power winch

[iggyw1]

Hey guys,

I am thinking about getting a 12 volt power winch for my boat trailer. I am thinking that maybe this will prevent me from having to get into the cold, cold water to load my boat onto the trailer. Right now, I have to get into the water and pull the rope at the front of the boat until the boat is almost all the way up onto the trailer. I then hook up the cable to the front eye on the boat, and hand crank the boat the rest of the way onto the trailer as I stand on the concrete behind my vehicle, but I am already cold and wet by the time I hook up this cable.

If I get an electric winch, I can hook the winch up to the eye on the boat with a fabricated long, light weight pole (PVC with some type of quick release clip) for this purpose, then pull a cord connected to the winch and baby the boat onto the trailer from the dock. My boat is a 15 ft fiberglass with a 40 H.P motor early 60's for boat & motor. Can I get by with a 2,000 pound winch ot do I need a bigger one? I do not have ANY idea on what my boat and motor weighs.
Thanks, IGGY

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: power winch

Iggy: Power winches are why God invented electricity. Once you get one you will never want to go back to hand cranking.

For a 15 footer 2000 pound capacity is actually overkill, but better to have too much capacity than not enough. Remember: you are not lifting the weight of the boat, just pulling it up an incline.

Rollers take less effort than bunks, but if you get some of the newer bunk coverings, they are almost as good as rollers.

You will need to run dedicated wires for the winch as it will draw up to 30 amps, maybe more, depending upon model and size.

15 footer would weigh BARE 700-1000 pounds and the engine will weigh around 200. Then add in gas, battery, and equipment. For example,the 15 footer in my avatar weighs 700 bare and the engine weighs about 275. I figure 50 for the battery,100 for fuel, and another 100 for vests, anchor, rope, etc. All up, the weight is less than 1500 pounds.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: power winch

Amen. anyone who gets wet in the launch/retrieve process is doing it wrong. Especially if you have a dock next to the ramp.

(and that's true without a power winch. Growing up, my family had a 14 year old boy (me) instead. Hand cranked 16' boats onto the trailer and did NOT sink the trailer, float on, or get wet. Then we went to power winches--amen!)

I back the trailer so the water is just BELOW the axle. I have already run the cable out to the end of the trailer. Someone in the boat leans over the bow and hooks it on; the other person cranks (hand or power) the winch. Solo, either step off onto the pier next to the trailer, or walk down the 1x6 catwalk on the trailer back to the winch post. Remember, it's dry ground at the winch post so it's a short hop on a dry trailer.

Hint: a person on the dock standing by with a stern line on the boat and a boat hook or other pole will straighten the boat for you as it comes up the trailer. With a good roller set-up it will do it itself except in very strong cross wind/current.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: power winch

I don't understand how just by going to electric the loading procedure has changed drastically.
You either stand there and crank or stand there and press a button.
The foot work is the same.

Check out a Captain Hook!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: power winch

because you don't have to dunk the trailer as deep. The OP is getting wet so clearly he is gooing in too deep

 

[iggyw1]

Re: power winch

Yep. I have to go in quite deep as our water in the lake is really down this year. I live in Michigan and fish Lake St Clair, and we have docks in the canals that have literally NO water under them. people here that live on some of the canals cannot even bring their own boats into the canals and moore them along their own seawalls. The water is gone.

If I install an electric winch, I do not have to back the trailer in as deep as I do now, and the winch will pull the boat onto the trailer (I have rollers) better than I can do with a hand crank. I am a big guy, but the hand cranking is really tough unless the trailer is deep enough .
Thnks for all of your input!

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: power winch

Remember that you will also need to have the winch wiring on the truck side to to power the winch.
You can not just plug the winch into the 7 pin Trailer Connector.

