Metal workers.....is this safe?

I just recieved my new winch today, (REP 8.5E....18 months smoke free present) and I started fabbing up a temporary (until I can get a winch bumper) mount. I'm using 1/4" wall tube, and 2x and 3x 1/4" angle iron

Pics of the mount

Everything is just tacked on, and I plan to have a professional weld it together.

Is this safe? I really don't want to kill anyone with a bad mount, or just poor planning on my part.

Here is my reasoning ...the total "welded length" will be 18" on the angle iron mount vs. 16" max (I'm guessing) on a piece of flat plate....more welded length= more strength

Please tell me if my thinking is wrong on this one...as I'm fairly new to the whole fabrication thing

I would cut 4 2" long pieces of that angle iron, and put them like gussets under the angle iron conecting to the piece going into the reciever. And maybe 2 streachers conecting the angle iron front to back.

it'll be fine for a straight pull, but if it's a side pull it needs more reinforcement to keep the angle from twisting on the tube (did that make sense?)

Yes it did...

I also got a few ideas from another board ....gusset the angle to the tube, and connect the angle Iron

Thanks!

"but if it's a side pull it needs more reinforcement to keep the angle from twisting on the tube" Thats why I recomende the small pieces of angle conecting to agle that is on there now to the tube and the 2 pieces running front to back on the connecting the angle.

That should be completely fine, if you follow what Faux4x4 said and weld it well. The company I work for does a lot of the cutting/braking for RockWare and we used to do the same for Tomken, and their mounts aren't nearly as beefy, assuming your hitch is mounted very securely. Look at Warn's MultiMount, for example. It's basically an exagerrated channel that is only stitch welded together (you can see the small stitches on their site). Not to trivialize things, though. You need to make sure the welds are high-quality. It is the health and well-being of everyone around your rig that's at stake while winching!

-Rich

i would agree with a little more gusseting and reenforcement to the angles and tube. like all things homemade, there is a large margin for error, so do your best to minimalize it. .02

With a litle bit of gusseting, that will definitely be beefier than the Warn multi-mount that I had.

I like to have the winch cable go through the bumper so even if the 4 winch bolts brake the winch will be held by the bumper...

yours dosent do that.

And it puts alot of stress on the welds of the angle iron to the box tube. The twisting force at the welds would be reduced if you connected the sides. run some plate or angle between the two pieces.

Is that receiver mount rated to take that kinda load? Im thinking 500lbs max for a tug weight if even that. Winches always are pulling up or down or to the side. So the receiver will limit your capacity.

Last time I was winching a light toyota up a hill I had so much force on my front leafs I backed off..They were just about fully compressed...

If your front coils are 200lbs per in on both sides if you sucked down your front end on a winch pull 2in you have 800lbs on your front receiver puling down like a tung weight!!!

I recomend a solid bumper mount, caged inside the bumper, and if it ties into a cage and unibody sleaving thats cool too.

Like had been said before some gusseting and reinforcements you should be fine.

Ashman, thats not always a reasonable or viable option for everyone.

I think the receiver mount will be fine, especially temporarily...with plans to upgrade to a winch bumper like he said. Warn wouldn't sell a Multi-Mount setup with a 9.5 ti if it was unsafe. Some of these other local shops might do so, but Warn is too big of a name to market known-unsafe products.

A lot of this depends on how gonzo you're planning on going. We all aren't going to be hitting the trails with a 14Bt on 42's!!! We might want to though!! So in the pinch you are in, your receiver mount will most likely work great until you get the permanent solution.

Ashman...nice rig. I must commend you on the work you've put in.

John, congrats on the smoke-free!

-Rich

Well, when it comes down to it, my Jeep's capabilities are greater than my experience.

This will probably see a few runs of the moderate type, and then be replaced by the winch bumper.

I will have a professional welder do all the welds (I just don't trust a 110v welder to do this) and I have gusseted and reinforced the angle.

Thanks for the replies, and hope to see you on the trails!