Load up winch

[M@G]

Getting ready for my Jan elk draw. Knowing how lucky I've been in the past with farmers around and tractors to load up, I figured I'd throw something together so I could load up an downed elk by myself. Might be putting the cart before the horse but at least I'll be prepared if I do fill my draw this season!






http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/169153917ce85295acb0fab34c2f3074.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/1af4d00640a1513650712faa9cdd89b8.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/062151ce0a25ff9ea081943a59ed8d80.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/8f04fd20be70cabc07547725865499df.jpg

[CanuckShooter]

You have to drill holes in the box to attach it??

[catnthehat]

Looks like it is attached to the fifth wheel brackets - neat idea!
Cat

[M@G]

You have to drill holes in the box to attach it??



No, fits into my fifth wheel rails. Just set it in and put the pins in.


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[catnthehat]

No, fits into my fifth wheel rails. Just set it in and put the pins in.


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I gotta get the kid to make up one of those - thanks for the idea !:sHa_shakeshout:
Cat

[CanuckShooter]

No, fits into my fifth wheel rails. Just set it in and put the pins in.


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Pretty slick!! :)

[silver]

Nice unit, but can I add something. A short time ago, Princess Auto had a game hoist listed for about $250. It pinned into the 2" receiver hitch on the back, offset to one side and had support legs. There was an arm that came up and stuck out and had a winch on it. Pair that up with your unit, might be the answer.

[M@G]

Nice unit, but can I add something. A short time ago, Princess Auto had a game hoist listed for about $250. It pinned into the 2" receiver hitch on the back, offset to one side and had support legs. There was an arm that came up and stuck out and had a winch on it. Pair that up with your unit, might be the answer.



A friend of mine had purchased one of those, good idea and worked great for deer but it was a little flimsy for an elk. I'm not planning on lifting the animal with this, just setting my quad ramps on the tailgate and dragging it into the box.


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[silver]

A friend of mine had purchased one of those, good idea and worked great for deer but it was a little flimsy for an elk. I'm not planning on lifting the animal with this, just setting my quad ramps on the tailgate and dragging it into the box.


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Thanks for the heads up. I thought a hoist like that would help get the last part of the animal into the truck box. Good luck.

[Dean2]

Nice setup. Easier to make and mount, put the winch on a plate with a pin and pin it to your fifth wheel hitch. That way you don't have to remove the hitch to use it and it will swivel as required so you don't get side loading, unless you are already taking the hitch out when hunting.

[catnthehat]

Nice setup. Easier to make and mount, put the winch on a plate with a pin and pin it to your fifth wheel hitch. That way you don't have to remove the hitch to use it and it will swivel as required so you don't get side loading, unless you are already taking the hitch out when hunting.

The nice thing about the bracket is that it us angled back and takes up less room than the hitch does
Cat

[M@G]

The nice thing about the bracket is that it us angled back and takes up less room than the hitch does

Cat



My thoughts exactly Cat!


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[shunda2]

That is a dandy idea---I'm going out to put the heat on in the shop right now.

[M@G]

Finishing touches. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/f70bd9a947792609b8110440267fc523.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/5b296d612fdf0ee6b36dcb0364ab03da.jpg


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[BEL]

What does it attach to at the front of the box under the window? Bel

[Xbolt7mm]

Thanks for the heads up. I thought a hoist like that would help get the last part of the animal into the truck box. Good luck.

I made one but used heavier steel and have legs under the main beam, 3000 warn on it, it lifts 14 feet and will lift an elk and spin it into the truck

[tikkahunter73]

great idea! I'm gonna have to build something now!

[HoytCRX32]

Great idea!
I string cable between the two front postholes of my truck box (using hooks) and then attach a come along. Slower by gives me a chance to maneuver the animal as I ratchet it in.

[petew]

I mounted my winch to the side rails with 3" angle across the box in front of my tool box, and tied it back to the headache rack with a flatbar. {My rails and headache rack are 2x2x3/16 and well bolted down }I have it on a 2" receiver setup so I can pull it off and keep it out of the weather in the tool box out of sight . I also picked up a wireless remote for it so I can guide the critter up the ramp and run the winch at the same time without messing with a remote on a cable.
That winch would need a solenoid to go with the wireless remote.

I run off the main truck battery's with quick connects on booster cable wire made from welding cable . They are the same cables I use on the main 12000# winch that is on a receiver mount too ,so it can go on the front or rear of the truck. We can't have to many options when we leave the pavement.:)

Have a rope handy to tie off the front when you run out of space on big animals like Elk ,and need to move the winch line to the hind quarters to get it all the way in the box without it sliding back out .

