Dual battery question on gas 7.3

[Apparition]

If a second battery is not required to run a winch (in your opinion), then why does Ford require them when ordering the optional factory winch?

It's more of a CYA for people who run their batteries dead. Run the truck while winching.

 

[Red Forman]

I just bought a really nice set of winch cables from www.polepalUSA.com and I am going to run them off the drivers side battery of my two battery dual alternator Godzilla. That will power my Warn Winch in a 2" receiver cradle front and back plus my Victron 12/12 DC charger in my Cirrus 820. One question, What is that bracket with one bolt hole forward of the battery for? If it doesn't have a useful purpose I am goingView attachment 18559View attachment 18560View attachment 18561 to mount the 300A fuse there.

Mine has the same thing. Probably something that is screwed on there in the diesels.

 

[Donnie With A Dee]

I just bought a really nice set of winch cables from www.polepalUSA.com and I am going to run them off the drivers side battery of my two battery dual alternator Godzilla. That will power my Warn Winch in a 2" receiver cradle front and back plus my Victron 12/12 DC charger in my Cirrus 820. One question, What is that bracket with one bolt hole forward of the battery for? If it doesn't have a useful purpose I am goingView attachment 18559View attachment 18560View attachment 18561 to mount the 300A fuse there.

My guess would be that is where Ford mounts the wire for the factory winch.

 

[FT_Guest3342]

While it is not absolutely necessary to have two batteries to operate a winch, it is necessary if you want to be able to use your winch to it's full capability. The winch motor is a series wound DC motor and as such, can draw HUGE amounts of power. It will draw as much power as it needs to make it spin. It can do this for short periods of time before overheating. For a Warn 9.5K max amps = 500. This rating is 9500 lb load on a single wrap of the winch spool for a short period of time. With more wraps, the ability to pull goes down and the amps go up. A single battery can't handle that amount of current over a long winch pull. More batteries and alternators would be needed to build a winch system that doesn't eat batteries.

 

[soulezoo]

While it is not absolutely necessary to have two batteries to operate a winch, it is necessary if you want to be able to use your winch to it's full capability. The winch motor is a series wound DC motor and as such, can draw HUGE amounts of power. It will draw as much power as it needs to make it spin. It can do this for short periods of time before overheating. For a Warn 9.5K max amps = 500. This rating is 9500 lb load on a single wrap of the winch spool for a short period of time. With more wraps, the ability to pull goes down and the amps go up. A single battery can't handle that amount of current over a long winch pull. More batteries and alternators would be needed to build a winch system that doesn't eat batteries.

Or.... hydraulic winch. I had a 12k milemarker on my Bronco. Worked wonderfully and could actually use it as a tool. I was dragging logs to be turned into firewood. It ran off the power steering pump and through an aux cooler. You could run it all day.

 

[P Squatchy]

I’ll throw an “in my opinion” into the ring:
(2) batteries are nice and I don’t fault anyone for wanting them, but they are not required for a winch. On our ranch, we service (pull) our own wells (windmills). I hook a heavy duty snatch block to one of the windmill’s legs at the bottom of the tower, and then another at the top of the tower, and that’s how we pull the well. Typically we pull the rods, then the pipe, but every now & then the rods get stuck in the pipe and we have to pull it all at the same time. It sucks bigtime when this happens, but it’s gotta’ be done...
when you hook to >300’ of 2 5/8” pipe that is full of water and pull it (upward), you have come fairly close to the winch’s limits. We do all this with a Warn 16k winch that’s mounted in the grille guard of a F250 (gasoline, with one battery) with a slightly larger than typical OE alternator. We do, indeed, start/run the engine, some, to prevent the battery from getting low, but we do not run the engine the entire time we’re pulling the well.
I mention the above not to be argumentative, but rather to possibly encourage someone that might be once the fence about whether to get that additional battery, or not (for the purpose of adding a winch). For most users, I’d venture to say the engine is running while they’re winching; and if it’s not running, then it won’t be long until it is running, again.
While a second battery can be nice, it can also sometimes be a pain in the butt, and it simply is not required to run a winch.

Very helpful, thanks.

 

[Frazior]

I just bought a really nice set of winch cables from www.polepalUSA.com and I am going to run them off the drivers side battery of my two battery dual alternator Godzilla. That will power my Warn Winch in a 2" receiver cradle front and back plus my Victron 12/12 DC charger in my Cirrus 820. One question, What is that bracket with one bolt hole forward of the battery for? If it doesn't have a useful purpose I am goingView attachment 18559View attachment 18560View attachment 18561 to mount the 300A fuse there.

Mothra, looks like you have already done what I am looking to do to my SD (if it ever shows up) for charging my TT (Lance 2375) while in route. Do you have tips for wiring it up?

 

[hbd_offroad]

So are these wired in parallel? Which battery is the starter and which is the aux?