Winching manually / electronically

gossy · 21 April 2010, 18:35

I've looked back a few threads and havent found much on winching boats back on to the trailer so I thought i'd start a new one .... whilst i'm perfectly capable of turning that handle on the low gear setting ,it is I have to say not one of the jobs i look forward to at the end of the day on the water ...... I sent an email to Bramber trailers this morning asking them if they sold an electric winch but unfortunately they said no and that they were unlikely to due to salt and corrosion it wasnt a recommended idea ....... anyway I was mulling this problem over with my colleague at work ( a genuine petrol head with tractors, trailers, horse boxes , 4 wheel drive this and that .....you name it he's got it ) and he said that when he winches onto his flatbed trailer he uses a cordless drill with a bit that fits where the winch handle snaps on and presses the trigger on the drill and HEY PRESTO ...... the bit turns the winch and the vehicle is pulled on to the flatbed ...... Eurika ..... surely it cant be that simple ...... so i'm guessing to retreive my Ribeye S650 i'm gonna need a cordless with a fair amount of torque ....... has anyone tried this ? it just seems so obvious

sarahscottiedog · 21 April 2010, 20:34

Dont know , but I would have thought one of the winches fitted on the front of hundreds of true 4x4 vehilces around the county must be water proof ? after all they use them to pull them selves out of all sorts of places , lakes , rivers and they must get submerged with some of the "wading" they do. I'd put a post on a 4x4 forum and see what they say........

BogMonster · 21 April 2010, 20:59

Yes some of there are (though a lot aren't) but the problem is that a decent 4x4 electric winch costs £500 or so and needs very heavy wiring to the vehicle battery.

I would have thought you'd need either a pretty potent cordless drill or a very low geared winch (which would work fine, but probably not that easy to find). Also I would not trust any 4x4 automatic winch brake to hold a shiny new £20k rib on the trailer while driving on the road!

Jeff · 21 April 2010, 21:28

This works well. It connects with Anderson connectors - I have run power from the battery into the rear of the car and just use a fly lead when in use.
... The old Volvo estate had its battery in the spare wheel well so it was perfect .... the newer one doesnt !
Jeff

jyasaki · 22 April 2010, 15:36

I doubt a regular cordless drill would have the grunt to do any serious winching. Perhaps a really heavy duty hammer drill would do it, don't know.

Never seen that one done before.

There are several brands of electric winches for trailers; the vehicle wiring would be an issue for me. That plus the drain on the tow vehicle battery (nothing like getting stuck on the ramp with a rising tide...)

jky

gossy · 22 April 2010, 20:02

my work pal says he can fabricate me a drill socket/bit to fit on the winch ...... will let you know what happens....... fingers crossed......... thanks for everryones advice so far

9D280 · 23 April 2010, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

That plus the drain on the tow vehicle battery (nothing like getting stuck on the ramp with a rising tide...)

At risk of opening another can of safety related worms, leave the engine running?

Alternatively, carry a "winch battery" in the boot - charged from the caravan battery Aux charging circuit, then you are independant of the vehicle.

doggypaddle · 23 April 2010, 14:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by gossy

I've looked back a few threads and havent found much on winching boats back on to the trailer so I thought i'd start a new one .... whilst i'm perfectly capable of turning that handle on the low gear setting ,it is I have to say not one of the jobs i look forward to at the end of the day on the water ...... I sent an email to Bramber trailers this morning asking them if they sold an electric winch but unfortunately they said no and that they were unlikely to due to salt and corrosion it wasnt a recommended idea ....... anyway I was mulling this problem over with my colleague at work ( a genuine petrol head with tractors, trailers, horse boxes , 4 wheel drive this and that .....you name it he's got it ) and he said that when he winches onto his flatbed trailer he uses a cordless drill with a bit that fits where the winch handle snaps on and presses the trigger on the drill and HEY PRESTO ...... the bit turns the winch and the vehicle is pulled on to the flatbed ...... Eurika ..... surely it cant be that simple ...... so i'm guessing to retreive my Ribeye S650 i'm gonna need a cordless with a fair amount of torque ....... has anyone tried this ? it just seems so obvious

someone has manufacturered a "cordless windlass" for lock paddles. basically a cordless drill with an extra reduction gearbox, you should be able to google it. i guess it would work for a winch too?

