Electric Winch 01/23/15 - 03/08/15 (mechanically installed) 10/16/15 (completed wiring) My Deuce was equipped from the original manufacturer with a 2 speed PTO (power take-off winch) that was powered by the transmission with a driveshaft. It was rated at 10,000 lbs. Pros: could be used indefinitely, no cool down time. Cons: took 2 people to operate safely, Deuce had to be running for PTO winch to work. I sold the PTO winch assembly including the driveshaft, shift lever, hand throttle, and bumper extensions. I opted for a 24v electric Warn winch instead that's rated for 18,000 lbs. It is a Warn Industrial Series 18 winch. I called Steve6x6x6 over in Florida that owns Differential Engineering. He fabricated some 10 inch bumper extensions for me that included an inner frame gusset on each side for extra strength. The inner frame gussets stretch past the 10 inch bumper extensions into the existing frame as far as possible. In my case I had to stop at the Cummins front engine mount cross member. Once the bumper extensions and bottom plate were mocked into place I marked them for drilling mounting holes. I got a local machinist to drill all of the holes required. The bumper extensions and inner gussets are both made out of 5/16" plate so that would have taken me a long time! Plus almost all of my drill bits are about shot. Back from the machine shop the bumper extensions and bottom plate were mounted to the Deuce. John Allison (local fabricator) and I mounted the winch to the flat plate. We ended up clearancing the bumper for the Warn winch roller/fairlead assembly. This was a much cleaner install than installing the roller/fairlead assembly lower into the bumper. It was too low for my taste. I would rather the cable spool straight into the winch at the correct angle (dead on). John reinforced the inside of the bumper where we had removed material to add strength to the lower lip of the bumper. Clearance had to be included for the new Deuce brush guard as well. Last item installed was a Warn neoprene winch cover to protect the winch from the elements. On 10/16/15 I finally got time to complete the wiring on the winch. I ordered a lug/cable crimping tool from Home Depot (model #KH538) that's only $19. Not sure how much 2/0 cable was included in the winch kit (25 ft?), but I only had 18 inches left after running a ground cable from the frame rail above the left battery to the winch motor, and running a positive cable from the right battery (+) post to the solenoid pack (+) post. I free spooled about 5 ft of cable out and powered it back in. No worries!

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