# POWER WINCH



## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Bought a Hell's Bay Marquesa a couple months ago and the trailer has a power winch. But it didn't come with a wire harness or anything like that. How do you wire this thing up? Could I hook it to the plug on the bumper?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

NO... but the good news is that PowerWinch has a wiring harness specifically for vehicles (make certain it has the circuit breaker and use it.....). 

What I did is permanently attach the positive cable end to my battery, then routed it under my truck all the way to the rear bumper where it was attached to a female trolling motor plug surface mounted on my bumper... A short lead from that plug was the ground side wire which was just bolted to the truck's frame at the rear, near that female plug, and completed the circuit. The positive wire was also enclosed in plastic flex channel and zip tied every two feet or so to the frame on the run from the front of your car to the rear (for safety's sake you want to prevent any possible chafing on that positive wire - otherwise you risk a short to your car's frame - with the fire that will result from a bad installation) Once your vehicle is set up then all that remains is a short lead from your bumper to the winch itself - one end has to be a PowerWinch male plug (that mates to the female plug on the winch) and the other end is the male plug that matches the trolling motor female plug on your bumper. When you make that short lead, make sure the wire size matches the positive wire from your battery (usually 10ga.) and don't forget to allow an extra foot or two for that short lead (helps to be able to hook up in a few circumstances when your trailer isn't attached to your hitch (another of those "ask me how I know" propositions). The best news is that the parts you need are right on E-Bay (factory harness complete) as well as the male PowerWinch plug and the trolling motor plugs (both male/female - I used Sierra and have had good service from them...).

If all else fails give me a call and I'll point you in the right direction.... I'm on the road towing, launching, and retrieving my old Maverick more than 20,000 miles a year - and I'd be lost without my PowerWinch (954) 435-5666...


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Thanks lemaymiami. That's very helpful. Gonna start looking for that harness today.


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## Bonecracker (Mar 29, 2007)

I found the harness/plug for my Power Winch on E-bay! I was in the same boat as you when I picked up my 2001 Waterman as I had no way to get power to my PW!


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## CaptainRob (Mar 11, 2007)

I bought the wiring harness from Powerwinch back when I mounted my used Winch. It was very easy to install and since my vehicle, Jeep Cherokee, is short I was able to just bunch up the extra wire and slide it in a small space between my hitch and bumper....so all I do is unravel it, hook it to the winch and hit the switch. When done, just coil it back up and slide it back into the space between the hitch and bumper.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Gotcha. How much was your harness?


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## CaptainRob (Mar 11, 2007)

Don't quote me, but I think it was 40 or 60 bucks....something like that.


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## Marshfly (Nov 4, 2012)

Bob, which power winch model do you use?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I'm using a T 2100 PowerWinch.... In general get more winch than you "need" - it will work out far better in the long run.... You'll note I specified a PowerWinch - others work well when new but quickly begin to fail (they're not nearly as well built - but they are heavily, heavily advertised - and you'll see them on any well dressed 4x4....).


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