Winch Battery

[DougE]

I have a DieHard battery, not sure what vehicle it was sourced from, that I have been keeping on a trickle charger for years. Date I wrote on the battery was 10/14. I use this as a standby battery, but primarily use it on rare occasions to power an 8000# winch on my car hauler trailer. I suspect I should really get a deep cycle battery for a replacement before this decides to die on me at an inappropriate time. Suggest a good, economical replacement!

[Gdetrailer]

DougE wrote:
Worst case - Don't think I'd want to carry jumper cables that would have to be over 20' long as I wouldn't want to try and load a car on the trailer without it being hooked up to the tow vehicle hitch.

20' of jumper cables isn't any real hassle and will deliver 100% reliable power since you can start your vehicle, connect the cables and winch away all day long.

I would still keep a battery at your winch but have the 20' cables stored away for those just in case moments.

How I do this is I put a nice utility tongue box on my flatbed trailer tongue, the box is big enough to fit my winch battery, plus blocking plus straps and tiedowns, fire extinguisher a few tools and have space leftover for jumper cables. They make some very nice tongue boxes which have angled shape of the trailer tongue and typically there is space between the tongue jack and the trailer body.

Looks like this..



I mounted the winch behind the box using a 2" hitch receiver so I can remove the winch if needed.

[Gdetrailer]

DougE wrote:

Gdetrailer: Sears Diehards were manufactured by Johnson Controls. Do we know that is no longer the case? Yes, I know many batteries come out of the local region battery manufacturing plant and just have the retailer's sticker applied.
(Wouldn't it be nice if there was a source that identified the actual manufacturer.)

That would be a big fat no, Johnson Controls has nothing to do with current crop of Diehards..

Who Makes Diehard batteries HERE

"Who Owns Diehard Batteries?

DieHard batteries had been developed by Globe Union Battery for Sears since its starting in 1967. Globe Union was later bought out by another American giant company named Johnson Controls.

Johnson Controls continued to produce DieHard batteries for Sears until 2019 when they sold the battery division to Clarios. Clarios also manufactures Duralast, Varta, AC Delco, and many other batteries."

The current Diehards are the exact same battery as Autozones "Duralast" batteries but with a premium WARRANTY which you pay for upfront with a premium price. It is the same old song and dance, smoke and mirrors. Autozone charges a higher price and in return they will "warranty" it for a longer time.. Just because they offer a longer warranty does not neccessarily mean the battery is better in any way shape or form.. Just means they got more money upfront for the same battery you would have paid for at a lower price point. Autozone WILL make much larger profits at your expense.

Seriously, if you have a Sam's club or Costco membership, just go there and buy a new battery. The money you saved up front will buy the next battery at Sam's or Costco when the time comes in 5-6 yrs well past even the Diehard warranty.

I have been running Sam's Club batteries for well over 10 yrs, depending on location they sell Duracell or Energizers.. My first set of 6V GC2s got me 9 yrs and typically in vehicles well past 8 yrs.

The only problem child I have is my diesel tractor which the manufacturer literally built the battery box around a battery size that doesn't have enough CCA but even the tractor manufacturers OEM battery barely got me 4 yrs. I would love to double the CCA on that one but there is no place to put a bigger or second battery.

Duracell fla batteries are manufactured by Eastpenn, a well known and respected fla battery manufacturer.

HERE

"Who Makes Duracell Car Batteries?

The East Penn Manufacturing Company has been making the Duracell batteries for a long time."

People on this forum fret way too much about supposed "better" batteries, they are "consumables", they wear out, they will fail, they will need replaced and many time the lower price point of a lesser name brand can deliver just as good performance as the higher priced name brands.

[DougE]

Worst case - Don't think I'd want to carry jumper cables that would have to be over 20' long as I wouldn't want to try and load a car on the trailer without it being hooked up to the tow vehicle hitch.

[DougE]

The reference in the original post was for an 8000# winch.

[valhalla360]

DougE wrote:
JimBollman: I sincerely doubt an 18Ah battery has the oomp to drag a full size vehicle up on a trailer.

The bigger question is the CCA rating vs the winch amp draw.

Assuming a minute or so use, 18Ah is unlikely to be used up.

For a smaller light duty winch, a little lawn mower battery is likely sufficient but for a bigger winch, you are probably looking for an automotive starting battery.

[DougE]

JimBollman: I sincerely doubt an 18Ah battery has the oomp to drag a full size vehicle up on a trailer.
Gdetrailer: Sears Diehards were manufactured by Johnson Controls. Do we know that is no longer the case? Yes, I know many batteries come out of the local region battery manufacturing plant and just have the retailer's sticker applied.
(Wouldn't it be nice if there was a source that identified the actual manufacturer.)

[JimBollman]

My winch is fairly small since I have light weight cars and I use it only a few times per year so I don't have a dedicated battery. I use an old jumper battery box that I have had for 30 years or so and just keep replacing the battery inside every 5 to 10 years. It has an ExpertPower EXP12180 12V 18Ah Lead Acid Battery in as of 2 years go. It runs the winch and gives me a 12 volt battery for other uses around the shop, I just plug it in after a heavy use.

[valhalla360]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Most likely will not work without a external battery that is partially charged attached.

Most "jump start" boxes require some sort of battery voltage to be present before they will provide any jumpstart voltage.

