Winches

Chris · 14 May 2007, 08:37

Would this winch be any good for pulling a 5.5metre rib ad trailer up a slipway?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-VOLT-ELECTR...QQcmdZViewItem

I am thinking of ways to avoid dipping my car in the water everytime I take the boat out.

JABS · 14 May 2007, 10:10

Hi,

I have fitted a winch onto a standard tow bar step. It is slightly less capacity than this one and pulls our Ribcraft 585 just fine.

I douse the cable in wd40 after each use.

Also, I didn't want to have a winch that went over the ball. How are you going to attach the trailer once it is up to the car? IMHO the triler brakes can't be relied on! well, at least mine can't.

PM me if you want a picture of what I have done. It certainly works well. We use a very shallow slipway and it saves the car from the salt.

MarkM · 14 May 2007, 10:13

A friend bought a relatively cheap electric winch as this one and it did not work.
I got a Powerwinch ST712 with a strap instead of a cable and it's fantastic, but it's different money.

MikeCC · 15 May 2007, 12:00

Chris,

Just one more thing to go wrong!

That eBay one says 6ft / min with 30ft strap - that's 5 minutes to move it a few feet.

Get it as close to the water as you are comfortable with and use a rope round the tow ball / bar to lower the trailer down. Not so easy if you're single-handed admittedly.

codprawn · 15 May 2007, 12:08

You could always try the abseil method. A figure of 8 descender attached to the vehicle would give you plenty of control.

Chris · 15 May 2007, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCC

Chris,
Not so easy if you're single-handed admittedly.

Exactly!

I would need this for when I am on my own.

Chris

codprawn · 15 May 2007, 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris1573

Exactly!

I would need this for when I am on my own.

Chris

Not if you use the abseil method!!!

fred bolton · 15 May 2007, 19:09

I've got one of those winches, and they do work however they are cheap and it doesn't inspire me with a lot of confidence. Why not use your trailer winch?

Chris · 15 May 2007, 19:34

Good Idea Fred, just connect the boat to the safety chain, disconnect the winch strap and run it to the car.

Chris

Biggles · 15 May 2007, 19:45

I just do a straight pull with rope to get the trailer out of the water. Chock the tyres to stop it rolling back then reverse the car up to the trailer. Can be done on your own that way. Not easy but nothing is with a boat when your on your own.

Daveboy 71 · 15 May 2007, 21:08

Having got the very same winch I would not bother and save your money. In my experience it will pull a 5.5M rib on a trailer (may struggle on a very steep slipway) but is too slow and you are much better off with a couple of tow ropes. This particular winch is also very difficult to unwind......in fact it takes longer to unwind than to haul the boat in!! Make me an offer and you can have mine!

Poly · 15 May 2007, 21:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

You could always try the abseil method. A figure of 8 descender attached to the vehicle would give you plenty of control.

Have you tried this? With 1/2 a ton+ of boat I don't fancy trying to stop it if it "runs" away.

codprawn · 15 May 2007, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Have you tried this? With 1/2 a ton+ of boat I don't fancy trying to stop it if it "runs" away.

I used it to lower a LandRover down a steep bank.

whiteminiman · 15 May 2007, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Have you tried this? With 1/2 a ton+ of boat I don't fancy trying to stop it if it "runs" away.

Depends how you thread the rope onto your figure of eight.

It can be done in such a way that you have a Munter Hitch (also known as an Italian Hitch) on the figure of eight... which creates a huge amount of friction and makes it very very easy to control a very large weight.

Even if you just go for the straight-forward figure-of-eight, if things can get out of control, it can very easily be dumped off the figure-of-eight into a larks head which will stop everything dead... or alternatively, shock-load the system and snap the rope!!!

If it's really that heavy, then a friction plate can be added, there are lots of things that can be done with enough rope. Could even quickly rig up a 3:1 "Z-rig " or "Pig Rig" to lower it down. You'd need to buy a few carabiners, or better still a pulley - but it would be cheaper than an electric winch.

