Looking to set up a winch on my car hauler and looking for some advice from others that have done the same. I have a tool box on the front of the deck and I am planning to put the winch there, also its a wooden deck so I am thinking I may need to reinforce it some. I am thinking I will cut a hole in the tool box and maybe mount the fair-lead there.

I bolted a receiver hitch to the front crossmember of my trailer. It's a 2x6" C-channel. Been using my Warn M6000SDP winch with it for years now, no problem. I would not attach the winch to the wooden deck.

I welded a receiver to the front cross member & added a small triangle support. I need to add a couple of small braces going forward to complete the setup. I'll post up a pic.

It's certainly a nice feature of have. But as others have said, it needs attached to the frame of the trailer with some bracing. I like the idea of hiding it in a toolbox, just make sure you can allow it to cool properly if you're working it hard. And I'd also recommend having a snatch block handy for when you A) need more power and B) when you need to slow down the process.