I used a 2000# for years and it had lots of power for the job until it burned out, now I have a 3500# for critters that I got at Costco on clearance for $99.00.

You have the winch mounted backwards though. Turn it around so it spools onto the bottom of the drum, not the top. The way it is now has to much pressure on the top roller of the fairlead and this also cuts back on the power from the extra friction and running backwards. That's a reat way that you made your mount.:)

[Xbolt7mm]

Good catch on the backwards winch...I missed that

[roger]

petew you got a pic?
it sounds exactly what i eventually did as well. the quick connects are the real deal. reciever mount 10,000lb warn with 125ft sythetic rope, front and rear elctrical connect points. the headache rack has a receiver hitch in it for storage and snatch block point or winch point, 30 ft of extension welding cables this eliminates the need for a standalone battery taking up floor space which is already at a premium.
do you have yours on a solenoid or are they 12v 24/7.
we might have to start a new thread!!
A friend of mine had purchased one of those, good idea and worked great for deer but it was a little flimsy for an elk. I'm not planning on lifting the animal with this, just setting my quad ramps on the tailgate and dragging it into the box.
not to pizz on the picnic but, i travelled down this same road as yours and was underwhelmed with my attempt. some problems included the quad ramps provided a little to much resistance for the animal to just slide in and would constantly become dislodged. If the truck has to realign to keep the animal inline with the ramp so the critter slides up squarely the quad ramps will fall off unless securely attached. it worked it just needed revisions.

putting a entire one peice of elk in there looks to be a challenge in itself.
. the carcass needs to sit were the mechanism is adhered. pl
not a whole lot of room left in the box with both that tool box and the hoist assembly in there.

[M@G]

I mounted my winch to the side rails with 3" angle across the box in front of my tool box, and tied it back to the headache rack with a flatbar. {My rails and headache rack are 2x2x3/16 and well bolted down }I have it on a 2" receiver setup so I can pull it off and keep it out of the weather in the tool box out of sight . I also picked up a wireless remote for it so I can guide the critter up the ramp and run the winch at the same time without messing with a remote on a cable.

That winch would need a solenoid to go with the wireless remote.



I run off the main truck battery's with quick connects on booster cable wire made from welding cable . They are the same cables I use on the main 12000# winch that is on a receiver mount too ,so it can go on the front or rear of the truck. We can't have to many options when we leave the pavement.:)



Have a rope handy to tie off the front when you run out of space on big animals like Elk ,and need to move the winch line to the hind quarters to get it all the way in the box without it sliding back out .



I used a 2000# for years and it had lots of power for the job until it burned out, now I have a 3500# for critters that I got at Costco on clearance for $99.00.



You have the winch mounted backwards though. Turn it around so it spools onto the bottom of the drum, not the top. The way it is now has to much pressure on the top roller of the fairlead and this also cuts back on the power from the extra friction and running backwards. That's a reat way that you made your mount.:)



Good catch on that. I'll flip er around.


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[sns2]

Tremendous! Good luck on your elk. I'd love to see pics in action, but let's face it, we know it's gonna work smoother than Golden.

[petew]

petew you got a pic?
it sounds exactly what i eventually did as well. the quick connects are the real deal. reciever mount 10,000lb warn with 125ft sythetic rope, front and rear elctrical connect points. the headache rack has a receiver hitch in it for storage and snatch block point or winch point, 30 ft of extension welding cables this eliminates the need for a standalone battery taking up floor space which is already at a premium.
do you have yours on a solenoid or are they 12v 24/7.
we might have to start a new thread!!

not to pizz on the picnic but, i travelled down this same road as yours and was underwhelmed with my attempt. some problems included the quad ramps provided a little to much resistance for the animal to just slide in and would constantly become dislodged. If the truck has to realign to keep the animal inline with the ramp so the critter slides up squarely the quad ramps will fall off unless securely attached. it worked it just needed revisions.

putting a entire one peice of elk in there looks to be a challenge in itself.
. the carcass needs to sit were the mechanism is adhered. pl
not a whole lot of room left in the box with both that tool box and the hoist assembly in there.


I will take a picture later on.
I use a 6 foot section of aluminum ladder to load with . Lean it on the gate and set the head on the ladder . I let the ladder slide in with the animal if it wants to. I don't lash the animal down, and I let gravity and friction decide if the critter comes with the ladder or slides up it. There is 1/4" plywood screwed to the rungs so the critter can slide if it wants to.
I have used a half sheet of 3/4 plywood also as a ramp and let it come with the critter or not . Either way the critter doesn't get hooked on the gate.

