The ULTIMATE Harbor Freight WINCH Build!!! 

Matt, this is what you are the best at creating new equipment to serve your needs. You are an inventor. God put you there for that. This is kind of content. I love seeing you’re great at this Philip.

Matt, it is a thing of beauty. That is your calling. You are a manufacturer inventor putting things together from nothing you are visionary. I don’t know how many more suppurative I can give you a great job Philip.

Matt. From an old timer. When you finish spraying a job, turn can upside down and spray until no paint comes out. this keeps the nozzle clear.

A clean workbench is the sign of a sick mind

With the location of the handles, could run a pipe through the handles so two people could lift and carry it.

A clean desk, is the sign of a sick mind.

Hi: The idea of the loose straps is 1st. class.

I mounted my Badland 12,000 winch like you did over 3 years ago with a receiver front & rear. I got the wireless remote & have had no trouble with it. I enjoy watching your work. Keep it up.

Love the sound of the turbo after you stoped the engine :)

I enjoy watching your videos Matt and I would like to continue to do so. My years working in logging shops, chemical plants as well as the automotive repair industries have taught me to be careful when welding or using an open flame, ( torch) around aerosol cans. you are taking a mighty big risk with those cans setting all around where you are welding, burning with a torch or your plasma torch. Please store them in a safety cabinet or a home made one so you won't get hurt or worse. Please don't take this comment wrong young man, we care about you and yours. Lee

The real reason for getting a forklift becomes evident in this episode: paint stand. BTW nice spindown on the turbo.

Multi purpose truck front and rear, trailer, tractor and free standing, great use of a tool. You'll get a lot of use out of that winch.

I am always amazed that welding and cutting is done with flammable papers and plastic on the bench you are working on.

Looking good! Now I know it' probably way too late but if you haven't already worked out how to connect it to the truck for power then I would strongly recommend that you give the Anderson connectors a look, they come in a couple of different current ratings and I would guess the 175A one would work for you for this. You can use them everywhere where you need to connect up DC power from a battery or chargers and so on!

Nicely done. You should checkout synthetic ropes, they have become the norm in the UK for off-roading, mainly because they are much *safer* to use, easier to handle and they float. In a pinch you can even safely splice them in the field with a small screwdriver or centre punch. Weight for weight they are a lot stronger than steel wire. They are also thinner than steel wire for the same rating so can get more on the spool for a longer pull.

I did something similar except I used a trailer hitch and mounted it instead of a receiver hitch. That way you can latch onto a 2" ball and it can swing up, down, or sideways and still pull straight through the fair lead and will mount on any hitch, whether on the front or back. And I put a trailer ball on the front of my equipment trailer to use it to pull heavy loads up onto it. I use it with my 1000 amp power pack so it is completely portable.

I built one of these about 6 years ago. There are 2 things I did differently. Instead of anchor rings on the rear I welded a plates next to the receiver tube and drilled holes to accept 3/8 chain hooks. On the front instead of a single ring in the center I have eye bolts on either side of the feral lead. I do however like your idea of using straps!

It’s almost two years later, but this video provided great entertainment on the night of 2-15-22. Thanks for posting it.

I've had the same winch for 2 years. I've used it to load logs on my trailer and pull myself out of some tough spots. I've had it smoking several times. I just replaced the steel cable with the synthetic rope. Seems to work fine and it makes the winch lighter. Enjoyed the video.

Sweet project. I was planning to do something similar. My plan was to weld a vertical 2" receiver tube somewhere on my flat bed for storage. You could do that maybe next to the tool box or in the tool box. Then use a locking hitch pin to prevent theft.

Great video ! You may wish to also consider adding a hitch receiver or welded tube up front on the truck, on the trailers, and perhaps the 2000 pound Harbor Freight winch to the 4 wheeler. All are available from HF...

When I was a kid, we called "D" rings "Tumble Pads". Used to weld them to barge decks for lashing gear.

