Advice please

[Ian Sharpe]

Hi guys,

I have a big tipping trailer with a cage on it . Sometimes I have the need to winch stuff onto it if it’s too heavy . What I do is pass the winch cable over the top of the cage & winch stuff on from the back .
Of course the cable is then running metal to metal on the top of the cage frame.

What I’d like to have is some sort of roller guide there to help . I thought of a winch roller but would like something a bit better with proper bearings or something.
Any suggestions?

[Two Emms]

Maybe a(modified) roller off a boat trailer?? Being soft the cable will not get damaged. Of course the roller won't last forever but they shouldn't be too expensive to replace.

[Scooby]

Do you always run the cable in the one spot or does move from side to side?
What is the deflection angle of the winch over the cage?
You could try splitting black poly pipe and run that over the cage frame if the angle is not too sharp.

[pharb]

Water pump bearing?

Make some brackets out of some angle. Drill hole in one side of each bit of angle to pass the bearing shaft through so bearing is cradled between the pieces of angle.

Bolt or weld angle to top of cage. Weld bearing shaft to angle with good sized tacks to stop it rattling around. The angle protruding higher than bearing will stop which rope sliding off, but because nothing on top can still remove rope.

As an apprentice we used to make "skate boards" with water pump bearings welded to bottom of steel plates (about 600mm square) to slide truck dual wheel and hub assemblies on and off axles. They lasted forever.

[NJV6]

Change to synthetic rope and it’ll happily run over the top of the trailer?

[erad]

Get a piece of 12 mm galvanised pipe and fit it over a piece of 8 or 10 mm rod. Weld the rod to the trailer cage at each end. The pipe will act as a roller. It will also rattle like hell!

[Alex86]

If you go for a boat roller, get the blue ones.
These are made for ally hull boats, and I imagine would be less likely to disintegrate with the steel cable compared to other rollers.
They make skids for the bunk style (as opposed to roller style) trailer out of the blue material too, so I reckon the blue stuff should take a cable sliding over it..

[NFT5]

Don't.


That cage is designed to hold in loose and light loads, not take the strain of a cable pushing down on the top rail. Sooner or later it's going to bend, or worse.


Cut a hole somewhere that allows a straight line pull from your winch to whatever it is that you're loading. Put a flap door on it if you must or need to. Then work smarter and safer.

[Scrambler]

Don't.


That cage is designed to hold in loose and light loads, not take the strain of a cable pushing down on the top rail. Sooner or later it's going to bend, or worse.


Cut a hole somewhere that allows a straight line pull from your winch to whatever it is that you're loading. Put a flap door on it if you must or need to. Then work smarter and safer.

While I like the flap idea, don't assume on the cage. I've had a trailer where I'd have trusted the cage more than the chassis.

Where is the winch? How are you bracing the trailer to your car, assuming the winch is on the car?

How about an offset hitch or winch to pull through the cage section off centre (assuming a central brace for the cage) rather than over the top of the rail? Might still want a roller but have less strain.

[Ian Sharpe]

Hi guys , thanks for the sugestions , the cage is pretty heavy duty for what I’ll be doing . I think I will modify a winch roller to just slip over the top bar , so that I can just position it in place when I need it & take it off when not in use . Thanks for your replies