Trailer winch ?

[waynes world]

Got my boat on its trailer, but one problem being when retrieving it from now on i will need a winch fitting to the trailer.

I like to buy half decent gear but as i have never bought a manual winch just electric i am unsure which to go for.

So the boat weighs around 2600kg or 5700lbs.

What capacity would go for and make for a trailer with keel rollers and bunks ? I am thinking a 3000lb winch ?

Cheers

Faffer

 

[Capt Popeye]

Hi yoiu might consider a two speed winch , I found it very usefull , but my Boat was not half the weight of yours ?

 

[waynes world]

Hi yoiu might consider a two speed winch , I found it very usefull , but my Boat was not half the weight of yours ?

Oh yes defo two speed if manual, but i forgot about 12v winches. remotes aswell nowadays for more ease and safety away from the cable etc when recovering.

 

[Neeves]

4WD shops, motor homes, people supplying owners of Defenders with optional extras will have 12v electric winches you can run off the cars electrical system (used for retrieving vehicles from mud). Have a look - discuss with the sales people. Go for dyneema not wire. 2t winches are common place. Remember you are not lifting a 2.5t boat but simply pulling it. You want a decent safety factor but it does not need to be 'boat' sized.

Jonathan

Most winches are attached to the front of the vehicle but they are 'weatherproof' but this location might not be convenient for you. You could fix to the trailer and simply power using a cable from a dedicated water proof Anderson socket on the car. You would want to run the car, in neutral, as you retrieve.

I've used 2t winches on a 4x4 for anchor testing.

 

[waynes world]

4WD shops, motor homes, people supplying owners of Defenders with optional extras will have 12v electric winches you can run off the cars electrical system (used for retrieving vehicles from mud). Have a look - discuss with the sales people. Go for dyneema not wire. 2t winches are common place. Remember you are not lifting a 2.5t boat but simply pulling it. You want a decent safety factor but it does not need to be 'boat' sized.

Jonathan

Most winches are attached to the front of the vehicle but they are 'weatherproof' but this location might not be convenient for you. You could fix to the trailer and simply power using a cable from a dedicated water proof Anderson socket on the car. You would want to run the car, in neutral, as you retrieve.

I've used 2t winches on a 4x4 for anchor testing.

I used to go 4x4 off roading, many moons ago, maybe same as yourself by the sounds of it unless yours is work related. I used the drum winches though, good quality though. The block winches which i am thinking of back then were not the best and it would be good to see if there are any better ones about today.
It would be mounted on the winch post as only small so probably leave it mounted/bolted down. Again as always there is so much cheap rubbish about. Even well k own suppliers started selling Chinese rubbish. And well way of the world hey. ill look and ask around suppliers atleast if there is a problem there mite be after sales.

 

[Neeves]

Wayne I think you may find that many ostensibly 'western' built winches and sold by reputable western companies are made in China and are of excellent quality. A bit like cars - the label says MG, they seem reliable but their association with MG is the little badge - everything else is Chinese.

I cannot actually comment about quality or a name to search out - our supplier base are local companies (sort of like Halfords) and will be different to yours - but I only know drum winches.

I recommend Dyneema, wire is awful stuff after some usage. I also recommend using decent shackles - the same you use for your anchor (from Crosby). I was reporting on an anchor test and a shackle failed - one piece shot past 'whistling' - scary. We did not find the pieces, the organisation said it was a rated shackle (of course, what else would you say?) but we were all lucky. It had ostensibly a WLL of 2t and we were working near that limit but a badly aligned shackle will have that WLL halved (though should have a break strength of 10t reduced to 5t if misaligned).

A high speed rotating piece of shackle does not bare thinking about.

Jonathan

 

[ChromeDome]

Replace the steel rope/wire by a Dyneema - much safer and pleasant to handle.

The boat weight is just an indication. The load on the winch is from pulling the boat "upwards" + the friction against the trailer.

