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winch on stud wall?

The more I think about this, the more I realize that mounting a winch to the floor just isn't feasible. The floor just isn't going to do the trick because of the layout of the garage and it would compromise utility of the garage as a whole. Basically the inconvenience of it would make it not worthwhile.

I have a plan B idea. The garage has an elevated floor extension that extends the house-level floor from the door from the house to about 8 feet deep into the garage. It's held up with three 4x4 posts along with the 2x6 (6 ft) header attached to the side wall. It's about 8 ft deep into the garage on one side. I could bolt one of these posts to the floor using a heavy steel bracket and then mount the winch to this post using big U-bolts. Worst case? I break the post and the elevated floor sinks a little bit and I can jack it back up and fit a new post. No sweat. No risk to the house. I might even just proactively replace the winch-bearing post with a 4x6 and bolt that down to the concrete floor. Or for that matter I could replace that post with a steel post with a welded flange that could bolt directly to the floor.

The main downside to this idea is that it would not pull something into the "big" half of the garage, thus limiting the size of what I could pull in. But I'm not talking about pulling car-size things in. Biggest thing would be my little 4x8 utility trailer on a trailer dolly, but once it was up on the flat part of the driveway, it could easily be moved around the garage by hand.
 
Have you considered a temporary floor mount?

Drill 4 holes, insert anchors, bolt winch to floor when needed, pull bolts and remove winch when not.

I did this for years with a tire changer. I just put tape over the floor bolt holes when not in use to keep them clean. Could also put some flush mount bolts in the holes.

Just seems like it wouldn't be worth it if you mounted to anything where you'd be worried about strength or if in the wrong position to pull things where you want to go.
 
Have you considered a temporary floor mount?

Drill 4 holes, insert anchors, bolt winch to floor when needed, pull bolts and remove winch when not.

Yeah but I'd still have to deal with the idea of elevating the winch point with a snatch block or some other pulley in order to get the load up in the garage over the 20% grade in the driveway. So that's another thing I have to put up and take down, and more importantly, a reasonably large thing to store in the garage. As infrequently as I'd need it, this is the kind of thing that gets buried in the garage and I would just never use it.

I'm doing a complete garage remodel including building in purpose-built storage, expanding the storage loft, adding extra lighting and electric circuits, etc. This is a good time for me to solve this problem once and for all. I don't want a temporary solution.
 
I am revisiting this idea, which I gave up on before, because now I have my daughter's disabled Fiat 500 on the street and I need to get it into the garage.

So I am again looking at how to pull this off. The math says that up the 20% driveway the 2500 lb car will require 800lb or so of line pull. Let me say this as plainly as I can: I am going to pull this car into the garage one way or another.

Right now I am leaning towards maybe using three snatch blocks and my Jeep's winch.

The line would run from the Jeep, parked at the front of garage door #1, to a snatch block anchored to a 4x4 floor support post that's bolted to the floor with a steel bracket, then over to another snatch block that I'll anchor to the wall on a 2x6 plate between studs, and over to the Fiat. This would put 400 lb load on the wall, half of it in shear, and 400 lb load on the post in a direction that might pull down my elevated floor at worst. But that floor is attached to the wall on the right hand side with a 2x6 plate with lags in every stud over about a 5' length so I think it'd be REAL HARD to pull that off. Plus the floor is a hardwood floor on 2x6 joists and probably weighs a half a ton, all of which is hanging on that post with 2x 1/2" lags.

Like this:
1626899248233.png


Or I could add another snatch block on the back wall and then each would have less than a 300 lb load, but that puts one 300lb load on the back wall which is the interior house wall, one we were worried about. The wall on the left side is the exterior wall of the house.

Ideas? Or does anyone have a way better idea? Remember it's a non-starter to just mount stuff to the floor because 5' or so outside the garage door is a breakover that I'd have to clear with the winch cable, so I have to have a pulley or something at least 4-5 ft high in the garage. These snatch blocks will be mounted like 4' off the floor in my plan above. I know everyone wants me to just mount a winch to the garage floor but they have not seen my driveway. This is not going to happen, folks.

