Good Ol boat. and a winch handle

[Neeves]

I had thread recently on an adaptor you could make, or buy at some cost, that you could fit into a battery drill (with sufficient torque) to use as an aid to winching. There is a nice very short article in Good Ol Boat on another option for a winch handle.

Read and enjoy

A Winch Handle Solution - Good Old Boat

Its simple and cheap - a real entrant to have on PBO.

Jonathan

 

[William_H]

I did not think many winches of the smallest type are not fitted with the pauls to give ratchet effect for the handle. ie push it backwards to enable you to pull on the handle n the most convenient way. may be wrong but I have never seen a direct drive winch that could benefit by the ratchet driver of the link. ol'will

 

[Neeves]

I did not think many winches of the smallest type are not fitted with the pauls to give ratchet effect for the handle. ie push it backwards to enable you to pull on the handle n the most convenient way. may be wrong but I have never seen a direct drive winch that could benefit by the ratchet driver of the link. ol'will

From the picture it looks an old winch, and I'm too young to have used an old winch of that sort

A point of the article is that you can make an adaptor to fit a winch and use a socket set handle - which may of may not be more or less convenient/cheaper for you than buying a genuine winch handle.

I have been on a yacht, new yacht, that had a winch installed that was difficult to use because the vertical of the winch handle fouled something (I forget what). Stupid it was - but a socket set handle with or without ratchet would have been a part of the solution.

Jonathan

 

[Stemar]

A Winch Handle Solution - Good Old Boat

Neat and simple - noted for future appropriation!

 

[Neeves]

Our windlass is below deck but its supplied with a very short winch handle to allow manual retrieval. Maxwell do supply an extension (at a price) to allow the winch handle to be used above deck and the extension would be useful even for a deck mounted windlass Bending down to manually retrieve a windlass is a recipe for a sore back. Socket handles and the bits of kit you get in a socket set allow you to use a winch handle on the windlass with the extension pieces - without the need for Maxwell's special extension and the socket set handle is long and would allow much easier use - if you ever need to manually retreive. My guess is everyone has a socket set on their yacht and we certainly have accumulated extra pieces. If your socket set handle is a bit short they are easily extended (try extending a normal winch handle ).

A socket set handle with a ratchet would be ideal - as our windlass demands you make complete rotations to retreive. In our installation I actually need to take the winch handle out as I cannot make a compete rotation. But hopefully - we never have to retreive by hand. The little handle provided is a bit of a joke and being able to use the bits from a socket set would make it much easier.

The only note of caution - keep the ratchet enabled handle well oiled - they do seem to corrode with surprising speed.

Jonathan

 

[pandos]

That's a good tip. Might be worth trying one of these (or it's bigger brother)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08TWR6...t_i_4DDRYBHM8YV3GF5MVF39?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1