Electric Trailer Winch

[markm]

I have been toying with the idea of purchasing an electric boat winch. It is not that I am tired of cranking the hand operated model, I am thinking about being able to launch and retrieve in cold weather, this would be very handy. Has anyone had any experience or suggestions on this matter?

Thanks

Mark

 

[CaptMac]

I know Merv (over on the C-Brat Site) uses an electric winch for his Rosborough (yes, the one that landed on the road here when the tie downs let go). You could check with him - (his log in is "Grumpy" )

Mac

 

[j&lgray]

We have extensively used an electric winch for 10 years on a 5,000 pound Bayliner 24 on a trailer with rollers. This was a dream to load onto the trailer. What was needed on the tow vehicle was a heavy duty power and ground wire run from the battery to a plug on the rear pumper. Then we plugged the winch into the outlet on the bumper.

I am hesitant to put a winch on our trailer with the Ranger because it is a bunk trailer where the boat does not slide as easily as with the rollers and thus would cause more strain on bow ring. That is why we float the boat on and off the trailer, which means putting the trailer fairly deep into the water.

 

[Grumpy]

Marc,

This is the "Grumpy" mentioned by Mac above. 😳

Winch is great for those long shallow ramps where you either have to submerge the truck (nearly) or crank forever.

There are a number of point to watch:-

1. Do NOT rely on the winch to provide any restraining power to keep the boat on the trailer. Once power is off it can and will run backwards against the gearing if the force is with it! :twisted: Hence you will need an extra bow tie down to replace the function of the strap winch. That is another topic dear to my mind and I recommend hi-test chain and tensioner directly to the trailer bed.

2. When launching you may want to use a bow line to control the boat. If you run it out using the winch you will have a long length of wet wire rope that will coil loosely and either jam or kink on the winch drum. The leveling devices are too wimpy to stop this. Kinked wire is damaged and dangerous and it also generates those exceeedingly sharp loose strands which do wonders for your hands.

3. If the winch fails, jams or you have an electrical problem you are left with driving the boat on which is something I do not do.

If you have room, best combo would be to leave the strap winch and run the wire one only when you need it. I have even considered mounting it on the truck bed in the style of some off-road enthusiasts. In fact some of those winches look more suitable than the "Marine" types. An electrical strap winch of suitable rating would be really nice.

Hope this helps.

Merv