installing windlass (Crownline specific)

[boatman37]

Looking at a 2006 Crownline 250CR that has no windlass. this particular boat has a 'shelf' under the anchor locker door where the windlass would attach. i looked at it the other day and there were no wires above the shelf but i didn't look under it. Talked to the owner Monday and they sent me a copy of the survey from when they bought it in 2013 and it mentions a windlass. I asked her about it today and she said she also questioned the surveyor and his answer was that it is pre-wired for one. i do know it has a switch on the dash for it but would that mean it has the wiring in the locker? if it is it is under that shelf.

next question is how hard are they to install? just a matter of buying, drilling, bolting, and attaching wires? i know there is more to it than that but just as a generalization. i can do all of that.

so what would i have to buy? any particular brand or style? buy the whole kit with anchor, chain, and rode? it already has an anchor and bow roller. can i just use the existing anchor?

anyone here familiar with this model boat?

 

[tpenfield]

Looking at a 2006 Crownline 250CR that has no windlass. this particular boat has a 'shelf' under the anchor locker door where the windlass would attach. i looked at it the other day and there were no wires above the shelf but i didn't look under it. Talked to the owner Monday and they sent me a copy of the survey from when they bought it in 2013 and it mentions a windlass. I asked her about it today and she said she also questioned the surveyor and his answer was that it is pre-wired for one. i do know it has a switch on the dash for it but would that mean it has the wiring in the locker? if it is it is under that shelf.

next question is how hard are they to install? just a matter of buying, drilling, bolting, and attaching wires? i know there is more to it than that but just as a generalization. i can do all of that.

so what would i have to buy? any particular brand or style? buy the whole kit with anchor, chain, and rode? it already has an anchor and bow roller. can i just use the existing anchor?

anyone here familiar with this model boat?

Don't get overly hung up on the specific brand/model of boat, as to a windlass installation. That boat will not be radically different than most cuddy cabin boats.

If the wiring for the windlass was there, you would probably have a fairly large circuit breaker and some very large wiring leading back to the main battery switch. I'm not sure the builder would add that extra stuff for no $$$$. You could pull the helm stwitch (if it has one ) and see if any wires are attached.

Windlasses are pretty tedious to install, because you are working end-to-end on the boat. Snaking wiring up to the bow, which will have to go through the cuddy. You will want the wiring to be good/safe/hidden.

Then there is the work in the bow. You will need to figure out what style/brand/model of windlass you want to install. Then you will have to lay out the components in the deck space and make sure the rode and the mechanical stuff will fit in the space available. Usually, you need a different bow roller to auto-launch the anchor. So you will need to make that retrofit.

Then there is the circuit breaker, controlling solenoid and helm switch to wire/install.

Then you will need special chain (possibly), perhaps you can re-use your current rode to save a few $$$.

I installed the Maxwell RC8 on my boat. It took a while doing all the various things. I used the existing anchor (33 lb claw).

I have a thread on here (search anchor roller). I installed the wiring when I was replacing the headliner in the cabin and then did the rest about 6 months later. I'd say it was about an 8 out of 10 on the DIY effort scale.

 

[boatman37]

Thanks. Not sure if any of that is there other than the helm switch. I did see that there. A local boat shop gave me a bid of $1500 to install one on a different (but similar) boat. Figured if everything else was already there I would do it myself but not sure about all the other stuff.

 

[tpenfield]

$1500 would be a good price. The windlass alone would be about $700, but maybe they get them at wholesale cost. You just want to make sure they don't butcher the cuddy cabin when installing the wiring.