Electric winches / cordless drills

[Birdseye]

as I age I am beginning to find it hard to wind the genoa in, particularly short tacking. several options including giving up sailing but a pal suggested a milwaukee cordless right angle drill as a less expensive alternative to swapping out the lewmar 44s for electic versions. the latter costs a ridiculous £3k.

anybody doing the drill route? if so where do you get the bit to fit in the winch top? and does this approach work?

 

[Will_M]

Was looking into this only yesterday for someone.. Plenty online from the US, located this in Sterling: https://www.harken.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?id=5519&taxid=4279

As per: https://thecranker.com/ I quickly concluded the often referenced Milwaukee 28 volt angle drill is (for my mind) a little too budget and not of sufficient quality, plenty of other options out there of course.

Another route to explore: http://www.winchrite.co.uk/

 

[seumask]

Perhaps at an intermediate cost level you might consider a winchrite

http://www.winchrite.co.uk/

 

[tjbrace]

When the drill is put into reverse to use the second winch speed does it not undo the drill chuck?

 

[ditchcrawler]

I tried my drill with a bit called a cranker from America. It was a failure because it did not have enough torque. I investigated the Milwaukee right angled drill but could not source on in the UK and it is a heavy lump. I saw the Winchrite on a video from Miami boat show and bought one of the first ones in the country. It was one of my best decisions ever. My friends were sceptical at first now they have also bought one . It is a brilliant bit of kit a for sailors of a certain age.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Head up, crank it in, bear away.

 

[mjcoon]

When the drill is put into reverse to use the second winch speed does it not undo the drill chuck?

If it did that, what use would the reverse gear be? (I have not needed to use it on my Lidl drill!)

Mike.

 

[Resolution]

There's an article on this subject in the latest ("February") Yachting World.

 

[TQA]

I looked into this when I had rotator cuff issues with one shoulder. The much touted electric drills do not have low speed torque to do the job. The winchrite has better gearing so will get the job done. But I know of one winchrite user who tells me that it uses up one battery to hoist the main on his big cat.

I am swithering between proper Anderson self tailing electric winches at 14 k US for a pair plus fitting and 7 k US for a pair of Ponos 4 speed grinders.

My venerable and cosmetically scruffy Barient 32 self tailers must be worth something used.

Maybe the 700 US Winchrite is a good deal after all but I wish the battery was instantly replaceable like every cordless drill in the world.

 

[tjbrace]

I use reverse gear on my drill to open the keyless chuck. It could also loosen screws with driver bits.

If it did that, what use would the reverse gear be? (I have not needed to use it on my Lidl drill!)

Mike.

 

[asteven221]

Maybe the 700 US Winchrite is a good deal after all but I wish the battery was instantly replaceable like every cordless drill in the world.

There is the eWincher at circa £1600 that has interchangeable batteries, which might be worth looking at. It does appear to be a lot more feature rich than the Winchrite but obviously a lot more expensive. I am going to buy the Winchrite or eWincher for this summer, but if the Winchrite can only lift the mainsail once per charge it doesn't sound too promising. I like the idea on the eWincher where it can be used like a normal winch handle, but with electrical assistance as required. I would really only use it to hoist the mainsail. The big drill option looks a bit cumbersome frankly.

 

[Iliade]

Also not why halve the cost by fitting only one electric winch as opposed to two? If you don't need room to hand wind it, it could perhaps be placed centrally somewhere like an old fashioned capstan, thereby covering all winching requirements?

Maybe even put up with the reduced performance of a club footed self-tacker for short tacking?

 

[captmikecoin]

I have a Milwaukee 0721 angle drill with the Cranker bit fitted in place of the chuck. I bought it a couple of years ago and it has transformed our sailing. In fact I rarely use it on the primary, foresail winches but mainly one of the secondaries which I use for furling our yankee and roller main. The sail can be brought in very quickly (the drill is variable speed and reverse direction speeds up the winch) at low speed and although heavy, the drill is fully supported on the winch if you want to leave it in situ. However I don't recommend that as it isn't locked in place like a winch handle and could fall out.

I have a second battery which I have never so far needed but I do swap them to keep both of them charged and cycled. Mast climbing is a doddle too. I thoroughly recommend it.

 

[dunedin]

Head up, crank it in, bear away.

There is a lot to be said for this approach - which if short handed is where a good autopilot could be a worthwhile upgrade. Tack, use AP to hold the boat close to the wind with the sail just blowing back, and should be very easy to pull in tight. Max a couple of turns of the winch.

Also a 105% jib much easier than 150% genoa - and combined with the above technique we can tack a 40 footer just like an Enterprise dinghy

 

[Eygthene]

I have a Winchrite and now as I'm 80 years old, I find it particularly useful for quickly and easily raising the mainsail on our Jeanneau Sunlight 30. The Winchrite will last several operations of raising the sail between charges.

The foresail I use is usually a 105% working jib, for which I can manage sheeting in without the wincher. We do have a 150% genoa, but I rarely use the genoa unless we can forecast an extended period of settled high pressure weather with light winds. So I haven't tried the wincher for sheeting in the genoa.

Recharging I do with a small inverter whenever the engine is running on the way into the moorings - it recharges in just a few minutes.

 

[Bouba]

I’ve used a Winchrite and can recommend it, bloke who sells them is a good guy as well. If you go down the electric drill route, I suggest you try one of the electric impact wrenches, for removing wheel nuts. They should be a lot more torquey than an electric drill

 

[Tomaret]

Also not why halve the cost by fitting only one electric winch as opposed to two? If you don't need room to hand wind it, it could perhaps be placed centrally somewhere like an old fashioned capstan, thereby covering all winching requirements?

Maybe even put up with the reduced performance of a club footed self-tacker for short tacking?

Or buy a Dehler 36 CWS which has an electric winch, a self tacking jib and a furling gennecker, all of which aid single handed sailing at any age.

 

[penberth3]

I’ve used a Winchrite and can recommend it, bloke who sells them is a good guy as well. If you go down the electric drill route, I suggest you try one of the electric impact wrenches, for removing wheel nuts. They should be a lot more torquey than an electric drill

I'd worry about the damage an impact wrench could cause to the winch. Not something they're designed for, is it?

 

[Bouba]

I'd worry about the damage an impact wrench could cause to the winch. Not something they're designed for, is it?

I used a Winchrite

 

[Zing]

I have the Makita DDF481RMJ. It puts out the same torque as the Milwauke and is as much as I can hold. I use it for hoisting sails and powering davits as I have electric winches otherwise.

A home made extra long winch handle might be all that is needed if it’s only the last bit of trimming that you find hard. You can buy slightly longer winch handles. Maybe you need to try them first if you haven’t already. Then again if it’s not a problem of strength, but stamina a drill will help.