"Winch-bit" drill-powered winching

[Greenheart]

I expect it's more than ten years since I saw the 'winch bit' in Yachting Monthly or Practical Boat Owner. I've never seen one in use though, nor heard of it again. It could be fitted into an ordinary household cordless drill or impact wrench/driver, to operate winches without much muscle, and without the clear turning circle required by a winch handle.

Given the improvements in cordless power, I'd think this is a handy bit of kit - if there's something for the user to 'wedge' against, to resist the motor's torque.

Has anybody got one, or any experience of actually using one?

Apologies if this has been thoroughly dealt with, lately.

 

[[163233]]

Seems to be here:- http://www.thecranker.com/

On a related note, is there such a thing as a winch socket on a 1/2" drive?
I have some ancient spinnaker winches that don't have a ratchet on the handle and theoretically I could sub a ratchet handle from a socket set.

 

[MoodySabre]

Well it's a lot cheaper than a http://www.winchrite.co.uk/ but you only need a relatively slow speed for winching. Would a drill speed be subtle enough when bouncing around?

 

[colind3782]

Seems to be here:- http://www.thecranker.com/

On a related note, is there such a thing as a winch socket on a 1/2" drive?
I have some ancient spinnaker winches that don't have a ratchet on the handle and theoretically I could sub a ratchet handle from a socket set.

I think there was such a thing shown in the last/current PBO. I've already chucked mine unfortunately.

 

[Greenheart]

Actually I was thinking about options for all-over-cockpit canopies, the majority of which don't permit the use of winch handles, thus prohibiting sailing.

If the winch-bit could be employed, the canopy needn't be such an exaggeratedly odd shape, to enable sheeting whilst the 'tent' is up.

The drill speed is an interesting point. I wondered whether an impact driver or impact wrench might be better than a standard cordless drill, as they seem to be able to generate extraordinary levels of torque - although I daresay the impact factor wouldn't be good for one's nice expensive Lewmars.

Plus - (I don't know this) - don't impact wrenches make a fairly terrible metallic clatter as they operate?

 

[grafozz]

This is the drill that is used with the cranker / winch bit , still lots cheaper than a new electric winch

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/~/med...s/Cordless/0721-21/51714_0721-21-lg.jpg?w=520

 

[Greenheart]

Yes, I like it. The right-angle drive will make the torque far easier to cope with. Wonder why I haven't seen any in use.

 

[prv]

Actually I was thinking about options for all-over-cockpit canopies, the majority of which don't permit the use of winch handles, thus prohibiting sailing.

In practice you'll probably find that the lack of vision prohibits sailing (or motoring) anyway.

We have a cockpit tent that joins onto the back of our sprayhood, with windows on sides and back plus a glass windscreen in front and a transparent section in the sprayhood above it. With all this supposedly see-through area I once tried to motor from Hamble Point to Southampton on a cold wet February day without taking the tent down. We got about as far as the Number 2 easterly cardinal before the stress of being unable to keep an effective lookout got the better of me and I dropped the thing to the deck.

Pete

 

[[3889]]

Compared to Winchrite, a decent 18v cordless drill will only produce about 50% of the torque (c. 63Nm Vs 130Nm), but does cost about 25% as much and is more versatile. The Milwaukee R-angle drill pictured above offers a miserable 25Nm. A bit like that other Milwaukee offering, Harley-Davidson: good looks, cr*p performance, and, similarly, hugely out-matched by Japanese engineering.

 

[wilkinsonsails]

I have the winch bit ,just trying to find a suitable drill chuck available in the UK that fits it .

 

[penberth3]

I have the winch bit ,just trying to find a suitable drill chuck available in the UK that fits it .

Am I missing a possible wind-up here? The hexagon shank shown in the first post will fit perfectly in a standard three-jaw chuck

 

[ditchcrawler]

I tried the Cranker with several drills. Nowhere enough torque to be any good. I bought one of the first Winchrites in the country in 2011 having seen it on a demo film from the Miami boat show. It is one of the best bits of kit I have bought. I used it today to hoist my main. Just a satisfied customer with a bad back and a dodgy shoulder.

 

[fredrussell]

Compared to Winchrite, a decent 18v cordless drill will only produce about 50% of the torque (c. 63Nm Vs 130Nm),

...but a Makita,Bosch,etc 18v impact driver gives 165 Nm - they're a very different beast to a cordless drill. See specs at link below:

https://www.angliatoolcentre.co.uk/...judO6qEjPPp3WRKuEHWAb3Jab6d_UJSAaApxkEALw_wcB

They do make a bit of a din though - generally referred to on site as 'rattlers'.

 

[Greenheart]

...a Makita, Bosch, etc 18v impact driver gives 165 Nm - they're a very different beast to a cordless drill. They do make a bit of a din though - generally referred to on site as 'rattlers'.

That's what I was thinking, and referring to, earlier. I'm glad to hear the Winchrite has effectively cornered this market, but for less cash, some dazzlingly torquey - over 1,000Nm - cordless impact wrenches are available.

Please pardon the following lengthy, irrelevant cockpit canopy drift, which perhaps deserves its own thread...or not.

I once tried to motor from Hamble Point to Southampton on a cold wet February day with the tent up. We got as far as the Number 2 easterly cardinal before the stress of being unable to keep an effective lookout got the better of me and I dropped the thing to the deck.