To get a whole elk in takes two pulls on the winch. Pull the head in as far as it will go ,tie it off to keep it there and then lasso the hind legs and pull them in . You want to rig the pick as short as possible so you can winch right up to the fairlead and a half hitch on the nose makes the head go in straight .

[trouty]

Cool project and good craftsmanship.

Have to ask though what is with people's fascination with taking a carcass home whole?

Quarter it cut out the good stuff, cut off trim and done. Take a deer whole but anything bigger don't get it.

[FCLightning]

That should do the job nicely. I don't have a fifth wheel, so mine is mounted to a 2" square tube with drops that go in the front rail holes. I made mine adjustable for width so it could be used to drop on different trucks, but I quickly found out that the stake holes are not a standard size and the stubs I welded up to fit in my '04 Dodge didn't fit in my Ford nor a buddys Chevy.

[35 whelen]

Exactly quarter them where they are if you can get your truck to them to load them then the work done when you get home and they're not frozen rock hard

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[waterninja]

Very nice. My brother did something similar, and man does it come in handy. Elk or Moose can really be tough to load onto a truck. Hope you get a chance to use it. Look forward to seeing pics of it in action.

[FCLightning]

Exactly quarter them where they are if you can get your truck to them to load them then the work done when you get home and they're not frozen rock hard

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Let me think on this a minute - quarter it on the ground in the field in sub freezing temperatures or winch it in the truck and quarter it in the shop at home when it is hanging.

[35 whelen]

Exactly

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[Big Grey Wolf]

If you are not to lazy you can skin out elk in 20 minutes by yourself, quarter it and throw in back of truck. Even in cold weather elk is nice and warm on hands and cools meat down, much better meat quality.

[FCLightning]

If you are not to lazy you can skin out elk in 20 minutes by yourself, quarter it and throw in back of truck. Even in cold weather elk is nice and warm on hands and cools meat down, much better meat quality.

:lol: Oh, It's because we are lazy that we don't want to skin and quarter a large animal when it is lying on the ground in the wind and cold. Gotcha.

I think I must be incompetent as well, because even with the elk hanging in my shop with power tools for cutting I can't get it skinned and quartered in 20 minutes.:thinking-006:

[Mike_W]

Finishing touches. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/f70bd9a947792609b8110440267fc523.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161210/5b296d612fdf0ee6b36dcb0364ab03da.jpg


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Very cool idea!! Good call on using a snatch block too!

If I might suggest something it would be to have longer leads with alligator clamps and just use your main battery! This would prevent the need for keeping a charged battery and hauling it around and from the battery from getting stolen. I would also suggest a good way to keep that secure as theft has been a major issue.
I might also suggest from using the quad ramps ....they work in a pinch but that winch will really be working best thing would be a couple 2x4 with a hinge on each and a 1/2 piece of plywood 3 feet wide. folded size would be 3x3 and 3x6 when open.

[M@G]

I have a 7 pin connector mounted in the box of my truck for my fifth wheel, i wired up a connector that will maintain a 12 volt supply to the battery. I also have a cable lock ran through the hitch rails to deter theft. I will be throwing together some sort of ramp that folds like Mike_W suggested. I like the folding idea.


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[full_throttle]

Cool project and good craftsmanship.



Have to ask though what is with people's fascination with taking a carcass home whole?



Quarter it cut out the good stuff, cut off trim and done. Take a deer whole but anything bigger don't get it.



Because it keeps your animal clean.


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[Mike_W]

Cool project and good craftsmanship.

Have to ask though what is with people's fascination with taking a carcass home whole?

Quarter it cut out the good stuff, cut off trim and done. Take a deer whole but anything bigger don't get it.

My guess would be that you never quartered an animal in minus 30!
Why don't you quarter your deer?

[Mike_W]

I have a 7 pin connector mounted in the box of my truck for my fifth wheel, i wired up a connector that will maintain a 12 volt supply to the battery. I also have a cable lock ran through the hitch rails to deter theft. I will be throwing together some sort of ramp that folds like Mike_W suggested. I like the folding idea.


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Nice idea with the 7 pin as long as the wires are large enough to supply sufficient current to operate under load that would be slick!

[mgvande]

My guess would be that you never quartered an animal in minus 30!
Why don't you quarter your deer?

I have quartered at -30 and it's not bad. The animal is clean cause there is snow usually. I like the winch idea but would not do it myself because I would just quarter it where it fell and I don't have room in my garage for more contraptions😊

[petew]

If you are not to lazy you can skin out elk in 20 minutes by yourself, quarter it and throw in back of truck. Even in cold weather elk is nice and warm on hands and cools meat down, much better meat quality.

