For a small winch, could I use trailer light outlet?

[fritztown]

Showing my ignorance here. Could I tap into Tundra trailer light outlet to power a small (2500) winch that would at most pull, say, 30 amps. For loading furniture and game into bed of truck. Don't mind buying & storing another battery in toolbox, just appears convenient to tap in...but don't want to overload.
Winch will be located to rear of cab..Thanks

[KyleW]

Not sure if it can be done but following along to see. Want to wire one onto my trailer so have been considering options for this. Might be easier to just buy another battery

[stevieray54]

I had a small winch from a 4 wheeler that i used to pull my 14 foot aluimin boat on my trailer. Had it plugged in to the same place. Kept truck running. Worked great.

[wes122984]

yes you can.
probably best to use a wiring kit.

[pyrobow]

If you have a 7 prong round trailer, there should be a hot wire in it. Those are usually on a larger wire. It would be hot when the switch is on.

[jnd1959]

Look at the amp draw for the winch. My small winch has 8 guage wire and is connected straight to the battery. I'm not saying it can't be done, I am saying make sure that connection has enough wire to handle the draw. Too much voltage drop will burn out the motor.

[Sparkie]

Yes you can as others have stated by using the larger hot wire on your 7 plug trailer connector.

If you have a tool box in the bed of your truck you can do it similar to mine. If you want pictures it will have to wait another 10 or say days till I get back home. I have a 2500lb winch with wireless remote mounted to the bottom of my tool box in bed of truck. I ran hot from battery under cab and up the bed pillar on the passenger side, fish through with coat hanger or something kinda stiff. It comes out the pillar and into the tool box through same hole as the J-hook that holds box to bed rail. I have a 2" piece of flatbar inside the tool box that runs from front to back to keep from pulling winch bolts out of bottom of tool box. This set up has worked great for me for about 3-4 years to pull game into the bed, just use a 2"x8" board as a ramp. I have also pulled my shop toolbox into bed, my motorcycle on a ramp that's pretty steep, a brush hog onto my utility trailer. For heavier objects the front of the toolbox will lift a little but other than that it hasn't moved or deformed on me. Its original set up was to haul game into back of truck by myself cause my daughter isn't strong enough or tall enough to assist me and I was tired of struggling. The winch stays installed and hooked up 24/7. I also had Red LED strip lighting about 2.5' long on each side of bed underneath the bed rail between the wheel well and tailgate, just back half of bed with a toggle switch in driver side pillar at tailgate to turn them on and off. Used these so I can see in bed to get or put away my gear without any bright lighting.

[Greenheadless]

You stated 30A load, that is a definite no go on trailer wiring.

Honestly, I would not chance it with any winch of any size.

[gatorgrizz27]

I wouldn’t do it unless you want to chance melting your wiring. It’s designed for a 5-10A load. It might work fine if the winch isn’t straining, but as soon as you pull something heavy or get it caught it will bog down and blow the fuse or melt wires.

I’d get a 35ah wheelchair battery, but a regular lawnmower battery would probably be fine too. Put it in the toolbox and connect the winch directly to it, then connect it to a 12v keyed ignition wire to keep it topped off while driving. If you use an AGM battery instead of lead acid, it’s safe to put inside the cab as well.

The other option is to put a marine sized deep cycle battery in the toolbox and run a power inverter for charging tool batteries, 120v lights, etc.

[boh347]

If you have a 7 prong round trailer, there should be a hot wire in it. Those are usually on a larger wire. It would be hot when the switch is on.

What I use for my little portable winch.