doggypaddle · 23 April 2010, 14:49

http://lockmasterwindlass.com/

jyasaki · 23 April 2010, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9D280

At risk of opening another can of safety related worms, leave the engine running?

Alternatively, carry a "winch battery" in the boot - charged from the caravan battery Aux charging circuit, then you are independant of the vehicle.

Or hand crank it.

Easier with a smaller boat though.

jky

BogMonster · 23 April 2010, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Or hand crank it.

Hand winch? It'll never catch on

Bigmuz7 · 23 April 2010, 21:36

for all the sake of charging a drill with a short term battery you cant rely on etc etc .. whats wrong with your arm ?

.. oh yeah

you guys have dirty minds

9D280 · 26 April 2010, 14:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Or hand crank it.

Easier with a smaller boat though.

jky

Indeed. I was kind of assuming the "6+m" of the OP's details might mean it's a long hard slog over a hot winch.......

gossy · 26 April 2010, 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9D280

Indeed. I was kind of assuming the "6+m" of the OP's details might mean it's a long hard slog over a hot winch.......

thankyou for the sympathy ...... good news......i've now got my custom built cordless drill bit which is an alan key welded to a 14mm socket welded to a winch shaped lump of steel so its gonna be time to give it a test drive ...... it looks fairly amateur but this is the prototype ...... bad news boat is still at the menders ( see ribs and ribbing for that moan up ) . its gonna be this weekend at the earliest to test it out but there is nothing to lose ....... now where is the cordless drill ?

Bigmuz7 · 26 April 2010, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by gossy

thankyou for the sympathy ...... good news......i've now got my custom built cordless drill bit which is an alan key welded to a 14mm socket welded to a winch shaped lump of steel so its gonna be time to give it a test drive ...... it looks fairly amateur but this is the prototype ...... bad news boat is still at the menders ( see ribs and ribbing for that moan up ) . its gonna be this weekend at the earliest to test it out but there is nothing to lose ....... now where is the cordless drill ?

Just make sure you dont set it to hammer action .. and try and avoid spectators when the weld breaks

.. they love that round here

jyasaki · 27 April 2010, 02:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Just make sure you dont set it to hammer action ..

Funny; I was thinking that a hammer drill would be the cat's meow in terms of torque to winch the boat up.

But, as can be surmised by my posts, I've never tried using either type of drill, so it's just supposition...

jky

gossy · 27 April 2010, 14:36

will do a dry run by releasing the the winch and pushing the boat back a couple of feet in the comfort and privacy of the locked boat compound ...... dont wanna make a t1t of myself on the public slipway

Poly · 27 April 2010, 14:51

Film it and put it on youtube for us all to see. Then either:

(A) we all get a laugh at it disintegrates and bits of metal fly everywhere OR
(B) you get to be very smug as the boat glides effortlessly up the trailer.

bedajim · 28 April 2010, 06:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by gossy

thankyou for the sympathy ...... good news......i've now got my custom built cordless drill bit which is an alan key welded to a 14mm socket welded to a winch shaped lump of steel so its gonna be time to give it a test drive ...... it looks fairly amateur but this is the prototype ...... bad news boat is still at the menders ( see ribs and ribbing for that moan up ) . its gonna be this weekend at the earliest to test it out but there is nothing to lose ....... now where is the cordless drill ?

So what drill are you using ?

gossy · 28 April 2010, 09:30

still working on that one ...... i'm going to need something with a nice low gear but plenty of torque ........ got any ideas ?