How to Determine Rolling Load Capacity of Electric Winch

Updated 04/16/2020 | Published 04/15/2020

Question:

I am researching a winch to power a powered dolly i am building for moving my boat over a grass and gravel surface. My boat weighs ruffly 3800 pounds fully loaded to include the trailer. i am trying to calculate the correct pulling capacity i would need for the rolling weight. would the 3K winch be enough to handle the weight of the boat and trailer over the ground. I originally thought I would need a 4 to 5K, but it seems that the rolling weight capacity is much greater for the designated winch weight for straight pull...ie i saw was a 4k winch had a rolling weight of up to 7800 lbs.

asked by: Evan H

Expert Reply:

Rolling capacity of a winch on flat ground is much higher like you mentioned. Basically you can take the capacity of the winch and multiply it by 10 to determine it's rolling capacity. So in your situation you could get away with a 380 lb winch for you 3,800 lb trailer. What that would mean for the 3,000 lb winch part # BDW15002 that you referenced is that you'd have quite a bit more capacity than needed and the winch would work very quickly.

I attached a diagram with more info on rolling load capacities as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C