Electric Winch

[SDSeville]

Is there a reliable electric winch for around $300? My boat is only 20', but I always have trouble winching it the last foot unless I dunk the trailer too deep, then I have trouble lining it up on the bunks.

 

[achris]

An open aluminium 20' boat is a lot lighter than a 'glass cabin cruiser. When you say 'only 20', you need to clarify that.

As for the winch, have you tried putting a sheave and hook and making it a double line pull? That reduces the effective load by a bit less than 50% (still have the frictional losses of the sheave)...

What winch are you currently using?

As for a winch less than $300, yes there is probably some available, but they aren't going to be particularly good quality, or last very long at that price.

You get what you pay for, and (my favourite), cheap no good, good no cheap. My wife's favourite, and from her native country, 'The foolish man pays twice'.

Chris.........

 

[jakwi]

Maybe try some liquid roller on the bunks or adjust the bunks to reduce the apparent slope?

 

[Fed]

Is the winch pulling from the same height as your bow eye?

 

[dingbat]

Find a now discontinued PowerWinch 712 (replaced with 712A) to put on it.

That should pull it. If worst comes to worst you can always go to the double line setup that comes with it.

Rated to #7500 with the double pulley. It will pull it, the question is how long will it take.

The double pulley setup doubles your recovery time.

 

[JimS123]

I used a 712 for 35 years with the single line pull. It didn't take any longer to load the boat than if I cranked it on.

Put ezslides on the bunks. With the 2 items you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago.

 

[SDSeville]

Thanks everyone. What is a double line? I have an old hand crank winch (no idea what kind) with a flat strap pulling from slightly below the bow eye. EZslides and liquid roller sound good.

 

[dingbat]

Thanks everyone. What is a double line?

In effect a block and tackle setup.
It doubles the pulling power of the winch at the expense of your retrieval rate. Doubling the time it takes to winch the boat on the trailer

 

[SDSeville]

Glass boat weighs about 3000 lbs.

 

[SDSeville]

In effect a block and tackle setup.
It doubles the pulling power of the winch at the expense of your retrieval rate. Doubling the time it takes to winch the boat on the trailer

Oh, like with a pully? I have never seen that on a boat -- mostly 4 wheelers. Thanks!

 

[dingbat]

Oh, like with a pully? I have never seen that on a boat -- mostly 4 wheelers. Thanks!

Yep, a pulley

 

[Fed]

I have an old hand crank winch (no idea what kind) with a flat strap pulling from slightly below the bow eye.

Do you have a picture in the 'pulled up' position?

 

[SDSeville]

Yep, a pulley

oops, can't spell...

 

[SDSeville]

Do you have a picture in the 'pulled up' position?

 

[Fed]

The pulling angle is far from ideal, in a perfect world the winch strap would be parallel to the trailer bunks.
Does the winch have any vertical adjustment, you could try raising it.

 

[SDSeville]

No vertical adjustment available. Can I run the strap on the top of the winch instead of the bottom?

 

[GA_Boater]

Yep. Just unwind the strap completely and rewind over the top. The pull will be straighter to the bow eye.

 

[Fed]

You would have to turn the winch around so the ratchet worked in the right direction. Worth a try if it's easy to do.
That way you will know it the angle is causing your problem.

Use google images "boat trailer winch stand assembly" and for every good setup you will see 100 bad ones.
I put it down to lazy or dumb trailer manufacturers.

 

[dingbat]

The pulling angle is far from ideal, in a perfect world the winch strap would be parallel to the trailer bunks.

Not to mention that the strap comes off the top of the spool instead of the bottom as recommended.

Winches are designed for the cable or strap to come off the spool closest to the mounting feet to minimize the torque on the mounting bolts.

Typically not an issue until you start getting closet to the limit of the winch

 

[Starcraft5834]

winching in any boat, ease of which depends on how much trailer is in or out of the water..... and slope... you get what u pay for.. the older I get, the more attractive power winch is...