Windlass why electric

[rogerthebodger]

And a reservoir that will also enable the oil to cool should you leave it circulating .........

Yes of course or a heat exchanger which could be water pipes through the oil tank/reservoir

The switch that operated the hydraulic valve could also drive the electric motor of a clutch if the pump is engine driven.

Many ways of driving and operation setup

 

[littledancersadhu]

I try and keep stuff manual where i can,
Equipement i can fix easily.
Replaced the hydraulic pump (manual) which winched up the keel.
Have a manual winch now, replace the lifting wire every year.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Not true. Our Falkon easily hauls us forward. It depends on the windlass. Of course if you fit a small one lightweight unit, it won't be up to the job

Your choice but it’s MUCH kinder to the windlass to motor forward a little and take the load off the chain. It’s simply good seamanship.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I fitted mine with the windlass, 1999 I think. Used countless times, totally reliable. Ours have plastic flaps over the button part which keeps UV off the elastomer.

Likewise. I fitted ours 18 years ago. Been working perfectly ever since. We do have a remote but rarely use it.

I replaced the windlass with a Lofrans X2 (after 20 years of use the old Lofrans finally gave up). The waterproofing is much better and I greased everything very well as I assembled it. A bonus was that the new one fitted the original fixing holes which was an unexpected and extremely pleasant surprise. I had to make the hawse pipe hole slightly bigger but that wasn’t a problem.

 

[geem]

...

Your choice but it’s MUCH kinder to the windlass to motor forward a little and take the load off the chain. It’s simply good seamanship.

Have a look at the size of my windlass in post #35. It's a55kg monster. And please don't preach to me about good seamanship! If you have a tiny one, that's your problem!

 

[john_morris_uk]

...
Have a look at the size of my windlass in post #35. It's a55kg monster. And please don't preach to me about good seamanship! If you have a tiny one, that's your problem!

I don’t care how big your windlass is. A ship with a HUGE powerful windlass wouldn’t use it to pull the ship up to the anchor.
Good seamanship is good seamanship whether you like it or not. Your choice what you do on your boat of course.

PS we have the same foot switches!

 

[NormanS]

Your choice but it’s MUCH kinder to the windlass to motor forward a little and take the load off the chain. It’s simply good seamanship.

Does that mean that you can never sail away from your anchor? And you call that seamanship?
I don't know where this idea of not using a windlass for its normal job of heaving in the anchor chain has come from.
Presumably it's the same school of thought as not using the sheet winches to haul in the jib sheets. Well, that would also be much kinder to the winches.

 

[GHA]

Your choice but it’s MUCH kinder to the windlass to motor forward a little and take the load off the chain. It’s simply good seamanship.

What load on the chain? You're trying to go too fast. You can pull the boat gently forward by just taking some belly out of the catenary little & often, the windlass doesn't know or care if it's doing that or pulling up some chain & an anchor like it's designed to. Comes a point when the breeze picks up when the windlass will have to work too hard & it's time for the engine but often no need. Low duty cycle on the windlass as well, kinder to it.
Added advantage of keeping the boat under control pointing straight at the hook so the bow ends up directly above the anchor, not sure about everyone else & harder solo, but more often than not when motoring to get the hook up I end up with the bow off to one side, even a metre or 2 with a little way still on is enough to result in a hefty dynamic load & the chain scraping the side of the cheek plates. That really is not a nice thing to do to a windlass.
If you are seeing large loads on the windlass raising the hook without motoring then you need to slow down, the long term cruisers I speak to generally all do the same, good seamanship to learn from others

Unless there's a chunk of breeze of course then engine time like everyone else has said.

 

[Roberto]

One big advantage of an electric windlass Vs a manual one is that if you are doubtful or only partially satisfied by the anchoring you just made, you won't hesitate one minute to lift everything up and do it again in a different spot, different way, etc

 

[geem]

I don’t care how big your windlass is. A ship with a HUGE powerful windlass wouldn’t use it to pull the ship up to the anchor.
Good seamanship is good seamanship whether you like it or not. Your choice what you do on your boat of course.

PS we have the same foot switches!

Let's break it down into simple engineering for you. We have a gear driven windlass. No rubber belts to snap. The motor and gearing are such that they can easily pull the boat forward. The engineering reality of a powerful yacht windlass ( not an oil tanker) is that if the motor and gearing are powerful enough, the load is not significant. You can use the catenary of the chain to help pull the boat forward. Once it's moving, the windlass can easily pull the boat without strain. My windlass is commonly fitted to boats over 70ft long. In fact my pal has the same windlass on his 71 footer. Since his boat weighs twice the weight of mine, he may need to use the engine initially to get the boat moving forward. It's nothing to do with good seamanship if you understand the engineering. If I had a 500w windlass motor on my heavy boat, understanding the engineering, I really don't think I would use the windlass to pull the boat forward.

