Anyone using a cable winch?

[mastreb]

I need to replace my trailer winch strap, and I really want to go to a 50' long aircraft cable winch so I can hook the boat to the trailer while it's at the dock and then use the winch to draw it aboard the trailer.

I've decided I don't need the complexity of a motorized winch--I just want a manual drum winch designed for cable with a locking ratchet.

Does anyone use one of these on their trailer? Any experience with such a thing?

This is what I'm looking at: http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Fulton+W ... Winch.html

Matt

[Steve K]

Matt,

Looks like that will do the job and then some

I prefer a nylon strap myself, but that's just a matter of choice.

The best mod I've ever seen or tried (did it on both X and D trailer) is to flip the winch to the top of the tree, instead underneath where the factory put it. There should be some pics of this mod somewhere on this site. This makes it a ton easier to get the boat up into the V-block, using the winch.

If the winch is moved to the top, you now need a strap to also hold the bow down, when traveling. I use a giant turnbuckle from the bottom of the winch tree, to the bow eye......... Works great

I'll take some pics of mine if you can't find any examples here.

Little trick:
When alone, I use two dock lines (one from the bow, one from the stern) and tie the ends together along the dockside of the boat. This make it easy to float and guide the boat up onto the trailer, from the dock, by myself. Once the bow is resting on the forward bunk, it's easy to hook up the winch and crank her up from there. If backed in just right, I don't even get my feet wet.

Hope this was helpful

Best Breezes,
Steve K.

[DanInCanton]

I recently upgraded the original winch on my 25 to a heavy-duty ratchet winch similar to the one you're looking at and it works fine. I always used nylon straps before, but I needed to go with cable in order to feed it through a pulley to get it high enough on the tree to pull the boat in tight. Being my first experience with cable, I initially went with the plastic coated stuff because I thought it would be more comfortable to handle. BIG mistake!!! The plastic coating bound together under tension and I had to disassemble the winch and cut the cable apart inside the drum to free it up. Learn from my stupidity...if you go with cable, keep it bare.

BTW, 50 feet of cable calls for an awful lot of cranking. I hope your arm is up to it.

Dan

[mastreb]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I might try to fit a cordless drill to it for the initial haul-in

[Russ]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I might try to fit a cordless drill to it for the initial haul-in

Why not just get an electric one then.

I'm not familiar with what you are trying to do. Seems like a lot of stuff can happen while slowly winching from the dock. Like wind etc that might pull the boat all over. I would get a long line and simply pull the boat up onto the trailer, then hook the winch on and crank it all the way in. Of course most Macs can't be winched all the way tight. Still need the "Mac Bump".

[bartmac]

Had similar thoughts to use a electric winch with enough cable to pull the Mac from well outside the trailer into its welcoming guide bars at the same time as having a rope on the stern probably upwind/upstream and doing a single handed retrieval, but operating both winch and steading rope????(not enough angle to be effective at the drawbar) would require winch to be electric with remote control.Tried driving on but quickly realised that was not the way....a flat bottom doesn't make for good steerage without rudder(s)...not to mention the possible damage to a ramp...removal of sand from the end through prop wash...having watched other people destroy the end of a ramp. There's a number of ramps we can't use at low tide because of "drop off" of maybe 2 foot...as soon as you put your trailer wheels in a hole like that it takes more traction than we have to haul out (with ballast in due to no planing ability, only 15hp)

[mastreb]

Had similar thoughts to use a electric winch with enough cable to pull the Mac from well outside the trailer into its welcoming guide bars at the same time as having a rope on the stern probably upwind/upstream and doing a single handed retrieval

I've looked hard at this as well, and came very close to buying this winch and wireless remote:
http://www.harborfreight.com/off-road-v ... 68141.html

My plan was to hook the boat to the cable, and while at the helm with the boat in neutral, wirelessly haul in the cable. If the boat got out of shape as it was coming aboard, it's a simple matter to put it in idle reverse and back against the electric winch. I've practiced backing against a rope tied to a cleat before, and you can get very good control of exactly where the boat goes that way. It produces about 50 foot lbs. of back pressure which is too much to pull against by hand for very long, but trivial for a winch to haul against.

The problems are the winch is very heavy--it'll add 100lbs. to tongue weight minimum, and the amp draw is too high to go through the trailer. So I'd have to put a sealed battery on the trailer as well that could trickle charge from the trailer hookup and then deliver power to the winch on demand. Probably a small 12v gel cell would do the job, but that's again more weight on the tongue.

I'd only need that winch for really bad ramps like Shelter Island, and with my current setup at Pier 32, I don't need it so I'm really just looking for a long enough cable to winch the boat completely aboard. In calmer waters the boat will settle onto the bunks correctly as long as you get the nose aboard, which pulling from the bow eye should do just fine.

[bartmac]

We retrieve our mac currently by one rope on bow and a long rope on stern held by my wife at probably 45 deg up wind/stream...she controls the stern on my direction and I pull the boat in standing at the drawbar on the trailer...as soon as my hand operated winch rope (very short 2.5 metres)reaches I then continue the retrieval by winch.The idea of a wired remote control winch would allow the freedom me to step back and either have another rope on the stern or basically shove/push the mac if it got out of alignment....one thing though??? the speed of the winch...is it fast enough...linger to long in "mid" position ie neither on or off and a gust of wind or a Richard cranium with a stink boat coming in fast producing a wake shoving everything sideways

[mastreb]

the speed of the winch

The various models are rated between 15 and 20 feet per minute, so if you're doing a 45 foot pay out, it's three minutes to retrieve. Plenty of time for a stinkpot to come by.

[DaveB]

I have the Dutton 2 speed winch past 5years on my trailer and like it but negleted to spray T-9 on the drum and has rusted the inside to flakeing. Just received a new 2500 and coated whole unit with T-9 and setting out sun for past 3 days and will install. Cost was $110 including shipping thru Amizon.
Great Winch, just needs the coating of T-9 for salt water.
Got the Strap thru WM, paid full price at $25. 2,667 lbs working strength, 8000 lbs breaking. 25ft strap.
My drum rusted out because the strap went in the water a few times. I now avoid strap to hit the salt water to hook the bow.
Dutton is the best of the best but Fulton is a second best.
Mine is the Dutton DL2500A two speed.
Dave

I need to replace my trailer winch strap, and I really want to go to a 50' long aircraft cable winch so I can hook the boat to the trailer while it's at the dock and then use the winch to draw it aboard the trailer.

I've decided I don't need the complexity of a motorized winch--I just want a manual drum winch designed for cable with a locking ratchet.

Does anyone use one of these on their trailer? Any experience with such a thing?

This is what I'm looking at: http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Fulton+W ... Winch.html

Matt