Thread: Boat Winch
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Larry
 
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Default Boat Winch

On Sat, 4 Oct 2003 18:40:50 +1000, Grumpy wrote:

Hi Guys,

I have a 15ft Fibreglass with an old style trailor. The winch we use is a
2.5:1 ratio and it is a real mission to get the boat on,. I have been told
to use 5:1 & 10:1 ration with 3 pawl. I was also told to get a winch brake.
Is a winch brake only needed when letting the boat off the tailor.

The trailer is an old stly centre tilt.

Any ideas would be appreciated

Thanks
Alan


I am brand new to boats on trailers so I may be way off base here, but what
we've done with our 18.5' Utopia 185 (around 3000 lb gross weight with
trailer) was to install two plastic 4' posts on the trailer at the widest
part of the hull. When we load it, we leave the trailer pretty well
submerged and can bring the eye right up to the winch with very little
effort. The two posts are flexible and center the boat on the trailer
(which uses bunks, not rollers). Then, when you drive the trailer up out
of the water, the boat always sits perfectly centered. We connect the two
stern straps to hold it down. We disconnect the trailer lights to keep hot
bulbs from popping before launch and reconnect them after leaving the ramp.

Not sure why you'd need a winch brake on a 15' boat. We launch with a 50'
line secured to a bow cleat and find it easy to pull the boat to the dock
and secure it there with two 25' docking lines.

Like I said, I don't know if this is right or wrong, but it seems to work
for us.
--

Larry
email is rapp at lmr dot com