Hence bunks vs rollers becomes a factor

Edit: I had an electric winch with a wireless remote - a great help when managing single-handedly. When in need of extra power I used a block to double the line.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Do consider the load on the winch pulling a boat onto a trailer also depends on the angle the sloat or the ramp

I have a 500Kg motor boat that I can pull up a 20-25 degree ramp with ease. I also have a 1000 Kg pull electric winch fitted to the front of my 4x4 with a front tow bar which is also easy to pull up onto the trailer

Required pull can be calculated by applying simple trigonometry

 

[fisherman]

I use a £70 eBay electric winch on the trailer, battery in the car boot or carried to it. Replaced the wire with dyneema. Remote control. Game changer. Pull the boat on, pull the trailer to the car using a snatch block.

 

[fisherman]

A useful trick. I don't like hauling the boat up over the trailer back end: it stresses the trailer spine, and the boat is ancient and wood, hogging isn't nice. I have a rope on the trailer axle, with an eye on the towbar. I slip the eye onto the car ball hitch then let the trailer go, as I wind the boat on the trailer tips up, and I can swivel it to align the boat.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Severa of our club power boat owners have an extending draw bar on the trailer so the boat floats on and off and the winch is only used to finally connect the boat to the trailer when pulling boat and trailer out of the water

 

[Neeves]

I think we are, without exception, recommending Dyneema. So unusual to have complete agreement . My limited knowledge suggests that most drum winches are designed for wire.

Make sure what ever you buy has a big enough drum to take Dyneema as you will use 'large' Dyneema - simply because it is more comfortable to handle.

Jonathan

 

[William_H]

I think we are, without exception, recommending Dyneema. So unusual to have complete agreement . My limited knowledge suggests that most drum winches are designed for wire.

Make sure what ever you buy has a big enough drum to take Dyneema as you will use 'large' Dyneema - simply because it is more comfortable to handle.

Jonathan

I fitted 5mm dyneema to my trailer winch 1t boat on rollers. A lot smaller diameter than the previous wire so stack of rope on drum is smaller. I used to get alarming restacking of the wire with a bang. Love the dyneema and not so much worry about broken wire lashing out. Here are some ideas from Oz (lots of trailer boats) https://www.whitworths.com.au/shop?q=Trailer+winch (52UK pence per dollar) Op might find 12v winch a better deal than manual. ol'will

 

[Neeves]

I fitted 5mm dyneema to my trailer winch 1t boat on rollers. A lot smaller diameter than the previous wire so stack of rope on drum is smaller. I used to get alarming restacking of the wire with a bang. Love the dyneema and not so much worry about broken wire lashing out. Here are some ideas from Oz (lots of trailer boats) https://www.whitworths.com.au/shop?q=Trailer+winch (52UK pence per dollar) Op might find 12v winch a better deal than manual. ol'will

I'd have said that anything, Dyneema, much smaller than 10mm is not very comfortable to handle - if you ever need to work with it under tension.

I'd certainly look at an electric winch - so easy to connect to the vehicle battery (or as mentioned earlier - have a loose, mobile, battery (nothing to do with phones sim[ly moveable)

Jonathan

 

[fisherman]

I just used the same size as the wire, so it's the same length. It doesn't stand chafing at all, but easy to handle. I bought cheap small jump leads and spliced onto the winch cables, cheapest way to get the crocodile clips. The battery does duty with a mobile bilge pump, and jumps the car when it has its occasional battery death. I don't ever drown the trailer.

 

[waynes world]

So to answer my question a 2t winch is more than enough.

 

[fisherman]

Mine is supposedly. 3000lbs.

 

[Neeves]

So to answer my question a 2t winch is more than enough.

Depends what your 2t means. Is that maximum load, WLL...? What is the detail of the specification of the product you intend to buy.

If its the WLL - you will have no problems.

Jonathan

 

[Sandro]

Fisherman said: "I don't like hauling the boat up over the trailer back end ".
Same worries: to relieve the spine I fitted a retractable little leg under the back end of the trailespine (neither I ever dip the trailer).
There is a time, the first moment of retrieving, when the cable pulls up the stem of the boat vertically to the end roller, actually lifting almost half the weight of the boat.
I wonder at the strength of the towing eye, similar to the #7 sketch one, as I can not inspect the inside nuts because of the floating stuff in the peak.

 

[fisherman]

Yes, an adjustable axle stand is useful there.