Work smart not hard.:sHa_sarcasticlol:

I wouldn't trade my winch for anything.

[petew]

Here is how I have my game winch mounted. It is on a 2" receiver with locking pin . I use quick connects for the power, same as the Big winch uses , and a wireless remote. 3500# Champion.
http://peteward.com/internet%20pictures/2016.car.topper/20161213_121130_resized.jpg

http://peteward.com/internet%20pictures/2016.car.topper/winch1.jpg

[kaleh01]

Here's mine, crude but very effective.

http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae163/kaleh01/8BBE5092-DAF1-47CF-999F-EB84582E4258.jpg

[petew]

Effective is what counts .

I never needed to use a snatch block, even with the 2000# winch it never slowed down. Mounting the winch high makes the load come in easier.

[Faststeel]

Gosh it would have been nice to have been born with some mechanical abilities.....LOL

[Coiloil37]

I put a winch in my box last year after getting drawn for suffield. Fairly similar idea where it slides into the fifth wheel rails. I put a pigtail on one of my trucks batteries with half an Anderson plug that lives under there. The winch has enough cable to reach up to that battery and has the other half of Anderson plug on those two cables. I just have to pop the hood and plug in that Anderson plug and I'm away to the races.

I grew up with an old man and uncle who were very particular about what they would eat. To this day their wild game and fish are as good of table fare as one could have. They both brought the animal out whole when able then hung, skinned and washed the carcass before letting it hang/age. I never hunted around many other people so I thought that was "normal".
Last year was my first year hunting wainwright and I saw stuff I couldn't believe. Guys showing up at the check station with animals skinned and quartered, thrown in the back of their dirty truck with nothing under or over the meat. Dirt, dust, leaves, hair and blood on everything. I saw about six guys with their truck next to a bull moose on the ground and instead of loading him and taking him somewhere smart to skin and handle the meat they were boning him out on the ground, same story with blood, hair and leaves all through the meat. I saw similar things this year and now have a fairly good idea why a lot of people think wild game isn't as good as commercial beef.

So you ask why I take my animal home whole? Because I won't compromise my years red meat supply and I'm set up to handle whole animals. I've loaded around a dozen whole elk by hand, by myself but a winch makes it much easier.

[petew]

Gosh it would have been nice to have been born with some mechanical abilities.....LOL

Mounts can be very simple. I have my first mount I made still.It is a 2x2 angle sitting on the box rail with the angle hanging between the box and the cab. It has a couple 1/4" bolts thru the box rail holding it from moving, and a couple 2 foot 2x2 angles going down the sides of the box on the top. These are bolted down with big washers under the box rail . You could use topper clamps or C clamps here too. It has a pad for mounting a 2000# winch on it at the height of the box top.
It worked great for many years and trucks. Fits a 4 foot wide box.

By making it with the angle hanging between the box and cab the load is spread across the full width of the box. I never bent a box with it and loaded big animals and winched out some big logs for firewood.

If you are near the north side of Edmonton/Bonaccord you can have it. It isn't pretty but it works just fine.

[35 whelen]

YOU COULD always put quarters in game bags :sign0161: Ihave been doing it for years and have been told that my meat care is exceptional just saying theres more than one way to skin a cat or elk ,:)

[Big Grey Wolf]

Have you ever heard of a $8 poly tarp from Canadian Tire. You will be surprised how clean your quarters of meat will be in back of truck.

[Looper]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161216/2f081fb287a8ce2d07d1b3ffb3d3536b.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161216/1ed4cbbaee6d20cf7cac55d9d88e7d11.jpg

This is what I built. Hardwired to truck battery. Have used to winch a Harley stuck in the mud onto a trailer, move a 1300 pound rock, load a 300 gal air compressor unassisted, load a cast iron claw foot tub. No opportunity to use on an elk yet which was the inspiration to build it. The box conveyor ramp is sweet.

Looper

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[M@G]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161216/2f081fb287a8ce2d07d1b3ffb3d3536b.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161216/1ed4cbbaee6d20cf7cac55d9d88e7d11.jpg

This is what I built. Hardwired to truck battery. Have used to winch a Harley stuck in the mud onto a trailer, move a 1300 pound rock, load a 300 gal air compressor unassisted, load a cast iron claw foot tub. No opportunity to use on an elk yet which was the inspiration to build it. The box conveyor ramp is sweet.

Looper

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That's real nice! I like the simplicity of the turnbuckle set up. nice and clean with lots of room in the box too!

[Thunder/FX]

FWIW
Have you ever watched a professional butcher slaughter beef?
Handled whole, hung, then skinned before being gutted. Meat Is spotless as it should be.

