How to Power Electric Badlands Winch to Tow Vehicle

Updated 05/09/2020 | Published 08/29/2017

Question:

I have a 12000 lb badlands winch that will be on my car trailer. I want to power it from my tow vehicle. What do I need to do this? My tow vehicle has a 7 pin and a 4 pin electrical hookup. The trailer hooks into the 7 pin. Is there a way to get power to the winch from the unused 4 pin? Thanks

asked by: Matt

Expert Reply:

There are a few different ways that you can wire up your Badlands Electric Winch to your truck, but I do not recommend using the trailer connector on your tow vehicle. This is simply because electric winches will draw too much power for the connector and the trailer wiring to handle.

I have attached an article on wiring an electric winch that you might find very helpful. The second half of the article details the different methods that can be used. The one I recommend is powering the winch using the tow vehicle's battery. For this, I recommend using the Bulldog Winch Universal Wiring Kit # BDW20026.

On the winch you will attach the power wire to the positive post. Then attach the negative wire to the negative ground post on the winch. You will run both of the wires from the winch to the engine compartment in your vehicle, connecting them to the battery.

I have attached an installation video using this kit that you can use for reference.

expert reply by: Chris R

Trevor C.

5/4/2020

I have a Badland 12,000 winch. Using for a boathouse to pull boat in/out of water. Question I have is can I use two batteries for 24 volt system?

Chris R.

5/6/2020

If your Badlands winch is rated for 12V you won't be able to hook it up to the 24V output on your battery bank. If you have two 12V batteries I recommend wiring them in parallel (instead of in series), which will keep the 12V output the same but double the capacity.

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Trevor

5/7/2020

@ChrisR Thanks for the reply. So if I purchased another 12V battery and wire both in parallel to each other this would help with my pulling power on the incline of my boat ramp?