FWIW if I wind up buying a little movable ATV winch for this job, I will probably find a way to mount it to the back wall even though everyone thinks that's dumb. Not to pull cars in, but to pull sub-500 lb things that would have like 150 lb max line load on them, like my trailer, a utility cart full of bags of mulch, or a motorcycle that won't start. I'm now convinced there's basically no way this is going to pull down a load bearing wall of my house.
 
Why not just put a couple pool noodles in the Jeep's front bumper and use it to push the Italian hunk of junk into the garage? Or better yet, just get rid of it!
 
You do realize my Jeep is just as much of an "Italian hunk of junk" as the Fiat, right?

But anyway, no this won't work, for fairly obvious reasons...
 
Over thinking what will happen to a winch cable, laying across a two by what ever board, at the break over point. This has been done for years, with winch cables pulling across rocks, when retrieving broken or stuck 4x4's.
 
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Over thinking what will happen to a winch cable, laying across a two by what ever board, at the break over point. This has been done for years, with winch cables pulling across rocks, when retrieving broken or stuck 4x4's.

I think I might be more likely to trust a steel winch cable to do this vs. my synthetic cable on the Jeep's winch.

Still doesn't fix the problem of drilling holes in the floor of the garage, which I don't want to do, and don't want to buy bits and tools to drill those holes.
 
Hey, I still might do it. I really don't want to have to repair this car! But sometimes you gotta do what you don't want to do. I just wish there was a better solution that didn't require me having to buy a winch and put holes in the garage floor.
 
Safe and what you really want to do, do not always go together. Sorry I tried to help.
Man, you and everyone else has tried to help. It just seems like all of us collectively have no idea what we are talking about. I just can't wait for the follow up post titled "how should I go about repairing the wall in my garage". :lol2:
 
Over thinking what will happen to a winch cable, laying across a two by what ever board, at the break over point. This has been done for years, with winch cables pulling across rocks, when retrieving broken or stuck 4x4's.

I'm not sure why, but I was holding out hope you had an actual jeep. Maybe use the Jeep to tow the fiat down to the Toyota dealership to get a nice reliable vehicle? =P

Seriously though, I know you said the driveway was steep, but couldn't you just get half a dozen guys to push the little thing up it? What's wrong with the car that you can't get it to run for a minute to drive it up into the garage?
 
I'm not sure why, but I was holding out hope you had an actual jeep.

Well I don't know what you mean by "actual jeep," I have a 2015 Wrangler Unlimited.

Seriously though, I know you said the driveway was steep, but couldn't you just get half a dozen guys to push the little thing up it? What's wrong with the car that you can't get it to run for a minute to drive it up into the garage?

Car runs fine. Clutch is broken. The throw out bearing is toast and it bent some spring fingers on the pressure plate so you just can't operate the car.

It would be pretty dangerous to try and push it, because it will run you over if it slips. I mean, this is a 20% grade.
 
I know you don’t want to anchor to the floor but it really seems the easiest to me. If you are worried about the break over point and synthetic line mount a roller like this https://www.amazon.com/CNBTR-Groove...e&qid=1626913525&sprefix=roller+winch&sr=8-18 to a piece of 2x6 to lay at the break over until the car or whatever reaches that point and the line lifts then simply pick up the board/roller and finish pulling it in. Rent a drill from Home Depot to mount your anchor point. https://www.amazon.com/Protecta-aj7...1&keywords=anchor+plate&qid=1626911244&sr=8-3
 
It might be exciting, but you can start the Fiat in first gear (hold the clutch pedal down) and just drive it in. When in doubt gas it!
 
After looking at what 20% grade is in degrees, I would have no problem using four 1/4" tapcons, to hold winch plate to pull my 3/4 ton van loaded full of tools. 12 degrees of slope is less than most trailer ramps.
 
Man, you and everyone else has tried to help. It just seems like all of us collectively have no idea what we are talking about. I just can't wait for the follow up post titled "how should I go about repairing the wall in my garage". :lol2:
:lol2:
 
After looking at what 20% grade is in degrees, I would have no problem using four 1/4" tapcons, to hold winch plate to pull my 3/4 ton van loaded full of tools. 12 degrees of slope is less than most trailer ramps.