Put a meter across the jumpstart leads, bet it will be zero or near zero volts..

The assumption is you have a battery with at least 10V (IE Dead) and the jumpstart box is to be used to provide some starting assistance to get your engine started.

I use an old worn out truck battery which wasn't able to start the truck in middle of winter to run my 8,000 lb winch. As long as the winch is able to pull the load with what you have use it. If you don't feel comfortable with your old battery your using, then buy new battery in the size that fits your vehicle.. Put the new battery in your vehicle and use the old battery from your vehicle for the winch.

If you have a Sam's or Costco membership just buy one of the batteries they sell, they often have better prices than most stores..

OP indicated he has a battery for the winch that works fine, so odds are he will have "some sort of battery voltage present".

Worst case, he can use a set of jumper cables to connect the truck into the winch system.

[Gdetrailer]

DougE wrote:
Good comments thus far. Would appreciate more like MEXICOWANDERED where a specific battery is recommended. The whole point of this discussion is that I don't want to be at a remote location, trying to load up a vehicle, and have my battery **** out. (Squeezing every last minute of life out of a battery is not a goal). If a "jump start" battery is a viable option, that would be good, but I need more confidence that that would work.

The reality is most battery name brands are just brand names slapped on, only a couple of FLA battery manufacturers exist so asking for a name brand recommendation of which brand is best comes down to opinions based of some sort of experiences.

Example, from my teen life up to the point that Sears fell apart and disappeared from the world I used nothing but DieHards. Got reasonable service life from them and they had the longest warranties you could get and Sears had stores everywhere and the batteries were more expensive (more expensive means better, right? No, just meant I was paying upfront for that premium warranty.

I could say that I still recommend DieHards but Sears only exists on paper and the DieHards you can buy now days is most likely nothing more than a cheap knockoff store brand rebranded since the the NAME DieHard was sold out of the Sears branding just like Craftsman Tools.

I started buying Sam's club batteries when Sears left town and have not looked back. For the same size battery at Sam's I saved easily $50 and yet Sam's batteries for me have been just as good or even a bit better than DieHards.

What you are looking for is a larger battery in CCA and physical size, not a name brand. Mex mentioned Group 27 and Group 65, I would concur with that. Group 27 has more CCA and physically larger than Group 24. A group 65 has more CCA and is larger than a Group 27.

Group 65 is typically a pickup truck battery which is what my trucks takes and is what I use for a winch battery.

Personally, for emergency winching instead of worrying about your winch battery going dead you can simply make your own extension cables to connect your winch battery to your vehicle battery which 100% eliminates the need or worry to carry a spare or backup winch battery. Those cables do not need to be recharged or maintained so they are 100% ready to use anytime you find yourself in a bind.

A brother of mine even added permanent winch power that runs from the truck battery back to a heavy duty connector on his bumper.. All he has to do is connect the cable from the winch to the truck and is done.

If your vehicle takes a group 27, buy a spare group 27 for the winch.

The only time I ran out winch battery was when my old winch motor had a catastrophic electrical failure, overheated and died in the middle of pulling a car up my trailer ramp. I blamed the battery, replaced it with a new fully charged battery and the winch didn't respond..

Sam's club or Costco, the best prices in town on batteries and they will live well past the 3yr warranty unless you forget to charge them.

[DougE]

Good comments thus far. Would appreciate more like MEXICOWANDERED where a specific battery is recommended. The whole point of this discussion is that I don't want to be at a remote location, trying to load up a vehicle, and have my battery **** out. (Squeezing every last minute of life out of a battery is not a goal). If a "jump start" battery is a viable option, that would be good, but I need more confidence that that would work.

[Skibane]

Not the most economical choice, but an AGM battery would work well in that application:

1. Excels at providing high discharge current (which your winch may demand).

2. Tolerates deep discharges without damage.

3. Accepts high recharge current, so it's capable of being recharged quickly.

4. Has lower self-discharge than conventional batteries, so it doesn't need to be topped off as often.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

For new
I recommend a Costco starting battery. Perhaps a group 27 or 65. For many years thereafter, if it quits on you, take it back. The first three years you'll get a free replacement. A starting battery is preferred for dedicated winch or microwave duty.

[Grit_dog]

Rare occasional use?
Why buy new til that one pukes? And for rare use, why not just use a battery out of something else you own, occasionally?

[Gdetrailer]

DougE wrote:
I got a GOOLOO GP4000 jump starter lately. It never occurred to me that I could use it in an emergency to power my winch. It's rated at 500a for 5 seconds - not sure what the continuous power output could be.

Most likely will not work without a external battery that is partially charged attached.

Most "jump start" boxes require some sort of battery voltage to be present before they will provide any jumpstart voltage.

Put a meter across the jumpstart leads, bet it will be zero or near zero volts..

The assumption is you have a battery with at least 10V (IE Dead) and the jumpstart box is to be used to provide some starting assistance to get your engine started.

I use an old worn out truck battery which wasn't able to start the truck in middle of winter to run my 8,000 lb winch. As long as the winch is able to pull the load with what you have use it. If you don't feel comfortable with your old battery your using, then buy new battery in the size that fits your vehicle.. Put the new battery in your vehicle and use the old battery from your vehicle for the winch.

If you have a Sam's or Costco membership just buy one of the batteries they sell, they often have better prices than most stores..