12v Winches... Good or Bad?

[petrey10]

I have a 2001 Tige 20i have I will be redoing the trailer this year. I want it to be nicer than when I purchased it so I was thinking that the 12v winches would be an awesome feature. Has anybody here used them? What are the pros and cons? How big of one do I need my boat weighs 2800 dry so with fuel, some gear, and myself in the boat I would have around 3500#. Are the steel cables a problem? I have heard some bad things about when they snap. 12v winches with the straps is hard to find anybody have any recommendations??

 

[boat1010]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I have really never liked the elect. winches. #1 they are pretty slow. Unless you have a physical reason why you need a elect. winch I wouldn't do it. If you had a lot bigger boat it might be handy but that small of a boat shouldn't be much of a problem getting on the trailer. Mine is around 4,000 empty and never had any problems getting it winched up on the trailer. Thats just my $.02 worth. Have a great day.

 

[dingbat]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

My last boat was about the same weight as yours. Hand cranked in on but always wanted a electric winch. Too cheap to buy one.

My new boat weighs @ 5500 lbs. Has a very good quality winch on it. Will never go back to hand cranking again. Rather plug in the harness and push a button. Takes no longer than hand winching. Less if you figure in stopping half way to rest the ole shoulder. Mine runs at 21 feet per minute. Typically only have 8-10 feet of cable out so it takes all of 30 seconds to get the boat on the trailer.

As far as a cables are concerned, cables just don?t snap. 99.9% of the failures can be traced back to frayed cables from a lack of maintenance. My cable is as good as new after 5 years. Only used in salt. Not a spec of rust on it. Staps on an electric sux. If your still worried about it spring for a synthetic cable.

Don?t buy a cheap winch. One of those things that you certainly get what you pay for.

 

[RWilson2526]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

My 20' boat (about 3000-3500 lbs full of fuel and loaded) came with an electric winch....the only thing I dont like about the cable is that when on retrieval I usually have a few feet of cable that gets wound on the drum not under much tension....then when pulling the boat the tension increases and the cable can get pulled down under the looser coils.....when I go to launch the next time out the cables is bound up and I have to use the handle to spin the drum backwards as the weight of the boat sliding off is not enough and it gets hung up....kind of a pain....

On top of that I am too cheap or lazy to put a proper plug in connection on my 2 vehicles so I have to carry a battery in the back which is trouble loading and unloading everytime we go out....but thats not really the winches fault, just mine. Being that I have used my arm to crank my electric winch more times than I have used electricity I am thinking of ditching it this season and going with a plain old hand winch.

 

[JimS123]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I bought my current boat in 1984. It weighs about 2800 lbs. and its on an Easyloader all bunk trailer. I use the winch and the trailer hardly gets wet. I cranked it on once - the first time. Bought a powerwinch the next day. Been using it for 26 years without a problem. All pros, can't think of a con.

As with any cable driven equipment, never stand in line. I stand off to the side and hold the switch with a rope cable. Its designed to be able to do that.

All I can say is buy the proper capacity winch, and ONLY a Powerwinch brand. The cheap ones are junk. Mine still has the original cable.

 

[dingbat]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

All I can say is buy the proper capacity winch, and ONLY a Powerwinch brand. The cheap ones are junk. Mine still has the original cable.

I know at least 6 guys, myself included, that will tell you that Powerwinch is one of the cheap junk units. They just don't hold up. High rate of gear failures.

Most Have gone over to Rule Winches. Expensive, but they work w/o problems.

 

[petrey10]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

so how much power do I need? I am wanting to get this so my wife doesn't have to crank when she takes the girls out on the lake.

 

[JimS123]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I know at least 6 guys, myself included, that will tell you that Powerwinch is one of the cheap junk units. They just don't hold up. High rate of gear failures.

Most Have gone over to Rule Winches. Expensive, but they work w/o problems.

Maybe those guys all bought the cheap models and exceeded the capacity. Or, maybe they built them better 26 years ago when I bought mine.