Love the build! I didn't use D rings (but I should have). I just used the safety chain hook attachments for connecting snatch blocks. People knock HF but those little suckers can do some work! And with the 4 snatch blocks I prefer to keep with me at all times, you don't need the big expensive set up that people try to sell you instead. Also recommend a hitch attachment up front. It's nice in case you get stuck in a tricky spot and a more controlled pull if you happen to come across a person in need of assistance in a ditch. I also made a hinged attachment that had a winch hook point and a hitch on the end. That comes in handy to be able to add a trailer tongue to push people from behind (hooks your truck like a trailer but you push and they steer), or put a ball on it and move trailers. That way you can use the winch to raise or lower the ball. And I have always loved that wind down on the turbos!

I have a Badlands winch on my equipment trailer and have never had a problem of any kind unlike a couple Warn winches that caused me trouble regularly. I built a similar mount years ago and after using it several times I modified it by replacing the tube with a little longer one and didn’t weld it solid I put it on a 1 inch pivot pin with a hall moon plate underneath it much like a grader blade on a tractor pivots and pins, most of the time I left the pin out so that the winch would turn directly towards what ever I was pulling. I love watching except when you time lapse but I’m sure others like it that way and no one can please everyone, God Bless and stay safe!

Used to operate a 4x4 tour and offroad training business in New Zealand. Live in USA now, have had the same Badland winch on my H2 Hummer for a year now, used it on my car trailer and other eauip also. So far I'm impressed its taken all the punishment I've put it through so far. I plan to buy a second one for my 83 GMC ramp back car hauler soon. I have a small ranch, build and restore muscle cars and machinery and have a Bobcat 620, sounds familia eh. Enjoy your videos, thanks Matt Cheers Rusty Douglas AZ

No critique here. I love what ya put together. I'm sure you don't need any advice from the sidelines! Thanks for showing me a great way to do something I was planning on! Great planning.

I use a winch quite often, like the one you have. Mine is 1 8000 lb. @ things that make mine very handy, I added a receiver to the nose inside my trailer, and added a remote for the winch. The remote helps when guiding something on the trailer. It also helps me get my tractor unstuck, I connect to my truck, and rub the cable to the tractor, drive the tractor, while pulling toward the truck. I also added 15ft jumper cables nto connect winch battery to my truck battery, even reaches to trailer tongue for winch.

Definitely a winch is a lifesaving tool to have to rescue ourselves of unforseen stucks!

The winch mount turned out great. I made one very similar a few years ago. I like the D-ring idea on the face for a double line pull. I put a square tube insert on my headache rack to store the winch for travel and to also pull big game into the truck during hunting season. Have a great day.

Always a good video from Diesel Creek. thanks

Looks like a good winch there. Not bad for a Harbor Freight purchase. Harbor Freight really seems to be coming up in the world. I've bought quite a few things in the past from them and I've been happy

"The best part is I know where all this goes to. And it's been here for 6 to 8 months" Now that is something I can relate to!

Love all the toys/tools you have to fabricate your builds with👍❣️ Awesome

Matt, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the drill press Information on drilling holes. Much appreciate it.

What an awesome job you did on that! Really thought of a lot of scenarios when you built this. Straps were genius!!

Well that's definitely one heavy duty setup don't know how portable it is I know I wouldn't want to Lug it around but she'll damn sure work

Matt, nice project that I may copy. Two things to look out for, the D-rings to tie it to a tree should have been installed vertically because if you tie into a large tree the chains will pull them outward and put undue strain on one side of the clamp. I noticed the constant sputtering sound while you were welding, that is caused by one of two things, not enough heat at the weld or too fast a wire feed.

Matt, great video, you have a solution for any unexpected issue, good job!

I have the exact same winch on my 21,000 lb triple axle trailer. A word of warning. The battery leads on that winch are super fine stands inside the insulation. My winch started running slow after only a year on my trailer. When I got to looking at it, I found that moisture had gotten under the insulation and started corroding the inside of the wire. I ended up cutting about a foot off the wire in order to bypass the corrosion. I was surprised that it went so far up the wire. It was almost corroded in half! So if you have that issue with your winch, look at the battery leads. They looked fine on the outside. It wasn't until I opened up the insulation before I found it. Good channel.