I'd tend to agree with this as well.....

The 1/4" tapcon's in shear are rated at about 900lbs each. On a plate, that's 3600 combined if you use four to the recommended depth of 1" in standard concrete pours. Source: https://www.confast.com/technical-specifications-for-tapcon-concrete-screws/
 
It might be exciting, but you can start the Fiat in first gear (hold the clutch pedal down) and just drive it in. When in doubt gas it!
This. If the broken clutch is still holding and transmitting power. Alternatively, you can pull the fuel pump relay or fuse and run it up the driveway on the starter. Less 'exciting'. ;-)
I did that with my Firebird when I ran out of gas once. Coasted down the street to the gas station but cranked on the starter to get it up the driveway into the gas station. Correct, the clutch safety switch was bypassed.
 
Had to move a Torino, 3400 lbs, up the drive. a bench vice anchor plate with one 1/2 inxh bolt in the floor did the job
 

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I know you don’t want to anchor to the floor but it really seems the easiest to me. If you are worried about the break over point and synthetic line mount a roller like this https://www.amazon.com/CNBTR-Groove-Caster-Industrial-Machines/dp/B01FJMEWE8/

That roller is a good idea, thanks for the link.

It might be exciting, but you can start the Fiat in first gear (hold the clutch pedal down) and just drive it in. When in doubt gas it!

I have considered this, but it'd have to be in reverse and I'd have to back it up the driveway after making a 90 degree turn from the street. But this is still a consideration.

After looking at what 20% grade is in degrees, I would have no problem using four 1/4" tapcons, to hold winch plate to pull my 3/4 ton van loaded full of tools. 12 degrees of slope is less than most trailer ramps.

Obviously anchoring to the floor is no sweat for ordinary concrete fasteners. But also, this is why I have a strong suspicion that despite everyone's comments here, the wall/slab interface of the back wall would also be more than strong enough to mount the winch. I've done the math. 20% grade (well, this may be a 25%...) pulling a rolling load, car tires on concrete, is 800 lb for a 2400 lb car.

Alternatively, you can pull the fuel pump relay or fuse and run it up the driveway on the starter. Less 'exciting'. ;-)
Interesting but irrelevant things about the Fiat engine and electronics make this impossible. Plus, I am pretty sure the starter is not nearly powerful enough to drive the car up my driveway in reverse. I don't want to ruin the starter trying to get the car into the garage.

Had to move a Torino, 3400 lbs, up the drive. a bench vice anchor plate with one 1/2 inxh bolt in the floor did the job

Yeah, thanks for that. No sweat, bolting to the floor is a known solution.



In case you guys haven't read this whole thread, and I'm sure most of you don't care, the purpose of putting a winch on the wall/slab interface is because for 99%+ of the uses, I am very confident this is more than strong enough and it's far and away the most useful mounting position for a winch. I rarely ever have need to pull anything up the driveway that's more than 400 lb on wheels, which is like a 100 lb load. The 2x6 sole plate in the wall is attached to the slab with concrete anchors so I am quite confident that if I put a plate against the wall with lags going straight into the sill plate that it will be more than strong enough to hold these 100 lb line loads. No doubt. If you think I am wrong about this, then you are probably considering a different question than this one.

So the question would be whether that sole plate can support a 800 lb lateral load. I think the answer is also yes, it can, but I am not 100% confident and the engineer in me would like to have some more solid data to support this before trying it, and I am not able to find this information one way or the other. Nobody yet on this thread has offered this information either, except just to tell me the obvious, which is that putting an anchor in the floor will support this load, which is an obvious answer to a question I didn't ever ask. If anyone here has an actual answer on what the maximum side load you can apply to a 2x6 sole plate anchored into the slab in typical residential construction manner, well that's the data I need.

