Recommended Winch for Old Trailer Winch Replacement

Updated 04/15/2020 | Published 07/03/2018

Products Featured in This Question

Dutton-Lainson Hand Winch - TUFFPLATE Finish - 2 Speed - Direct Drive - 2,500 lbs

(463)

$120.50

Bulldog Winch Trailer Winch - Wire Rope - Roller Fairlead - 4,400 lbs

(98)

$349.49

Dutton-Lainson Hand Winch - Worm Gear - Hex Drive - 2,000 lbs

(282)

$110.65

Question:

I have a hand winch on a home made car hauler that is geared like the first gear on a 21 speed bicycle. Meaning with a lot of cranking it will very slowly reel in a ton of weight. I would very much like to know what kind it is and if parts are available for it, if its worth fixing or if its just a hunk of junk. As you can see in one of the images, its missing the carrier bearing. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

asked by: Aaron T

Expert Reply:

Thanks for the photo. The Dutton-Lainson Hand Winch - TUFFPLATE Finish - 2 Speed - Direct Drive - 2,500 lbs # DL14825 you asked the question from is set-up much differently. The style of winch you have is more like a worm gear winch # DL11001.

The older mechanical trailer winches like you have unfortunately do not have replacement parts readily available, I can't determine the winch you have pictured.

My recommendation is to move to the more modern electric trailer winches like the Bulldog Winch Trailer Winch - Wire Rope - Roller Fairlead - 4,400 lbs # BDW15019. I've attached a couple videos to assist.

expert reply by: Jason S

click to enlarge

Neal J.

4/13/2020

Question...…..I have an enclosed trailer and wondered if one of the Dutton Lainson winches would pull up my 3500 pound classic car up into an enclosed trailer. Would prefer not to have 12 volt pull as this tool would be used only if the loading vehicle would not start. Almost all of the questions you address are related to vertical pulling but what about my desired application. Thank,

Chris R.

4/15/2020

For this type of application I think you're going to need a powered winch. I know this isn't really what you want, but one of our manual/hand winches are rated high enough to pull that kind of weight up an inclined ramp - as you really need something with a capacity that's higher than the 3,500 pound weight of the classic car. The Bulldog # BDW10031 would work really well. I also went ahead a linked our full selection of powered winches below.

Helpful Links

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