electric winch.

mike · 26 November 2006, 22:14

Hi I need to rig up a winch as we have to get my new boat into the garage, the lay of the land is almost flat and the winch is needed as I cannot get the boat straight onto the line going in (she will be 280 cm wide with a 300 gap so wanted to have a long lead and take the boat in backwards thus allowing me to steer a bit.

we have twin front tow balls on the landrover now but the winch idea seems attractive as I can do it slow and precisely???

we'll also be putting in a few ground anchors to give direction to the pull,.

Can anyone help with a winch suggestion slow is ok.
boat trailer 2400 kilos ish.

all help apprciated!!!!

codprawn · 26 November 2006, 22:50

What you need is a Tirfor.

Even the baby ones will do. I have one the same as this and it will pull a stretched limo up a steep drive - imagine what a big one can do. The level of control is amazing.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAND-WINCH_W0Q...QQcmdZViewItem

I also used the small one to move my 5 ton milling machine and big lathe around - so many uses.

There seems to be a big shortage of Tirfors on Ebay at the moment - normally there are a load of imported ones around.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LARGE-TIRFOR-W...QQcmdZViewItem

I may be tempted to flog one of my 1600kgs ones - ideal for Land Rover recovery - say £80. I have a bit of a Tirfor fetish and now have 7 of them from tiny to huge!!!

mike · 26 November 2006, 22:55

thanks for thatcodprawn, I think it will haveto be electric as I am doing it all myseld so need to help the boat via the jockey for steerage.
not too sure if I could use the trifore and steer the boat?

codprawn · 26 November 2006, 22:56

When I needed to move the milling machine I put a bolt into the floor and attached a pulley to it - this enabled me to turn the mill through 90deg - even though the rollers were too small it was still so easy with the tirfor.

Mill doesn't look that big but the Hiab blew it's seals lifting it - only just managed to get it inside the door.

I will have a similar problem to you - to get my RIB inside I will have to deflate the tubes and get it dead straight - hence I will be using the tirfor and a bolt in the floor!!!

codprawn · 26 November 2006, 22:58

Get someone to help you - the tirfor is so easy to use my mates 7 yr old daughter pulled my Rangie up a slope - all on her own!!!

The main advantage is the sheer control you have - you can feel whats happening and can move a fraction at a time - things happen so slowly you can't do any damage!!!

Jus · 27 November 2006, 13:43

I wondered about using the main boat winch to do this kind of thing. If you could somehow mount an extra roller or 2 to the trailer you could run the strap backwards and down underneath the trailer and attach it to a fixing in the garage floor, winch and steer boat in at the same time.

I've clearly not tried it yet of course!

fred bolton · 27 November 2006, 19:52

I used the trailer winch, to pull my boat up a slight slope across a boggy lawn just fastened a strop around a tree and fed the winch strap underneath the trailer and winched away, worked a treat. Just noticed your RIB is a bit !!!! bigger and heavier than mine, it should still work though.

mike · 27 November 2006, 22:10

just heard the trailor will be here next week so will set up winch points etc and seem to be going down the portable hand winch route along with electric as an alternative.
need 3 points
1 to get the boat across so it at 45 degrees ish.
2.to pull straight and into the garage
3.to pull her out again.

because sometimes we'll go backwards and others forwards a portable seems best.
non battery means less hassle so will be looking at the trifor whatsits plus the portable £60 squid elec jobbies.
well make up strops and strong points to pull forwards and a twin attaching one for the back moves.

thanks for your help.

mike

codprawn · 27 November 2006, 22:17

Just remember jocky wheels don't like heavy loads on them. If you have smooth ground to operate on a trolley jack can also be quite useful.