Winch cable

[john3931]

I know this could be a wide open question.

How much cable should you have on your trailer winch?

What kind of cable should I use?

 

[dbuffington]

Re: Winch cable

I know this could be a wide open question.

How much cable should you have on your trailer winch?

What kind of cable should I use?

Personally, I avoid steel cable because of its tendency to fray and then cut the person trying to guide it onto the winch. Instead, I use a winch strap. I just put one on a new winch, and it has a 2,600 pound rating, which should be plenty for your Wellcraft.

BTW... We were just down your way on Saturday testing our "new" 1957 Whirlwind. It was chilly but wonderful on the river!

 

[john3931]

Re: Winch cable

Personally, I avoid steel cable because of its tendency to fray and then cut the person trying to guide it onto the winch. Instead, I use a winch strap. I just put one on a new winch, and it has a 2,600 pound rating, which should be plenty for your Wellcraft.

BTW... We were just down your way on Saturday testing our "new" 1957 Whirlwind. It was chilly but wonderful on the river!

Nice!!!!
How did the test go?

 

[john3931]

Re: Winch cable

Can you use a strap on a winch that is set up for cable?
Also,
My trailer has no safety chain for the bow hook.
What kind of set up should I use?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Winch cable

For a bow safety chain, the two trailers I've had had just had a length of chain bolted to the winch stand somewhere.

Winches are cheap. Unless yours is immaculate you could just pick up a strap model at BassPro.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winch cable

Ayuh,... I've switched to a quality Rope over steel cable...
Much Safer,+ Much easier on the hands...

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Winch cable

For a bow safety chain, the two trailers I've had had just had a length of chain bolted to the winch stand somewhere.

Winches are cheap. Unless yours is immaculate you could just pick up a strap model at BassPro.

Exactly.... I threw the one on my trailer away a bought a new heavier duty one with a strap. Much easier to handle.

Strongly suggest you get a safety chain (part of the reason I replace my winch keep coming out of its locked position. When changing it, I noticed the safety chain was almost completely unattached from the trailer. Had the winch come undone like it had a the launch, I would've left my boat on the highway.

I think the new chain, winch, and hardware was around $30.

 

[john3931]

Re: Winch cable

Ok. Now when choosing a winch what weight parameters should I use?
The weight of the boat, that is hopefully listed on the tag?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winch cable

Ok. Now when choosing a winch what weight parameters should I use?
The weight of the boat, that is hopefully listed on the tag?

Ayuh,... A thousand lb. winch is more than sufficent for Most boats...
You're only trying to drag it, Not lift it...

 

[john3931]

Re: Winch cable

Ayuh,... A thousand lb. winch is more than sufficent for Most boats...
You're only trying to drag it, Not lift it...

That is what I thought but just wanted to be sure.

 

[skargo]

Re: Winch cable

John,
I use a 20', that I retrofitted to the cable winch that's on my trailer.

It's a safety thing. For the past 10 years or so I've been into rock crawling and on the offroad vehicles I've owned, the first thing I do when I put a winch on was to use synthetic rope, instead of cable. Nowadays, rock crawling competitions require synthetic rope. Synthetic rope, when it breaks, falls straight to the ground. When wire cable breaks, you better not be in it's path, or you might lose a limb, or worse.

So with that experience it was a no-brainer to swap out the wire cable. My winch is a 1500lb IIRC, and it has virtually no drag on it when I winch my boat the last few inches onto the trailer.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Winch cable

Hey John, what I did was bought the biggest model BassPro had before they went to dual drive. I didn't want (or need) the gear reduction and have to be crankin' and crankin' and crankin'.

 

[john3931]

Re: Winch cable

I am going to take a good look at my winch. I haven't had any problems with it. I did put a spring on it last year. The price of a strap probably isn't much less than a chinese winch.