Yes sorry I meant the winch isn't much higher than an inch above the hole. I have some triangles to weld onto the hitch tube and drawbar to brace it up. Worked for a couple of hours tonight, only got one of the side braces made.

This one is for the passengers side

Here it is showing the piece of aluminum that will go across the face of the winch and tie the two brackets together. (imagine the winch drum is where the red magnet is) Going to also try to machine a hawse fairlead into this piece.
As for protecting the winch casing I have't quite decided how to go about it.
-Jesse