 

[vyv_cox]

Let's break it down into simple engineering for you. We have a gear driven windlass. No rubber belts to snap. The motor and gearing are such that they can easily pull the boat forward. The engineering reality of a powerful yacht windlass ( not an oil tanker) is that if the motor and gearing are powerful enough, the load is not significant. You can use the catenary of the chain to help pull the boat forward. Once it's moving, the windlass can easily pull the boat without strain. My windlass is commonly fitted to boats over 70ft long. In fact my pal has the same windlass on his 71 footer. Since his boat weighs twice the weight of mine, he may need to use the engine initially to get the boat moving forward. It's nothing to do with good seamanship if you understand the engineering. If I had a 500w windlass motor on my heavy boat, understanding the engineering, I really don't think I would use the windlass to pull the boat forward.

In our very common situation of hauling on our anchor about four boat lengths ahead when berthed stern-to we always use the windlass without putting the engine in gear. Driving ahead with the engine is a perfect recipe for getting the adjacent boat's chain around your prop. Once the stern warps have been dropped the boat is moving ahead quite briskly, so loads on the windlass are low. Has been a successful technique for nearly 20 years.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Does that mean that you can never sail away from your anchor? And you call that seamanship?
I don't know where this idea of not using a windlass for its normal job of heaving in the anchor chain has come from.
Presumably it's the same school of thought as not using the sheet winches to haul in the jib sheets. Well, that would also be much kinder to the winches.

That’s a pretty silly suggestion with respect. There are several techniques you can use to sail out an anchor and you certainly don’t have to muscle the boat forward on the windlass.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Let's break it down into simple engineering for you. We have a gear driven windlass. No rubber belts to snap. The motor and gearing are such that they can easily pull the boat forward. The engineering reality of a powerful yacht windlass ( not an oil tanker) is that if the motor and gearing are powerful enough, the load is not significant. You can use the catenary of the chain to help pull the boat forward. Once it's moving, the windlass can easily pull the boat without strain. My windlass is commonly fitted to boats over 70ft long. In fact my pal has the same windlass on his 71 footer. Since his boat weighs twice the weight of mine, he may need to use the engine initially to get the boat moving forward. It's nothing to do with good seamanship if you understand the engineering. If I had a 500w windlass motor on my heavy boat, understanding the engineering, I really don't think I would use the windlass to pull the boat forward.

There’s no need to be patronising.

If you’re happy to pull your boat forward on your windlass fill your boots. However it doesn’t explain why the instructions that come with a windlass tell you not to do it.

We also use the catenary of the chain to help pull the boat forward and there’s a continuous communication between bow and helm indicating where the rode is lying.

 

[NormanS]

That’s a pretty silly suggestion with respect. There are several techniques you can use to sail out an anchor and you certainly don’t have to muscle the boat forward on the windlass.

Silly?
Sensible use of a windlass involves taking in some chain, changing the curve of the catenary, which in turn brings the boat forward towards her anchor. In no way is this "muscling". This puts very little load on the windlass, indeed far less load than we had today, when we pulled up some apparently discarded gear from the seabed with our anchor.
It takes very little power to move even a large vessel slowly through the water. Think of the size of canal barges which used to be pulled along by literally one horsepower.

 

[geem]

There’s no need to be patronising.

If you’re happy to pull your boat forward on your windlass fill your boots. However it doesn’t explain why the instructions that come with a windlass tell you not to do it.

We also use the catenary of the chain to help pull the boat forward and there’s a continuous communication between bow and helm indicating where the rode is lying.

I just checked the user manual for my windlass. There is no mention of driving the boat forward. It does say, thst ideally you should start the engine or generator to make it easier on the batteries.
I also looked at the equivalent Maxwell windlass for my size boat. The Maxwell has a 1200w motor. My Falkon has a heavy duty 1700w motor and there is an option for 2000w if you want it. The Falkon also has a far higher chain speed. That might explain why your windlass instructions tell you not to use the windlass to pull the boat forward

 

[Plum]

I just checked the user manual for my windlass. There is no mention of driving the boat forward. It does say, thst ideally you should start the engine or generator to make it easier on the batteries.
I also looked at the equivalent Maxwell windlass for my size boat. The Maxwell has a 1200w motor. My Falkon has a heavy duty 1700w motor and there is an option for 2000w if you want it. The Falkon also has a far higher chain speed. That might explain why your windlass instructions tell you not to use the windlass to pull the boat forward

I too just checked the manual for my windlass, no mention of driving the boat forward. Obviously, if the windlass does not have enough power, then using the engine will help it.

 

[ean_p]

My Muir manual mentions motoring to relieve strain along with the use of a chain gate......

 

[penberth3]

Yes but in additional to those hydraulic components even if the pump is driven from the engine you need a 3 position hydraulic valve to operate the flow in either direction plus a return flow when the windlass in not oprating. It would also be advisable to install a pressure relief valve to prevent overpressure if the windlass ceases

Yes I know all that. To keep it simple, I was assuming the cost and weight of pipes and valves equalled the cost and weight of cables and relays. I think that was a reasonable assumption.

 

[Mudisox]

I en sail single handed and if clear in an anchorage use the engine/s slow ahead with the autopilot on to take in the slack from my windlass and foot switch. I need two hands to recover the chain/rope.

 

[Stemar]

A bit of thread drift.

I can't see the windlass or bow roller from the helm, so getting the anchor in single-handed, especially if it's a bit blowy, is a problem. Other than fitting a chain counter (budget says no), or waiting for a loud clang, is there a trick to knowing when to stop winding in?