WMM

Poly · 15 May 2007, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiteminiman

Even if you just go for the straight-forward figure-of-eight, if things can get out of control, it can very easily be dumped off the figure-of-eight into a larks head which will stop everything dead... or alternatively, shock-load the system and snap the rope!!!

The problem is doing that possibly for the first time as your valuable pride and joy hurtles down the slipway possibly towards someone - without getting your fingers trapped or rope burn...

...I have used figure of eights and italian hitches to "catch" falling climbers and there is a lot less effort required than their wastelines would suggest. But I have seen other people get rope burns - this is probably bad technique though - but presumably "runaway" is much more likely with something weighing 10x as much.

codprawn · 15 May 2007, 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

The problem is doing that possibly for the first time as your valuable pride and joy hurtles down the slipway possibly towards someone - without getting your fingers trapped or rope burn...

...I have used figure of eights and italian hitches to "catch" falling climbers and there is a lot less effort required than their wastelines would suggest. But I have seen other people get rope burns - this is probably bad technique though - but presumably "runaway" is much more likely with something weighing 10x as much.

Yes but on a gentle slope there is a lot less force than something truly vertical. 2 climbers and a rescue sled vertical is a lot of weight!!!

Chris · 16 May 2007, 09:08

Codprawn / Polwart, thanks for the input however its not what I am after doing so I wouldn't waste and more time turning this thread into a debate about how to use climbing equipment.

Chris

Hugh Jardon · 16 May 2007, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris1573

Codprawn / Polwart, thanks for the input however its not what I am after doing so I wouldn't waste and more time turning this thread into a debate about how to use climbing equipment.

Chris

i would not use a climbing rope approach either

i have ordered up 3 7.5 ton tow ropes with eyes at each end, one is 5m then 10m then 20m which gives me every combination upto 35m in 5m lengths

i did look into an electric winch and you need one man enough for the deal, one that fits your vehicle ok and one that will retrieve and let out at a reasonable speed, and then you need wiring to the winch to power it, lots of considerations.....

in my view the winchs are quite expensive but a friend uses them and recommends them but need to pay around 2-300, i am going to give the tow rope a go first as at least with a 7.5 ton tow rope it wont fail or snap or provide anything other than a good solid link between car and trailer!

codprawn · 16 May 2007, 12:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh Jardon

i would not use a climbing rope approach either

i have ordered up 3 7.5 ton tow ropes with eyes at each end, one is 5m then 10m then 20m which gives me every combination upto 35m in 5m lengths

i did look into an electric winch and you need one man enough for the deal, one that fits your vehicle ok and one that will retrieve and let out at a reasonable speed, and then you need wiring to the winch to power it, lots of considerations.....

in my view the winchs are quite expensive but a friend uses them and recommends them but need to pay around 2-300, i am going to give the tow rope a go first as at least with a 7.5 ton tow rope it wont fail or snap or provide anything other than a good solid link between car and trailer!

Don't you think 7.5 tons is a bit of overkill? You could lift almost 4 of your boats vertically with that!!!

Remember these small electric winches have wire with a SWL of only 800lbs and a breaking load of about 1.5 tons.

Rather than the wire or rope my main concern would be the loading on the jockey wheel. Lowering is fine but pulling back up a slip can place huge loads on the wheel - especially if the car is over the lip on a short slip - then you are pulling down and there is a lot of force on the front.

JABS · 16 May 2007, 12:24

Some good points here.

The very cheap winch I have is rated at 2000lbs. It has a clutch so the cable can pay out quickly. It cost sub £50.

On the issue of the jockey wheel, yes, keep it low down so that there isn't a huge amount of leverage on the shaft. Learnt this the hard way!

Lips and stones are an issue, but you are standing there so should be able to monitor the load to some extent. If the winch struggles, there is a problem!

Regarding the hitch load, these are designed for mega loads. Both a straight pull and a 'swaying' load. I don't think anything we may do with a winch will even come close to doing any damage there. I also tow a 1750kg caravan and the stabiliser puts a torque onto the towbar.

Hope this helps

Tony