Electric winch to load boat and also pull trailer

[CUSAC]

Hi all

I am after some advice on winching. Have read through lots of previous threads but haven't quite come up with a solution.

We have a fairly heavy dive RIB which is a right pain to recover with the current manual winch especially with kit on board. From a safety point of view after diving it would be better to have an electric winch (but ideally plan it so manual winch could still be mounted should electric fail).

The boat is stored in a shed where it needs to be winched up a slope forwards on its trailer. This is currently done with a manual winch mounted to the rear wall of the shed.

My question is, could I mount the electric winch in such a way that it could be used to also pull the trailer into the shed as well as recover the boat?

Was thinking of a rotating mounting plate below the winch but that sounds problematic and another failure point. Would a snatch block attached to one of the trailer cross members allow the cable to then run forwards to pull the trailer?

Any thoughts/experience gratefully received

[mickter]

If you can mount elec winch above man one should have no problem using block on xmember,remember to change wire to fabric .there is a company on ferndown ind est who are very helpfull. www.winch-it.com

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by CUSAC

Hi all



I am after some advice on winching. Have read through lots of previous threads but haven't quite come up with a solution.



We have a fairly heavy dive RIB which is a right pain to recover with the current manual winch especially with kit on board. From a safety point of view after diving it would be better to have an electric winch (but ideally plan it so manual winch could still be mounted should electric fail).



The boat is stored in a shed where it needs to be winched up a slope forwards on its trailer. This is currently done with a manual winch mounted to the rear wall of the shed.



My question is, could I mount the electric winch in such a way that it could be used to also pull the trailer into the shed as well as recover the boat?



Was thinking of a rotating mounting plate below the winch but that sounds problematic and another failure point. Would a snatch block attached to one of the trailer cross members allow the cable to then run forwards to pull the trailer?



Any thoughts/experience gratefully received

Snatch blocks are your friends. I have an electric winch with a Dyneema rope. I can use it to recover the boat onto the trailer. Before I removed the trailer mounted battery, I could recover the whole trailer independently up a slip, as long as there was something to hang on to.
In the past I have used a snatch block to pull a heavily loaded dive rib off the trailer when launching in shallow water.
PS I have a custom built stainless steel battery box that I might sell if you’re interested.

[Lee argyle]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Snatch blocks are your friends. I have an electric winch with a Dyneema rope. I can use it to recover the boat onto the trailer. Before I removed the trailer mounted battery, I could recover the whole trailer independently up a slip, as long as there was something to hang on to.
In the past I have used a snatch block to pull a heavily loaded dive rib off the trailer when launching in shallow water.
PS I have a custom built stainless steel battery box that I might sell if you’re interested.

+1
Dyneema ( synthetic winch rope ) is great, much safer and user friendly
I’d also purchase a wireless remote for the winch, cheap, easy to fit and allows you to control the recovery as required
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-ELECT...sAAOSwZC1Z6buA

[CUSAC]

Thanks all for the advice.

Will definitely go for synthetic rope plus remote (looks cheaper to buy as a new package rather than piece together after).

I was thinking of mounting the new winch above the existing but it would have to be quite a lot higher to avoid fouling the handle which would put significant extra stress on the winch post and U-bolts. May be a better option to mount the electric winch low down and have some way of rigging the manual one temporarily if ever needed?

Only concern with using a snatch block on the cross member is that it would be pulling the rope at quite a sharp angle compared to recovering the boat. Is that going to be an issue or is the hawse at the front of the winch designed for that situation?

PD I did notice your work of art battery box while searching. As we are already on the limit of nose weight I intend to keep a relatively small battery in the back of whichever vehicle is towing with a lead and some anderson connectors. This can then be sat on the front of the trailer when being winched into the shed (and then charged on a conditioner).

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Snatch blocks are your friends. I have an electric winch with a Dyneema rope. I can use it to recover the boat onto the trailer. Before I removed the trailer mounted battery, I could recover the whole trailer independently up a slip, as long as there was something to hang on to.
In the past I have used a snatch block to pull a heavily loaded dive rib off the trailer when launching in shallow water.
PS I have a custom built stainless steel battery box that I might sell if you’re interested.

Dave can you splice dyneema through its self by parting the fibres ?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Dave can you splice dyneema through its self by parting the fibres ?

You can but unless you’re a pro it’s messy. I got mine made up at a place in Mirfield near Huddersfield, they are rope & strap specialists & will make you just about anything you want at reasonable cost.
They are a very helpful bunch.

https://yachtropes.co.uk/

[HDAV]

Why not mount the actual winch lower (Nearer tow hitch) and use a block/pulley under the manual winch if you set it up right you coul have the winch set for pullling trailer into shed and use a piulley or 2 to reverse the direction to pull the boat onto trailer