I'd personally would be looking at 1/0 for running to the winch. With a 12V vehicle you can't afford to drop too much voltage on the wiring especially when the winch is working hard and therefore pulling very high amps.
With say 300A flowing and a total of 10' of cable (+ and - leads):
4AWG would not be good for winch wiring on a large draw winch on a heavy 80 series. 4AWG has 0.2485 ohms/1000' so total of 0.002485 ohms (for 10'). At 300A that's a voltage drop of 0.002485 x 300 = 0.75V.
1/0 for the same run would give 0.0983 ohms/1000' so 0.000983 x 300A = 0.3V
If your cable runs are longer (say a dual battery and marine switch to route winch power), the voltage drop becomes even more a consideration...
Add in an anderson connector and you'll get voltage drop across the contacts. Ditto for the battery/ground connections. Don't skimp on the quality of the crimps and lugs you are using or the voltage drop goes up again... You want to minimize those drops since they all impact the voltage reaching the winch when under load and that will compromise the winch performance.
Maybe this is a redneck question, but what about using the wire from a set of jumper cables? I found a good looking set of 12' 1 gauge jumper cables at goodwill for $5 on 50% off day, making them $2.50. I figured I could cut the clamps off and harvest the cable, assuming it tests out ok. Thoughts?
There might be some concerns with heat resistance of the insulation and durability of the stands inside, but as long as you understand those limitations it will work. For $2.50 give it a shot!
Maybe this is a redneck question, but what about using the wire from a set of jumper cables? I found a good looking set of 12' 1 gauge jumper cables at goodwill for $5 on 50% off day, making them $2.50. I figured I could cut the clamps off and harvest the cable, assuming it tests out ok. Thoughts?
It would be hard to recommend that you do this. Most jumpers that are inexpensive use "copper clad aluminum" rather than copper wire. The insulation is not labeled so you don't really know the temp rating or oil resistance (it's going to live under your hood) The ones that use good copper cable are not cheap, which would defeat your purpose.
The best solution is to man up and buy real welding cable, or marine cable. You're only talking 10-12 feet of it total. Crimp on quality ends, heat shrink and call it good.
I've used cheap jumper cables as the source for cable to run back to my inverters, so that could still be useful. Went with 1/0 welding cable for the winch leads. Like George said, bigger is better with winch leads as those puppies draw crazy amps when loaded.