I'm afraid I believe you.

But a tent designed specifically to enable sailing visibility, might be practical while also offering useful extra accommodation. I don't want to insulate myself from all sensations of sailing, but I defy anyone to say they enjoy 20 knot headwinds and rain, from November to March. I suspect the hopeless unsuitability of existing cockpit-canopies lies behind most sailors' dismissal of the idea.

I'm thinking the windows need enough height to allow an unrestricted view to leeward, while beating...and considering it's important to be able to look up at the rig while sailing, why not have the whole thing basically transparent?

In hope of dispelling remarks about "the crew in the plastic bubble", the frames could have fabric over them - better for the plastic windows' longevity too...and opaque insulative panels could be zipped in or out of the fabric seams as desired, when moored...

...I guess the reason why current canopies aren't good to sail from, is the windows' poor transparency and small size, and the angular, tubular framing which gives flat slabby walls and wrinkly bits where dribbles accumulate. I wonder if the recent evolution into extremely rigid inflatable frames used by on-shore tent designers, could be brought aboard...

...of course, it would require the clearest yet most robust flexible window material. What we'd end up with would be a stiff, curvy, almost aerodynamic canopy, tight around the coamings yet giving large, clear all-round views that wouldn't require the helm to squint through foggy little dim panels.

Sure, it would cost more than many sets of foul weather gear, but I'd prefer the option of escaping the rain and chill-factor, over clothes that make it marginally less grim.

I'd need to throw in the price of the Winchrite, too.

 

[penberth3]

That's what I was thinking, and referring to, earlier. I'm glad to hear the Winchrite has effectively cornered this market, but for less cash, some dazzlingly torquey - over 1,000Nm - cordless impact wrenches are available...

Hang on, we're talking about driving a winch full of bearings, ratchets, etc., not drilling concrete or dealing with rusty wheel nuts. Forget the Impact wrench.

 

[fredrussell]

Hang on, we're talking about driving a winch full of bearings, ratchets, etc., not drilling concrete or dealing with rusty wheel nuts. Forget the Impact wrench.

Well if you could find a drill that supplied the required drive without the ‘impact’ you would be on to something. Certainly more useful than a device designed for winching alone.

 

[Greenheart]

As (I hope) my opening post mentioned, I was always in doubt that a device significantly reliant upon 'impact' is suitable for turning a well-lubricated free-running winch, where only the sheet/halyard loads are resisting the user's endeavours...it's not an ancient bolt wedged in inches of mahogany which needs jerking loose.

I've no idea how much of an impact wrench's torque, comes from the motor's actual turning power, and how much comes from its rotation simultaneously hammering down on the nut, such that it is momentarily, fractionally looser on the thread and easier to turn? I'm guessing the massive torque ratings that are advertised for these machines, wouldn't be achievable by the same motor turning the chuck smoothly in two dimensions...so maybe the 1,000Nm ratings are the equivalent torque available, making them in effect as powerful as much bigger kit?

If that's not the case (and I may indeed be far up the creek - nobody's told me how they work, and few, if any of the chaps who use or sell them, know how to describe their function), I can't see why a slightly less highly-specified impact wrench couldn't effectively turn a winch. 300Nm, perhaps?

I don't know how different the action of an impact driver is - but I've assumed that again, there is a 'ramp' inside the chuck so for every turn the screw-bit makes, it is also thrust forward or downward - making faster, easier progress when screwing into timber, than if one used a cordless screwdriver that relied upon the screw's thread for tapping into the wood...

...again, the impact driver's 3D action would be the last thing you'd want for turning a silky-smooth yacht's winch.

But do the high torque ratings of these machines express what their motors produce even without the 3D action, or just what their brute effect is, as an equivalent of pure turning force?

 

[Daydream believer]

By the time you have bought this, charged it up & messed about- would it not be just as quick to forget all that & use the handle? After all it does not have a battery to go flat & you do not have to worry about getting it wet. A bit cheaper when the crew chuck it over the side in a panic tack as well !!!!

 

[cagey]

As a sufferer from arthritus and all the jolly that can bring, about 10 years ago I cobbled together an electric capstan in cockpit took ages to get sheet leads correct but after that it has enabled me to continue sailing when my joints say no more.
The power I have is astonishing and with a bit of thought I can do anything that needs grunt. I used a Lofrans 12v anchor winch that I removed gypsy and replaced it with a winch barrel, no need for reversing solenoid because you only need 1 direction.
K

 

[pmyatt]

I expect it's more than ten years since I saw the 'winch bit' in Yachting Monthly or Practical Boat Owner. I've never seen one in use though, nor heard of it again. It could be fitted into an ordinary household cordless drill or impact wrench/driver, to operate winches without much muscle, and without the clear turning circle required by a winch handle.

Given the improvements in cordless power, I'd think this is a handy bit of kit - if there's something for the user to 'wedge' against, to resist the motor's torque.

Has anybody got one, or any experience of actually using one?

Apologies if this has been thoroughly dealt with, lately.

We have had a WinchBit, teamed up with a Makita 18v cordless drill, in use since 2008. The Makita drill hoists our fully battened mainsail five times before the battery needing re-charging.