 

[RWilson2526]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

so how much power do I need? I am wanting to get this so my wife doesn't have to crank when she takes the girls out on the lake.

You're gonna let your wife take the boat out by herself!!

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

Think about how you are going to power it, and how you will feel when she, or you start getting poked by the fraying cable strands.

Or better yet when you get back to the truck and find out someone else thought they needed your new winch for them selves while you were out in the boat.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I personally find them to be a PITA but here is what I've learned in owning two.

1) If your going to get one. Weld or lock it to the trailer. Thieves like to steal those little $300 items that only require a few bolts.
2) Forget quick release N stow brackets to resolve teh above. It's just one more thing to mess with at every launch and haul.
3) spend the $$ and wire the vehicle right. You want 4 ga wireing feeding that winch. Anything else leaves it starving for power and the winch crawling along at painfull speeds.

4) Invest the winch and wireing $ into good urathane trailer rollers and you won't need power on most boats.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

We use power winches all the time b/c we never dunk our axles. it's an investment against bearing and other repairs. But be sure to have the crank in case something goes wrong in the wiring.
Get your wiring hard wired to the vehicle, unless you use several vehicles If you don't hard wire, use the proper guage wire from start to finish and get good clamps. If you do hardwire, leave plenty of spare to reach the trailer post; you may find yourself pulling a different trailer and it won't reach or if you leave it plugged in at the ramp, you need the extra when you turn.

Good for you for encouraging your wife and her friends to use the boat. If nothing else, she will, in turn, encourage you. I've never understood the people around here who keep their wives out of the boating process. Maybe it's because where I live and grew up, all my life and now, there are lots of female boaters who are damn good at it. In factr my mother, who grew up on the river, was better at it than my dad, who grew up in the mountains and city--though she didn't let him know it!

 

[Black as]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

Ive just re-furbished my trailer and did all the research on electric and manual units, I ended up buying a manual unit with the flat strap, economical and a lot cheaper

 

[mphy98]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I got rid of an electric winch and switched to a hand crank with a strap. 18' boat and it is easier and one less battery or wiring to mess with.

 

[dingbat]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

Maybe those guys all bought the cheap models and exceeded the capacity. Or, maybe they built them better 26 years ago when I bought mine.

Most of them are Guides. They use their winches more than the average Joe by a factor of 10. The Power Winches just don?t hold up under those conditions.

 

[jakehawkins]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

I'm new to the board but ill throw in my 2c. I barely ever use my wench to get the boat fully trailered unless its a windy day. Usually i can drive her up on the trailer real gently without problem.

 

[q5ka]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

There are many on here that are against powerloading with some good reason and some not so much. The biggest problem is every time you use the push power, you tend to erode the gravel/dirt at the end of the ramp which can cause damage. Check this link and I am sorry if anyone thinks the thread just got hijacked.
http://www.boat-ed.com/mn/course/p2-4_trailering.htm

 

[dingbat]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

There are many on here that are against powerloading with some good reason and some not so much. The biggest problem is every time you use the push power, you tend to erode the gravel/dirt at the end of the ramp which can cause damage.
http://www.boat-ed.com/mn/course/p2-4_trailering.htm

Just becouse it rains in the jungle doesn't mean that it rains in the desert.

 

[skargo]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

In my case it would be a waste of money. I guess some of you winch the whole way up the trailer?

I walk mine up, hook my hand winch strap up and crank it a FEW FEET. Maybe 3' at the most. Usually it's only 18" or so, silly to waste money on a winch for that.

 

[skargo]

Re: 12v Winches... Good or Bad?

There are many on here that are against powerloading with some good reason and some not so much. The biggest problem is every time you use the push power, you tend to erode the gravel/dirt at the end of the ramp which can cause damage. Check this link and I am sorry if anyone thinks the thread just got hijacked.
http://www.boat-ed.com/mn/course/p2-4_trailering.htm

Very good post