Great mount for that winch! You can use your propane torch and lightly go over your nylon handles where they are frayed and it will help it last longer.

Good job Matt. Well fabricated. You are a man after my own heart. What ever it takes to get it done.

Enjoy your videos. I admire your tenacity and common sense knowledge. Disregard the critics from the building industry as I have built things on my own without building knowledge.. chicken coop,barn,garage and family room Couldn’t hire contractors, no money. I’ll bet you two bits those building people couldn’t diagnose and repair an engine as you have done several times. Keep up the common knowledge and keep your wallet,credit card in your pocket..looks aren’t everything. If it works for you that’s all that matters. Notice you are left handed,that’s good means you’re smart. Ps. I’m left handed and 81 years old..

Love the sound of a mig welder. You make good welds.

Some folk that know a lot more about winches than I have found them to be a good unit. There are two friends that have just bought one with the high tech fiber rope and they love them.

Krylon paint.best spray can paint out there. I have been using that paint since I was a kid in my teens painting bikes. I found none better and I have be painting with paint cans all my life and I am 77 now. Forced to use others from time to time when I could not find dealers that carried Krylon. But never found anything near as good. Love that paint. Hope they never go out of business.

i've got an 8000 lb. harbor freight winch, and i bought the mounting plate when i got it. i've used it on my 4x4 truck, and a couple of trailers to pull vehicles on to the trailer, and my truck out when it got stuck off road. had it over 10 years, and it's still going strong. a comparable warn was triple the price. other than the actuator button, i'm happy with it. the surplus center has one i'm thinking of getting to replace the crappy one.

That must be some hard steel! I've never seen anyone struggle so much to center drill before. That was wild!

When ever your done painting with spray paint, turn the can upside down and give it a couple of shots, of the compressed air, it will shoot out what paint is left in the nozzle, hence less chance of being clogged the next time you paint. Just a tip, from someone who's father sold in the paint industry for half of his career. Luv the videos, they always pick me up on rainy days. Thanks for sharing, especially the dog and his ball, he is to funny, he should have his own, Instagram channel, he's a riot, Thanks again, and Keep on Truckin. Andrew T Barrie Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

Matt! A word to the wise from Matt's off-road recovery Channel, he says never use a trailer ball to pull on because they will snap off causing Pain & Injury. Thanks for all the great videos

This winch turned out really nice. Looks like it was bought in a store!

I've never built one, however, I really do like your ideas on the mounting and handles. Thanks.

I looked at your Evolution Saw and almost bought one. Then I found a 65amp plasma cutter and opted for it. It is rated at 5/8" but went thru 3/4 like your saw. I watched another feller cut 1" steel with it and even he was amazed. Great plan on bldg your winch skid. An angle cut on the back end of the hitch tube would have been a nice touch. However, your welds were not too shabby!!!!! I love the straps and making the holes. You may be out in the boonies but ya ain't no country hick!!!!! Neat hearing the turbo spool down when you shut the engine down.

Pretty much the same way I did mine and it worked great. I did add the wireless remote and it was a must. Definitely hardware some quick disconnects to the front and rear with some good sized welding cable, it will definitely pull amperage and won't run well enough for one battery without an alternator at a good idle to help. If you don't already, you should put a 2" receiver on the front of your truck. Too many times it's been a life saver for safer pulls. Keep up the good work and cheers

Great work! I almost built something exactly like this! But found a nice one on Amazon it was just too good of a deal to pass up. So I ended up buying one and welding on D-Rings

Reminds me in Kinshasa many years ago, when totally inhibriated, had to pull a car out of a ditch with two 4x4 and winches...lol

The welding is impressive Matt. Great job.👍

I got one of those winches from harbor fieght& had great service with that big Napa battery holds charge Good! Martin in South Ga