Also consider changing to a Two Speed Manual Winch, your current winch is likely a 5:1.
The 2500 or 3200 lb two speeds add a second 12:1 crank ratio. It is 2-1/2 time as many turns but 2-1/2 time easier.
You can crank at the higher speed until it gets to be too much and then finish the job in low gear.
It is also 4 times less expensive and more reliable.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: power winch

A winch is a winch -- crank or electric. You still need to hook the cable/strap up. I fail to see how deep you back in has anything to do with the type of winch you have. If the the electric winch allows you to not back in so far, why not just not back in so far with the manual winch. The net result is the same. It's simple a matter of who does the cranking -- you or an electric motor.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: power winch

good point, uncle willie, on speed. the bigger the winch (in capacity) the slower, so getting one too big is not a good idea. ALso some of the non-marine winches are really slow. research that spec.

Silvertip, you answered your own question--who does the cranking. Also, a power winch can be stronger than the human who would crank--including stamina. With a PW I can rest my bow against the last roller, with the axle dry and my feet at the winch dry, and haul the boat up and onto the trailer. The float on guys don;t mind cranking the last 4 feet but it's the first 15 that count. Also, on a low tide retrieve, I have dragged a 19' boat across four feet of mud to the trailer and up--I doubt I could have hand cranked that and was glad I didn't have to.

 

[iggyw1]

Re: power winch

There is no way I can hand crank the boat onto the trailer if I did not back it in far enough to enable me to hand crank it. With a power winch, I can pull the boat onto the trailer even if the trailer was just barely in the water. I would not have enough strenght to do the same thing cranking by hand!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: power winch



Well, Iggy: While I am not arguing your desire to have a power winch, they are certainly a worthwhile accessory, I have trouble understanding that you NEED one.

This 15 footer has the smallest hand winch available and I never have any trouble getting it onto the trailer. True at the end I am breathing a bit heavy, but I am not going to have a heart attack.

I back in the trailer only until the rear keel roller is just above water level and winch the boat for the full length of the trailer. Bunk carpets have in the past been siliconed and before I load the boat I wet them too.

You may want to try a longer winch handle which gives you better leverage and be certain that all rollers are actually rolling.

Since I am mainly a fair weather boater, getting wet up to my knees poses no great hardship but eventually (when I get a round tuit) I will attach a walkway to the trailer so I need not get wet when retreiving alone.

 

[cobra1476]

Re: power winch

I have one because my boat came with one. I got a spare battery and put it on the back of my truck....no dedicated wiring nor opening the hood. pretty simple setup.

 

[Bronlonius]

Re: power winch

Is it hard to crank up your boat now with the hand winch? If the hand winch is mounted too low, it digs the keel into the rollers/trailer, making it necessary to basically dip the trailer into the water deeper so the boat floats over the rollers as you're winching it in. I think that re-positioning your winch will probably solve the problem. If your winch is too low already, the power winch will be excessively stressed when reeling in the boat.

You want the winch as high as possible, but remember that the V-block still needs to be above the winch strap, so the bow eye gets pulled under the V-block. My 12' boat weighs almost nothing, but it was really hard to use the winch with when I got it, because the previous owner mounted the winch way too low. He had ended up ruining the front keel roller from pulling down so hard, the keel of the boat just sliced into it. The winch gears were actually bent when I got the trailer, and the trailer was only 1 year old. Once I repositioned the winch correctly, it's completely effortless to pull the boat in, and the trailer doesn't need to be very deep in the water anymore.

 

[pullin]

Re: power winch

removed: probs with pic.

 

[pullin]

Re: power winch

Sorry about the above post. Finally got the pics sorted out.

I just wanted to post another alternative for winching onto the trailer. My boat's about 5500 lbs, and I couldn't get it on the trailer without sinking the trailer enough that I had to wade into the water. My solution was to install a winch in the bed of the pickup, by welding it to the my fifth-wheel hitch frame. I (we) welded a receiver onto the frame, and bolted the winch to the hitch shank. It's hard to see from the pics, but there are metal plates that trap the battery into it's spot beneath the 5th wheel to deter thieves. It's all locked into place with the hitch pin lock. I have a remote control (for the winch) so I can walk down to the boat carrying the cable hook and attach it to the bow. This way I only need to partially submerge the trailer and the winch can do all the work. It also helps to center it in winds, since so much of the trailer is out of the water when loading.

