Marathon adding a winch and weight

[mrphilf]

What do you do once you stand your Marathon straight up in the air with only the steel frame back seat you built keeping you from flipping over and you have gotten it so stuck you have eaten a 2000lb ATV winch?

You add massive weight and a bigger winch. About 120lbs of steel + the winch + a marine battery box with a new U1 12v inside to run the winch. Oh and the Lund toolbox stuffed with tools, tow straps, 12v tire inflator, etc. And don't forget the holster for the 357 magnum on the steering shaft, in case you run into any bears, bobcats or zombies.

Next up posi

[jericho]

Road warrior...........Woods warrior i'm digging it.

[texashunter900]

nice, do you mind if I barrow the design?

[mrphilf]

Feel free to flat out steal the design lol. I took it out pretty deep in the woods last night on a test run. All the extra weight made it a bit harder to steer, not too bad but will take some getting used to for sure. Had no problem keeping the front wheels on the ground on some hills and bumps that it was shaky on before

[jimmykid4657]

I like your design going with installing it right on the front axle. I built mine right into the bumper mount. Seemed like a good idea at the time but I might be rethinking my design....

[mrphilf]

I used the 2 inner bolts that connect each leaf to the axle. I wanted to get a much weight as low as I could for stability. I had my old 2000lb winch mounted in the same place with just a small 1/4 steel plate I fabbed, it worked really well as far as access and pulling.

[jimmykid4657]

Originally Posted by mrphilf

I used the 2 inner bolts that connect each leaf to the axle. I wanted to get a much weight as low as I could for stability. I had my old 2000lb winch mounted in the same place with just a small 1/4 steel plate I fabbed, it worked really well as far as access and pulling.

This is what I like about your design. When I hooked mine up I had to built a plate that is bolted to the bumper mounts with 1x1 angle iron stabilizers down to the frame where the leafs bolt under the cart. works really good if your pulling something to the cart or pulling the cart out of the mud because all the energy is pulling against the four connection points. but then I tried using the winch to load the cart into the back of my truck (up the 45 degree ramps). It was working great until the front end of the cart was at tailgate level and it put downward force on the winch as well as pulling force. The lower supports bent, then the ramps slid out and cart crashed to the ground. Nothing was really damaged (but my pride ). That's where bolting it to the front axle at the leaf springs would have saved my a$$. the downward force would have been against the axle and the tires instead of angle supports.