TX building code:
Wood sole plates at all exterior walls on monolithic slabs, wood sole plates of braced wall panels at building interiors on monolithic slabs and all wood sill plates shall be anchored to the foundation with minimum 1/2-inch-diameter (12.7 mm) anchor bolts spaced a maximum of 6 feet (1829 mm) on center or approved anchors or anchor straps spaced as required to provide equivalent anchorage to 1/2-inch-diameter (12.7 mm) anchor bolts. Bolts shall extend a minimum of 7 inches (178 mm) into concrete or grouted cells of concrete masonry units. The bolts shall be located in the middle third of the width of the plate. A nut and washer shall be tightened on each anchor bolt. There shall be a minimum of two bolts per plate section with one bolt located not more than 12 inches (305 mm) or less than seven bolt diameters from each end of the plate section. Interior bearing wall sole plates on monolithic slab foundation that are not part of a braced wall panel shall be positively anchored with approved fasteners. Sill plates and sole plates shall be protected against decay and termites where required by Sections R317 and R318.

If my house was built to code, which I have no reason to believe it was not, then every 6 ft the garage wall sole plate is attached with 1/2" anchor bolts 7" deep into the concrete. Even without the specs, I know this will support a 100lb lateral load, the load that I would be putting on it with a winch mounted to it under my normal uses. I just have only about 1% doubt that it will support this 800 lb load for a few minutes this one time without deflecting too much and potentially causing (at worst) cracks in the drywall on the interior of the house (which is in a closet). I am not worried that this would rip the wall off of the slab. But you know, if they just decided not to actually anchor the sole plates, then I guess that's possible. Then I'd be shocked this 2-story 3k sqft house is still standing after 20 years if they built it that way.

So just to hedge, I am likely to just mount a temporary anchor in the floor and get a winch, temporarily anchor it to the floor for this ONE JOB, then mount it to the wall/slab permanently. And then if I ever have to pull a car up the driveway again, I can move the winch to the temporary anchor. But when I am just pulling my 400lb trailer up the driveway, I can use the far more convenient permanent mounting to the back wall. Seems like overkill, a lot of extra work, and unnecessary holes in the slab. But whatever.
 
This might help/hurt the thought process.
 

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you are way over-thinking this.

I used to live at house pictured below. For 2-3 years, 2 times a week in good weather, I would winch a back-halved, front-clipped BBF 69 Fairlane into the garage bay (closed door) from the street. The car had 14x32 slicks and a spool. If we were lucky, it started at a 45° angle to the drive.

I used a 3500 Superwinch winch anchored to the concrete floor at four points (3/8 IIRC) and a 2x4 at the break-over point at the rain lip of the garage floor. Winch can be seen in second pix on floor near shelving unit

Driveway of death (Steep)
drivewayofdeath.jpg




jackstandracer.jpg
 
I don't see how that driveway is all that steep... Maybe it's the camera angle.

I mean, here's my Jeep on the street where my daughter's car is currently parked:
1627043849693.png


You can see my wife's Expedition at the top of the less steep side of the driveway.

Here's a view out the garage door on the side of the garage where I have to pull the Fiat in:
1627043962820.png


You see the retaining wall stones on the side there? They are level. If that gives you an idea of the angle of the driveway.

Here's a side view where I tried real hard to get the camera level. This is the actual driveway I am trying to get the Fiat up.
1627044098802.png


Just now I measured that angle in the picture, its right at 17 degrees, which is just over a 30% grade. So I was wrong before when I said it was 20%. I was underestimating.

The reason I am over thinking this is because I'd rather solve the long term problem if possible, rather than just shortcutting the obvious answer to the immediate problem.

I found there are already three 1/2" holes in the garage floor, one of which is close enough to the right spot to anchor, but they are only 1" deep. I have no idea how those got there, I didn't drill them and we built this house. I am guessing the builders did this to anchor some tool. I got a couple of 1/2" drop in anchors and will drill those holes to 2" depth and put the anchors in, then I can put in a temporary anchor. I ordered a 2" receiver ATV winch plate and a receiver that will mount flat to my wall plate. So I can use the winch anchored to the floor for heavy loads, or put it on the wall in the receiver for stuff like my little trailer or a utility cart full of rocks. Or just remove it and easily store it out of the way or use it on anything with a 2" receiver. This weekend I'll pick up a 2500lb ATV winch from HF and put it all together.
 
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