Winch Cable

[Emtypckts]

For a long time now i have been curious as to why the winch cable on my boat trailers is soooo long I have pulled the boat from the water at many differant ramps and many times at low tide and have never used more than 4' or 5' of cable but so often the cable is pinched and have to use channel locks to free it to load the boat<br />I am curious if there is really a good reason for its length?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winch Cable

Whether you have a Cable, or Rope, or Strap is a personal Choice.........<br /><br />Whatever you use,....It Should be a couple Feet Longer than your Trailer.......<br /><br />There Can be times when it's Nessessary.......<br /><br />If you Don't Need it,...... Fine.....<br />If you Should Need it,.... It'll be there......

 

[Pony]

Re: Winch Cable

Just an instance of when its handy to have the cable be longer than the trailer.......<br /><br />I have had to in the past put my boat on the trailer in spot where my trailer could only go into the water a foot or so (light boat) and the longer cable allowed me to hitch it up then push the boat out a bit and line it up as i winched it up......literaly up as the the nose of the boat was below the trailer at the start.<br /><br />Also figure the winch manufacture has no idea what trailer the thing is going on.<br /><br />Like Bondo ssaid, if ya need it its there, if not its not causing any harm

 

[djvan]

Re: Winch Cable

Change to a winch with a strap, that will eliminate the pinching. You might be able to just replace the cable with a strap, but don't know for sure.<br /><br />DougV>

 

[paulie0735]

Re: Winch Cable

Most winches will convert from cable to strap with no problem provided the spool is wide enough to take the strap. Its a person choice though, if your always winching the boat up from straight behind the trailer than the strap is much easier than the cable but you get into a bit of trouble if your forced to start winching it up from an angle as the strap gets all twisted and untidy. As for the length.......... well rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

 

[rwidman]

Re: Winch Cable

Originally posted by djvan:<br /> Change to a winch with a strap, that will eliminate the pinching. You might be able to just replace the cable with a strap, but don't know for sure.<br /><br />DougV>

I agree, the strap is better. It's also safer as it won't splinter onto your hands and won't inflict serious harm if it breaks under load.

 

[salty87]

Re: Winch Cable

[/quote]I agree, the strap is better. It's also safer as it won't splinter onto your hands and won't inflict serious harm if it breaks under load. [/QB][/quote]<br /><br />i'm not so sure about that. i got a cable after my last strap broke. i could see it breaking if i tried to haul my boat up from the bottom but not from pulling it on the trailer. the lose strands of wire at the end get old, that's true. <br /><br />those straps won't last more than 4 years or you're pressing your luck.<br /><br />emtypckts, ever been towed in to the ramp? running that cable or strap out to the bow eye is a lot easier than pulling your boat up to the bow rest by hand to get it close enough for the strap to reach.

 

[Emtypckts]

Re: Winch Cable

Thanks Everyone for your wonderful opinions and many very valid points but I think I am still going to cut my cable to 10' and because of your opinions I am going to put loops on the end of the cable and coil it up and zip tie it to the trailer so I have it in the event that one day i might need it.<br /><br />Salty, yes i was towed in by a friend once but at that location the docks are long enough for 2 boats inline so I didnt have any problems<br /><br />We will see if one day I will need it and if not then the extra coil will just become part of the trailer <br /><br />Thanks again for all the great answers

 

[rwidman]

Re: Winch Cable

..... i'm not so sure about that. i got a cable after my last strap broke.....

This strap<br />

<br /> http://www.championtrailers.com/jckrlrub.html#winch_strap <br />has a capacity of 10,000 lb. And remember you're not lifting the boat, you're pulling it up an inclined plane. It's gonna be hard to break.

 

[salty87]

Re: Winch Cable

that exact strap won't last much longer than 4 seasons before dry rot starts turning it to dust.<br /><br />

Originally posted by rwidman...And remember you're not lifting the boat, you're pulling it up an inclined plane. It's gonna be hard to break. [/QB]

...exactly why i went with the cable. if you don't think the strap will break under stress from winching, i don't know why you think the cable will.

 

[rwidman]

Re: Winch Cable

The strap's gonna rot (so will the tires) and the cable's gonna rust and splinter.<br /><br />My trailer winch came with a cable. It tended to take a "set" on the drum and I found I had to pull out ten or fifteen feet of cable to reach a bow eye five feet from the winch. Then I had to wind all the excess cable in before the boat started to move. The cable was sharp where it connected to the hook and cut my hands.<br /><br />I replaced the whole thing with an electric winch with a strap. I've replaced the strap once and I'll replace it again every two or three years. Preventive maintenance. <br /><br />Both work and both are available. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

 

[madmarlin]

Re: Winch Cable

Hi guys, a good alternative to cable or staps is plasma rope it's as strong as steel cable and has the properties of rope, little recoil if it breaks, however is fairly expensive but a small length for a trailer won't cost to much.

 

[salty87]

Re: Winch Cable

plasma rope? them's fightin' words round here<br /><br /><br />haha j/k, never heard of it

 

[madmarlin]

Re: Winch Cable

why them's fightin' words

 

[BillP]

Re: Winch Cable

After trailering for lots of years with ss cable I changed to nylon strap a year or two ago. No more fighting to get the wire off the spool. No more getting barbed from broken strands. No more hassle. Now that I've had time to launch a bunch of times I'm sold on the nylon strap. It's easier to use and no problems. I'd rather spend $15 every couple years for a new strap than deal with wire again...and I don't think the strap will need replacing in less than 5 yrs.

 

[jlinder]

Re: Winch Cable

Hope no one thinks I am hijacking this thread, but I am hearing a new maintenance thing here - replacing the strap every ??? years due to rot.<br /><br />I had a problem with the hook end and cut off some strap then resewed it, but have not noticed any problems with the rest of the strap. <br /><br />Any reccomendations on maintenance?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Winch Cable

straps on 3 trailers, rather replace periodicly than deal with cable. been boating 45 years. just replace when you do maintanance or trailer. yes they require periodic maintanance.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Winch Cable

some good 3/8" sailing braid with a proper eye splice is as strong as those straps and much more user freindly

 

[BillP]

Re: Winch Cable

Originally posted by theScrumbler:<br /> some good 3/8" sailing braid with a proper eye splice is as strong as those straps and much more user freindly

Only thing about braided rope is it can get hung up on the spool just like wire rope. It wasn't more user friendly to me, only easier on the hands. Straps never get stuck like that.

 

[rwidman]

Re: Winch Cable

The real enemy of the nylon strap is UV rays from the sun. If the boat is stored in a northern part of the country, in the shade, or the strap is covered when not in use it will last longer.