Brilliant build there Matt, well done! :-)

First thing I do is get rid of the steel cable and put a synthetic rope on it. It's safer and lighter and easier to work with. Downside would be it's a bit more expensive. I also got some 350 amp anderson connectors and ran some very large cable, 3/0 if I remember correctly, from the front batteries to the rear of my vehicle. Mounted a resettable breaker to the front near the batteries and bolted one of the anderson connectors to the receiver frame just under the bumper. When I'm not towing I can just plug the winch in. When I am towing my flatbed I can plug the trailer battery in that I use for the trailer winch. I haul cars occasionally on that trailer. Welded a receiver onto it so I could winch cars onto it.

Nice build, Matt. We have an HF 10k winch on our 30' gooseneck. Used it a couple times with zero problems, so far.

Really great video Matt! Thanks for doing it.

You should get their wireless remote for that, it's a game changer! I would put some heavy gauge anderson connectors on the cables so you can move it around. That's what I did too mine, but I'm going to rebuild my hitch mount to mimic yours! I love my winch for the price and how little I use mine it's a great work horse!

Nice fab. It's always enjoyable watching a thinking man work.

I have had a 12000 lb for 5 years no problems good for the money

Well done...(as usual) Looks really good! Thanks

If you want to lighten up your winch, you could try something like the following: X-line synthetic rope 22k rating. There are many different names, but they all work very well. If the synthetic line snaps, it just falls dead to the ground. Unlike a steel cable, that when it breaks it is like a bullwhip and will cut through anything in its way. You could also change the steel rollers to delrin rollers.

Nice & strong! It's maybe a good idea to put one of these "sheetmetal cable eye protection things" in the loop where the hook-pin goes trough. It propably protects the cable from getting kinked under high loads... Greetings from germany.

Really enjoyed this video. I can tell that if I ever want to be really effective with these kind of projects I need to learn to weld. That was some nice fabrication; really professional results!

Nice job. Very neatly done. Been wondering about it! I think they good wenches too. Enjoyed watching. Be safe!

I always turn my spray cans upside down to get paint out of nozzle for the next time i need it

The Badland Winch to me are the best that I have ever used. Great job.

I am watching this in my garage/shop. You have inspired me to clean my workbench.......as soon as I finish watching this.

I had a winch on my Duce-n-1/2, in the the Marine Corps, I would put grease on the cable and wrap the coil with a piece of canvas. Tied with twine. It kept it clean and rust free.

Great job, Matt. I couldn't have built it better myself.

Nice build that should be indispensable to you on future projects Matt 👍🏻

great job on the set up. Just FYI i added a receiver to the front of my truck also and ran the power leads to the front and back for easy hookup and use on either end.

This set up is exactly what I was looking for! Didn’t want a hard install. Thanks man!

Nicke job - looks handy! A trick we used to do was to put a rubber cylinder (3x4”)at the end of the wire. That way you can crank it all the way in and it will not rattle around.

I built one very similar to this last year with a 12k lb winch but found it to be too cumbersome and extremely heavy which got old as I used to carry it out into the woods for tree felling assistance, most of my rigging wouldn’t be much good over 10k lbs anyways so I sold the whole setup and built another one with a HF 5k lb winch instead, much easier on the back and if I need more beans I’ll just put the block in her. With your heavy equipment though you’ll be much better off with the 12k plus you get double the length of cable versus a smaller winch with the block, very good craftsmanship and I love how every step was thought out before execution, appreciate the videos!

Hi, Matt... While I was watching your winch mounting plate build, I had an Idea. I'm just getting started on a refurb build on a squarebody Suburban. It already has front and rear Reese hitches. I'm going to do a mounting plate very similar so I can use the winch front or rear. Your idea of adding the D-ring was definitely good, but I'm thinking about Instead of welding a D-ring to the front, I'm going to pre drill the square tubing for a second pin before I weld it to the plate. I'm also thinking about notching the c-channel plate on both sides so the tube goes completely through the channel. That should also provide more surface for welding. My thinking is that it will allow me to mount the winch to my receiver (front or rear) and then insert a clevis ring mount (available commercially) into the tubing and insert a pin to hold it in place. Same purpose, just a little different way of doing it... Enjoyed this video... Keep 'em coming! :-)

Handles look great well done sir👍

Looks great. Now I need to build one.

