Winch strap breaks again

[spartacus]

Just arrived on the west coast after towing for around 250 miles, the latter part on what can only be described as the road to Tobruk! Arrived at destination to find the winch strap had broken. The boat has only been used once before so it's not wear and tear. Luckily I always have a rope from the towing eye on the hull to the winch-post as back up. The rear towing eyes had a ratchet strap through them secured to the trailer. I might look at a chain in the future - as this has happened to me before.

[Pikey Dave]

I don't use the winch strap for securing the boat on the road, it's a winch strap, not a load strap. The direction of the pull/forces is all wrong. I use a ratchet strap through the winch eye down to the drawbar, this pulls the boat down onto the keel roller & snugs her into the winch post. No bounce & no broken winch straps. The last thing you want to do is weaken the winch strap & have it snap with the boat half on the trailer on a steep slip. Keep it for winching.

[BogMonster]

Best thing you can do with the regular polyprop trailer winch straps is to dump them and move into the 21st century

Mine started to look frayed after about 10 launches and I simply didn't trust it plus it never would wind neatly onto the winch without some effort guiding it on with my hand (I think the winch may not have been fitted quite straight on the trailer).

I replaced it with a length of Dyneema synthetic winch rope and now have no problems with fraying or not spooling on straight plus it's twice as strong:

Superwinch Parts, Electric Winches, Winch, Bumpers, Dyneema® Bowrope, Ropes, Chains, UK - Goodwinch.com

I used the 6mm size rated at 3220kg breaking strain - std winch straps are 1500kg or thereabouts. Better in just about every way and no drawbacks except it's a wee bit more expensive.

I also have the bow tied down to the main frame of the trailer, at the end of the day the whole winch post is only held on with U bolts so it's not bombproof, better to have something attached to the main trailer frame as well.

[C-NUMB]

Dyneema seams like a good product. I replaced mine winch straps this year to a 2500 kg rated, i recover from a steep ramp and don't wont to have a strap in my face if something brakes.

How much Dyneema ropes stretch, is like a ordinary winch strap or more? Another question, will it take more or less space on the drum compared to a ordinary winch strap?

Thanks

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I used the 6mm size rated at 3220kg breaking strain - std winch straps are 1500kg or thereabouts. Better in just about every way and no drawbacks except it's a wee bit more expensive.

If you have a secondary method of securing to the bow and you're still putting more than 1500kg through your bow eye on a 4.8m boat (in OP's profile) and it's happened more than once I'd suggest you're driving too fast for the road conditions.

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

If you have a secondary method of securing to the bow and you're still putting more than 1500kg through your bow eye on a 4.8m boat (in OP's profile) and it's happened more than once I'd suggest you're driving too fast for the road conditions.

I would hazard a guess that the winch strap was taking the "primary load" and the secondary mechanism is a relatively slack piece of rope which with the winch connected is not bearing any load? Otherwise something is wrong...

[Edit - that's not to suggest that the current method or driving style is necessarily correct either!]

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Polwart

I would hazard a guess that the winch strap was taking the "primary load" and the secondary mechanism is a relatively slack piece of rope which with the winch connected is not bearing any load? Otherwise something is wrong...

[Edit - that's not to suggest that the current method or driving style is necessarily correct either!]

Yes, fair comment. I stand by what I said about driving too fast though-a 1500kg load from a 4.8m boat should be almost unachievable without driving like Clarkson.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

If you have a secondary method of securing to the bow and you're still putting more than 1500kg through your bow eye on a 4.8m boat (in OP's profile) and it's happened more than once I'd suggest you're driving too fast for the road conditions.

Yes - but remember that's 1500kg breaking strain (and that's probably not properly certified) when it is new.

Add in a good dose of UV degradation, a bit of chafing along the edges and fatigue from repeated use and shock loading hitting unscheduled bumps in the road, and it will be a hell of a lot weaker than its "rating" after a while.

I simply don't see the point in using a low quality strap that IMHO is seriously under-specified for the intended use when for an extra tenner I can fit something that is a hell of a lot more likely to keep £20k+ worth of boat where it should be, whether that's when you are towing or winching the boat onto the trailer

Back onto Dyneema, it has almost zero stretch (which is why it is used on 4x4 winches - no stored energy if the rope breaks) and the 7m of 6mm blue string I put on my SBS trailer winch took up about the same amount of space on the winch drum as the original strap did - you could have got a lot more on though of course the more layers on the drum, the harder it is to wind in, same trade-off as any winch.

[Bigmuz7]

Well I have 2 straps at the stern through the ski eyes .. the winch strap .. the bow rope tied to the draw bar.. and a strap ratcheting the bow eye to the trailer drawbar to stop 'bounce'. That isnt an overkill set up .. every part there is there to do a job and it does the job

The stern straps will chaff after a couple of 250 mile journeys and will need replaced due to trailer vibration. My tow motor is a big V8 and I dont notice my trailer .. but my winch strap has never failed from spirited towing ...ok .. I fear a Ribnet Stasi midnight raid for my gay abandoness

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Yes - but remember that's 1500kg breaking strain (and that's probably not properly certified) when it is new.

Add in a good dose of UV degradation, a bit of chafing along the edges and fatigue from repeated use and shock loading hitting unscheduled bumps in the road, and it will be a hell of a lot weaker than its "rating" after a while.

I simply don't see the point in using a low quality strap that IMHO is seriously under-specified for the intended use when for an extra tenner I can fit something that is a hell of a lot more likely to keep £20k+ worth of boat where it should be, whether that's when you are towing or winching the boat onto the trailer

I can't disagree with you on anything you said there at all. What I am saying is that even if the breaking strain is down to 500kg, you shouldn't be able to break the winch strap if you're driving properly to the road conditions-Ie, not accelerating like an F1 car. If you don't notice the trailer, it doesn't mean you have to drive as though it's not there