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S83P winch mount options

Discussion in 'Daihatsu Hi jet' started by AaronRS4, May 18, 2015.

  1. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    Since it's spring, I'm trying to get ahead of the game this year and get my truck prepared for next winter... I've had the truck 2 winters now, and have vowed to make this last winter the last one sitting on my quad clearing snow. I am looking at ordering a front receiver hitch shortly and a plow kit within the next couple of months. I have my eye on the MotoAlliance Denali plow kit made to work with a standard 2" receiver. My only concern is how to mount the winch to raise the blade. I don't think the plow mount has a viable option for mounting the winch, and I wouldn't mind the option of leaving the winch on the truck @ all times. What are others doing for winch mounts on the S83P's? I don't necessarily mind trimming the front bumper since it's already cracked, but I don't really care to fabricate a full steel bumper. I'm not a small guy, and don't need anymore weight hanging out front by putting a big steel bumper on there in addition to the plow and winch. I have already upgraded to 250lb springs and 1" lift BTW... I'm thinking of doing something like a smaller-ish 3000lb winch, probably just a cheap Badlands unit from Harbor Freight since I've had good luck with the one on my quad. So, help me out here, what are some options?
     
  2. rst277

    rst277 Member

    I welded up a simple push bar using the 2 tow rings on the frame. Winch is on the top rail and the plow mounts on the bottom. I also ran 2 pieces of angle iron to the frame cross member under the cab.
     

    Attached Files:

    Buddynut likes this.
  3. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    Something like that may work, I'll have to see what the front receiver looks like when I get it... Supposedly he should have it made this weekend and be shipping it Monday. Thanks for your response rst.
     
  4. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    Decided to go the easy route and just modify a receiver mount winch plate for now. The plow I'm ordering has a provision for mounting a winch IMG_20150704_55279.jpg IMG_20150704_36611.jpg IMG_20150704_17495.jpg
     
  5. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    IMG_20150925_25973.jpg IMG_20150925_4249.jpg IMG_20150925_38371.jpg I got my plow the other day, and just got a chance to assemble it yesterday and put it on. It looks like it should work well, but I question the strength of the receiver I purchased... It has more flex to it than I feel it should, but time will tell.
     
  6. farmlet

    farmlet New Member

    Thinking about something similar. Have you had a chance to test it yet?

    Also, where did you get your wheels/tires?
     
  7. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    I haven't had a chance to use the plow yet, but that may change this weekend... the wheels and tires came from www.Best-Used-Tractors.com. I know some guys on the forum have said they have had issues with ordering from them, but within a couple hrs of inquiring about them, he called me to answer all of my questions and make recommendations. (On a Sunday nontheless )
     
  8. farmlet

    farmlet New Member

    Thanks. Good luck, I hope you get a blizzard! I cant decide if I want a bespoke bracket mount or a hitch receiver mount; for some reason I think the plow would stick out farther with a hitch receiver. OTOH a hitch receiver in front would be handy for moving implements around in the barn, like a tiny switch locomotive.

    My current tires are the "originals", I have to keep fix-a-flat in them because I have hedgeapple (big thorns!) everywhere, its like a self-studding tire. I need a tire that can fend for itself like a Grim Reaper. Plus mine are bald anyway, at least on the inside they are.

    Thats funny you should mention that. I had originally tried to buy the truck itself from best-used, but they just sort of petered out half way through the process, stopped returning calls or emails. So I bought off Craigslist. Now I want wheels, tires and a snowplow for the truck. I called Best-used about them, talked to Dennis I think, he talked animatedly, gave me a price on tires, said for me to fill out the online form for the snowplow and then .... -nothing-. Havent heard from him since. How can they make any money if they cant even tell you how much they want for something?
     
  9. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    I'm not sure when it was that you had been dealing with Best-Used, but if it was earlier this year, then I think he had mentioned that either he or his supplier (possibly both) were in the process of moving, and communication was sketchy...
    When I ordered the wheels and tires from him after I first got my truck, it was immediate communication, and was only about a week from when I spoke to him on the phone to the wheels being at my door. I really like the tires so far, but they are LOUD! Like road noise even on gravel loud...LOL
     
  10. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    Well, we got snow! About 9-10"... Unfortunately, I had to work at 7am Saturday morning, so I got up @ 5am to clear the driveway so the wife's little Lexus ct200h could get out, but it was still snowing pretty good. (Only about 5" had fallen) The plow worked great! I did our driveway, (single lane up to 3 wide @ the garage about 200' long with a hill, mostly gravel) then I hit the neighbors driveway. (Basically the same setup as mine, but closer to 250' longand paved) It took me about 20 minutes to do both driveways and clear a place in the yard for our dogs. If I didn't have to go to work, I probably would have hit the other 25 houses in the addition! I will say I need to get a couple of auxiliary lights mounted up higher since the blade blocks the headlights, and also an amber beacon light to be "legal" when I have to enter the road. I also picked up a pair of "guide sticks" at Northern Tool today to put on the blade so I can see where the edges of it are when it's down. I've also changed where the winch line attaches to the plow to facilitate a higher lift than in the above pictures. I'm also going to do a little rework to the winch mount to raise it off of the mount about 1/2" so I can fit a roller style fairlead instead of the one that's on there now. Other than that, I'm slowly going to work on building a larger battery tray with a cover so I can utilize a larger battery. I have no idea how old the battery in the truck is now, but it is a smaller car battery as oposed to the standard lawn tractor battery that originally came in these. The headlights dim quite a bit when using the winch, and all the cables have been upgraded already and the alternator recently rebuilt. Tried to make a video with my phone in a windshield mount, but half of it was right in the area where the wipers don't wipe, so the camera automatically focused on the water spots on the windshield... and it was too dark out anyway...
     
  11. cdover73

    cdover73 Member

    What do you use to mount the receiver hitch to? I have a '93 S83P and want to mount a winch to the front. All I see under there are the bolts for the torsion bar and not much else. I have a custom made aluminum front bumper but I wouldn't trust it to hold any amount of pull from a winch mounted to it.

    I have a 2500lb winch on an older 4 wheeler that doesn't run any more. How can I mount it to the truck?
     

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  12. AaronRS4

    AaronRS4 Member

    The receiver mounts to the same location that your lower brackets for your custom bumper mount to. In other words, the receiver I have won't work with your current bumper setup... Someone on here did a receiver mount using the OEM bumper that may be able to be modified for your setup.
     
  13. cdover73

    cdover73 Member

    Okay, that answers my question. For the sake of not wanting to hijack this thread I will leave it at that. Although I am curious if I could use longer bolts to mount the receiver to the same point as the bumper and cut a hole through my bumper for it to stick out? I could also fab an extension bracket that goes back further under the truck for extra straight-line pulling support. I will start on that soon and start another post to cover the build options.

    Thanks for letting me chime in here.
     
  14. Tony Evers

    Tony Evers Active Member

    I fabricated a front bumper with skid plate that I showed within the suzuki forum. It would be very easy to add a receiver if you wanted.
    Tony
     

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