Anyway, I just included it as another idea....

 

[iggyw1]

Re: power winch

Sorry about the above post. Finally got the pics sorted out.

I just wanted to post another alternative for winching onto the trailer. My boat's about 5500 lbs, and I couldn't get it on the trailer without sinking the trailer enough that I had to wade into the water. My solution was to install a winch in the bed of the pickup, by welding it to the my fifth-wheel hitch frame. I (we) welded a receiver onto the frame, and bolted the winch to the hitch shank. It's hard to see from the pics, but there are metal plates that trap the battery into it's spot beneath the 5th wheel to deter thieves. It's all locked into place with the hitch pin lock. I have a remote control (for the winch) so I can walk down to the boat carrying the cable hook and attach it to the bow. This way I only need to partially submerge the trailer and the winch can do all the work. It also helps to center it in winds, since so much of the trailer is out of the water when loading.

Anyway, I just included it as another idea....

Thanks for another great idea, however, I have an SUV so I cannot put the winch inside. It will have to go onto the trailer itself. I will be getting my electric winch as soon as the weather breaks here in Mi. It will be remote controlled so I can operate it from the dock. I will be on the dock with a boat hook so I can line the boat up by myself, and I will not have to be behind the truck 'cranking' and have to be dependant and hopeful someone else is on the dock at the time to help me out!

 

[bonz_d]

Re: power winch

I have been debating an electric winch for the past few years for a number of reasons.
1. My own physical condition, bad shoulder, getting old.
2. Primary ramp is a shallow primative gravel one with no pier.
3. 90% of the time I'm by myself.

It's certainly getting more difficult retrieving by myself at this ramp. Especially in the early spring and late fall when the water is cold. Changing from a keel roller/bunk trailer to an all roller trailer has made it easier accept for the fact that there is nowhere to mount a catwalk to the back of the trailer on the roller trailer. Which almost dictates getting wet to get the bow strap on it and lining it up to the trailer. Sure wish the DNR would allow us to install a service pier but that's not going to happen!

What I've looked at are the electric winches with the wireless remote which would allow me to put the trailer into the water then board the beached boat and paddle to the back of the trailer, hook the strap and then ride the boat up the trailer.

 

[iggyw1]

Re: power winch

A friend of mine used a long light weight pole (conduit) with a large clip at the end to connect his hook on the strap to the eye bolt at the front of his boat. He does this all from the dock. He has a remote electric winch, and then he uses the same long pole to straighten his boat out as he works the winch with his remote control. NEVER gets wet!!! I'm gonna use the same set up.

The clip at the end of the pole is a large aligator type clip that he puts the hook from the strap into. The clip is held into place onto the pole with two hose clamps tightened very tight. He places the hook into the eye bolt on the front of the boat using the pole to reach it, and then he just pulls on the pole and the hook comes loose from the clip and it is the eye bolt. Very easy operation.

 

[dingbat]

Re: power winch

Cranking a boat on a trailer by hand sux........once you go electric you'll never go back.

 

[airshot]

Re: power winch

Cranking a boat on a trailer by hand sux........once you go electric you'll never go back.

I will be the oddball here, had an electric winch and hated it. It was way to slow, I am 62 yrs old and still winch by hand a 22' Islander, I can hand winch much faster than an electric, at least the slow poke electric one I had. I have timed it many times from the time the trailer hits the water (backing in) I am usually pulling out in 5-6 minutes. It took almost 10 minutes to get the boat winched up with the electric one. Perhaps one day I won't be able to hand crank and the electric may become a necessity, but for now wasting all that time holding up others seems like such a waste.
As for getting wet while loading your boat, please take a long carefull look at your trailer, something has to be wrong or perhaps set up incorrectly. In 50 yrs of boating i have never had to get into the water to load unless something broke or went horribly wrong. There are way to many items on the market to make trailer loading a breeze nowadays. I am in the Lake Erie region and even with our extreme low water this past year, a few monor adjustments to trailer and procedure and we can still hand crank and be out in 6 min or less.

Airshot