Nice job on the winch mount.
I prefer to load mine whole whenever possible

[dale7637]

Some mount ideas here!

And as far as taking it out whole, in my opinion there is no better option if you can do it. It's the cleanest way to handle meat.

But I guess that makes me a road hunter.. Even though I've never hunted from a road..

[Coiloil37]

I'm not sure how you hunt but I choose where I shoot stuff. Between a jeep, chainsaw, winch and a couple hundred feet of rope there isn't much country I can't recover an animal from in one place. When I'm hunting I decide where I'm willing to chase them into and or where to shoot them. I simply don't go 10 miles back in the mountains for an elk or moose because I don't have horses. Deer aren't a problem, I just use the gutless method and throw them in my pack. For the big stuff I hunt country I can recover them from on my terms. It's not hard to call them out of the tough stuff or whack them on a cutline or in a field instead of following them into the blow downs.

Once you learn how to hunt smarter instead of harder you'll be able to do the same. If you never get there, that old saying "if your going to be dumb you better be tough" comes to mind.

All that said the whole post is juvenile. There's no "one size fits all" approach to animal recovery. Just because I have a preferred method of recovery doesn't mean it'll work every time. There are times they get cut in half, times they come out in a jeep, sometimes in a truck, maybe in a calf sled or drug behind a snow machine or quad. Given the choice though, they're coming out in as few pieces as possible and with the hide on.
Like I mentioned in my first post. I watched a half dozen guys bone out a moose on the ground beside their truck and had it covered in grass, leaves, dirt, hair and blood. IMO that's not smart when it's easy enough to load them in the truck and take them home. If a guy wants to use a winch to minimize the heavy lifting that's even smarter.

[Hawkhills]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161218/ae951f83bb92e592f00fc16f0d011fb8.jpg

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[Hawkhills]

Shot no where near a road.Big fella came out in halves

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[honda610]

I have a 8000 warn that hooks up to my truck hitch. A 2000 warn that hooks to my headache rack in the back of my truck. I can't seem to load picks. There is no one way to skin a dang critter. Everyone says my way is best......:thinking-006: so this Dec my wife and I harvested an anterless moose 1 hour before dark. Could not get the truck closers than 350m. I had the cable to reach but by the time I strung out that much cable through the bush I had it quartered with my Sawzall and hauled it hide down to my truck. If someone only shoots were they can get there truck into great. I have had moose picked up with a tractor and hung whole until I could skin it. Then quartered. It's great to leave the hide on to keep the meat clean.......until that one time your meat cooks under the hide because it can't cool properly. Ever had to throw away the front half of a bull moose? We did he was fighting a bull maybe a day before we shot him. Found out later due to his injuries. Never skinned him to keep clean. The heat combined with his injuries turned that meat real quick. I could smell it from the driveway as my buddy's were skinning it. I'll wash every ounce of meat I harvest before I see that much meat spoil again. As to the OP very nice set up. I never thought of a fifth wheel hitch set up. I will try and post some pics of my set up to give others some ideas from the computer tonight. Merry Christmas

[M@G]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/20a5675b116813e3849dccb225c34876.jpghttps://vimeo.com/199678156


Elk down! Worked better than I expected.

[thereiwas72]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170117/ea60a2850e46ec191343776e42ebdafb.pnghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170117/6a5da0042b7017804728b95dd106f501.png

This also bolts to my 5th wheel rails and comes apart in pieces in a matter of minutes...


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[Med Hat hunter]

Lots of great ideas here !!


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[M@G]

Video link
https://vimeo.com/199943614

[petew]

here is a good deal for a winch.
http://flyers.canadiantire.ca/flyers/canadiantire-flyer?flyer_run_id=190328&locale=en&postal_code=T8N6M3&store_code=334&type=1#!/flyers/canadiantire-flyer?flyer_run_id=190328

It comes with a solenoid, so all you need is an amazon.ca wireless remote to make loading super easy.

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=winch+remote

[Norwest Alta]

Here is how I have my game winch mounted. It is on a 2" receiver with locking pin . I use quick connects for the power, same as the Big winch uses , and a wireless remote. 3500# Champion.
http://peteward.com/internet%20pictures/2016.car.topper/20161213_121130_resized.jpg

http://peteward.com/internet%20pictures/2016.car.topper/winch1.jpg

I got much the same as this but my winch mounts on the top cross member of the headache rack.

[Norwest Alta]

FWIW
Have you ever watched a professional butcher slaughter beef?
Handled whole, hung, then skinned before being gutted. Meat Is spotless as it should be.

Nice job on the winch mount.
I prefer to load mine whole whenever possible

Absolutely and use the tractor. This my preferred method.