 2 inch ball on top of my headache rack and used the type of winch plate for the winch that is made to go over your hitch. I bought a cheap jumper cable set and cut off one end of clamps which I wired to the winch and just opened the hood and clamped it to the battery direct. Even with good ramps we were pushing steeper than 45 degrees. I welded a round rod so the cable had a smooth surface to ride on. I also learned quickly that you want to attach your winch cable to the farthest frame point away from your winch. Hook a strap to the part of your quad that leaves the ground last. Cable all the way under the quad. I unloaded and loaded probably 30 times and it worked great. A bit slow but you can push the wheels in line as you winch.
After a few years of this I bought a side by side that fits inside my 2016 Ram Tradesman bed. My wife and I can ride together that way and I don't have to eat her dust. Just take off the hitch and front grille bars and the Honda Pioneer 500 will fit with tailgate shut. If it was a half inch longer it would not.

 

[Stan Wetmore]

Notice that the professional model of this is mounted up higher so that the cable will have some lifting force on the ATV. If it was down on bed level it would be trying to pull it straight into the ramp, instead of up it. That would definitely increase the pull. As for the power for it, in my opinion the trailer connector would not supply enough current for any winch. I would suspect that the winch would draw around 50amps or more, which would be too much for that trailer circuit. But you may find some winch somewhere that has a far less current requirement.
The idea is good though.

 

[REDNECK28871]

I'm sorry but am I the only one who thinks a 300 lb quad is "NOT" HEAVY EQUIPMENT" ?

 

[Dinky]

I'm sorry but am I the only one who thinks a 300 lb quad.

No I used to load mine with out Ramps it was 428lbs. Lift the front and push it forward on rear wheels. Once wheels were on the tailgate Lift rear up and Done. My ranger was the worse front wheels had to ride over wheel wells and rear tires didn't hit the tail gate yet lol.

 

[Hookedup87]

I was in a bad accident that totaled out my 2013 Ram back in 2019. Guy ran a red light. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of damage to my lower back and neck as a result. Ain’t no way I’m deadlifting a quad into the back of my truck. But thanks.

 

[Dean2]

I was in a bad accident that totaled out my 2013 Ram back in 2019. Guy ran a red light. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of damage to my lower back and neck as a result. Ain’t no way I’m deadlifting a quad into the back of my truck. But thanks.

I feel for you. Thought about responding to the azzhat comment but decided not to bother. Don't have a lot of time for people so self centred they can't comprehend injury, limited mobility or the infirmity that comes with old age. Positive I was never that unaware of the folks around me and I spent a lot of time helping people that needed it. I guess living vicariously through the net doesn't really teach people much about the real world.

 

[hunterdan]

I was in a bad accident that totaled out my 2013 Ram back in 2019. Guy ran a red light. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of damage to my lower back and neck as a result. Ain’t no way I’m deadlifting a quad into the back of my truck. But thanks.

I feel that. I originally had this winch in my tundra, that had a small lift on it. Trying to load a 120-150+ lb deer by yourself isn't an easy task, and is one that caused me to pull muscles in my back. I transferred my whole setup over to my ram with minor adjustments to the width and height. Yeah, it might not be faster than throwing a deer in the back by hand, but it's damn sure better than blowing your back out. Now, I just toss the deer into my Jett sled, hook the winch to the sled and slide it up the ramp. I thought this would be something I take out after the seasons over, buy it takes up so little bed space, I just leave it in year round. One of these days I'll wire the battery to the truck to keep it topped off.

 

[Spamcan]

My son and I were out camping and he had 2 quads on a rack above his truck bed. Getting 'em off we used a rope tied to the front bumper of the quad and took 3 or more turns around the forward horizontal bar of the rack and centered in front of the quad and eased each down by hand. Loading: One of his quads had a winch mounted to its front bumper and I had a "snatchblock". First, with enough cable/rope and the winch-equipped quad stationed forward and off to the side of the truck, we ran the cable and extension rope from the drum, over the forward horizontal bar, down to the snatchblock (now attached to the winch-less quad's bumper) and back to the forward horizontal rail of the rack. This gave the winch approx 2 times its rated power. When the cable was wound all the way in, I secured the quad where it was, shortened up on the rope with a looped knot, ran out the cable and re-attached it to the now-shortened rope length' loop, and finished winching the quad up on the rack. The winch-equipped quad hauled itself up directly, but we took care to not over-heat the winch.

 

[Hookedup87]

Honestly, I know it’s costly, but I think I’m just gonna go with that toy loader posted early in this thread. It looks well made, made in the USA, will do everything I need it to do, and should be safe. Seems like a lot of money, but, my ramps are those ladder style. If I slip pushing/throttling that thing up the ramps and my foot goes in between one of the steps, the quads gonna come back on me and it’s not gonna be good. Then I’m hurt, possibly really bad, and out of work. Then what’s that gonna cost me.

I have to justify it somehow. But I think that’s the route I’m gonna go.

 

[JC4041]

I'm sorry but am I the only one who thinks a 300 lb quad is "NOT" HEAVY EQUIPMENT" ?

We were all young once, age and jobs do some crazy stuff to bodies....

 

[MoParts]

Until I read to the point where you mentioned your injury I was going to suggest something like this:

I had a pice of chain, connected it to the two front hooks in the bed with screw carabiner, hooked my $15 ratchet cable winch and manually winched a load into my bed. Didn't require any special work and leaves my bed unobstructed. If regularly pulling things into the bed then a more permanent set up like above makes sense, but sharing mine in case it helps.

Or just use a rope and two ****** <- s.n.a.t.c.h blocks, run a rope across tie-downs in the front stake pockets as the anchor. should be able to get it in there with less than 50 lbs of pull.

I know an electric winch sounds like gravy but remember you have to tend to the cable, making sure it wraps properly. Or, given the light weight involved, maybe don't worry about it until you want to pull something heavy, and rewind the cable on the drum beforehand.