Finding this video was sooooo timely. I was just in need for a semi-portable winch...

Great . You give me the encouragement to do mine in this days. Thanks for sharing.

For the farm we bought for them is that the pretty good deal for a 12000 pound winch we put three of them covered trailer if they have a problem we can get them up on that trailer but that is a good deal

Great build. The strap handles are genius.

A comment about your work area. You may be unbelievably short on work space, otherwise a suggestion is to move your steel work "plate" away from the workbench - maybe to a roll-able work table? Or at least make a shield of some type to keep grinding debris and welding splatter confined to your steel work plate. I like hearing your thoughts as you design. Nice fabrication, nice design.

Matts off Road Recovery swears by them as do several other youtubers in that group such as Fab Rats. Both do custom vehicle builds and off road recovery. Wish we had that brand up in Canada but unfortunately not. Nice build.

Great job on the winch mount. My setup is similar to yours but with a 9K HF winch and I just purchased the HF reciever hitch mount, not near as sturdy as yours but certainly lighter to carry. But, I didn't want to do wiring on the truck so I bought 25ft jumper cables to run to the truck battery, works well. I cut the jumper cables in two, a couple of ft from one end, and added an HD battery cable connector at the cut. Then put an additional HD battery connector on the winch pigtail. This allows the jumper cables to easily convert to a winch extension cord.

I don't own a pickup or a winch, so I am speaking from ignorance. In Texas, if you plan to drive around a lot with the winch always attached, you would have to relocate the back truck license plate to the left or right of the winch, so it would stay visible to cops driving by. Also, you might want to invest in a lockable pin thingy to hold the winch to the receiver. They are around $25, but beats having someone run off with your winch rig to stick into their receiver. You did a nice, clean job. Another channel, Andrew Camarata, that I watch a lot, he also put a receiver hole on the back of the winch, so he could place the winch first, then a trailer behind the winch. Sometimes, he uses the winch to pull things onto the trailer.

awesome set up dude

Awesome winch setup brother, your a man of many skills, your friend from Larned Ks Eric Houser.

I have spent many hours working around heavy duty winches on tugboats and a level wind feature on the lead in rollers can help extend the life of the cable many times over, what a crushed cable will provide. The one down side is if a snarl occurs at the level wind area, cause it’s a lot harder to clear. But if ones careful, that seldom happens and it brings a bit of reassurance knowing that cable is going to wind up straight and tight every time it works.

We put small 4" wheels on ours. Made handle that hooks to receiver stub. To move it around. Still have to pick up to put in receiver . Added receiver to front of trailers too.

Good video. I know you are going to enjoy the new winch. Have a great day and stay safe.

Nice job Matt. Built mine pretty much the same way. Minus the handles that lightweight me needs. I also like the anchor points on the backside for anchoring to a tree. Just used mine for pulling a military headstone up a very steep incline to the cemetery.

If you can I would look into installing a cable thimble eyelet to protect the cable because how HF does it severely weakens the cable. Also if at some point you need to replace the cable switch to synthetic for a 20lb weight saving.

I remember watching "The Red Green Show," about 20 years ago, a favorite of mine.

Great job and thanks for the ideas

I have had the same winch for years. I mainly use it for pinching log and loading them onto my gooseneck trailer. I have used it to pull my neighbors vehicles out in wintertime including a Suburban uphill. I have mine mounted on a 1999 F-450 4×4 with a Curt Industry Front Hitch. I like you made my own winch mount. Unfortunately mine is not as elaborate as yours. I also bought 30' 1 ga. jumper cables, cut the clamps off, installed plugin ends to the cables and the winch. I can unhook the cable under the hood, move the winch to the rear,