Trailer winch

U

uvicgrad85

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C Dory Year
2005
C Dory Model
16 Cruiser
Is a powered winch on a trailer with a 25 CD a good idea? The trailer has vertical guide bars.

The truck is an F350 5.4l with 11,300lb capacity.

The trailer is a King 7000 B2VR tandem axle galvanized
with electric over hydraulic disc brakes and a weight distributing hitch.

Any tips on adding the wiring harness to your towing vehicle to deal with the existing power winch?

Thx!!
 
What kind of boat? What kind of trailer? What kind of towing vehicle? Be a little more specific and we might be able to help more.


Charlie
 
While a 25 is bigger than my 22, my experience has been that an electric winch was just another set of electrical connections to maintain and the clutch mechanism on mine did not stay as tight as I would have liked. I took mine off, gave it away to a friend and replaced it with a 2-speed manual Fulton winch. I've never looked back. It's faster than the old electric and way less trouble. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.
 
I had one on my last trailer. I had a fairly serious problem when the hand tightening clutch worked loose once and I almost lost my boat from a roller trailer. The safety chain connector straightened.

I bought a new bunk trailer with a manual winch. After about a year of this, I'm starting to rationalize that maybe I hadn't fully tightened that winch down, and anyways its not meant to hold the boat in place. Redundant safety devices should do that!

I guess I'm trying to convince myself to give it another go. I do a lot of launching on my own and they are pretty nice.

Mine was hard wired from my truck battery back to a 3 prong outdoor female plug by the trailer ball. Then, I had about a 10' mail plug in pigtail that I kept in the truck to make the connection at retrieval. Be carefull in wiring to keep it away from the hot parts (cat, muffler, manifolds) and the moving parts (springs,etc) use nylon ties frequently. Keep it in the frame where you can. I never had a problem but the wire could carry a lot of amps and for safety it could be very wise to add one of those $4 cut off switches from harbor freight right near the battery in addition to the thermal fuse that comes with it. I also once forgot my pigtail at home and I had no real problem using the backup hand crank.

They come with a string you can use on the on switch to get away from the line of fire if you ever snapped a cable. WestM carries 1/4 " synthetic cable with a wl around 8k, that does not splinter and has no recoil. I think that's what I'd use when the cable eventually starts to fray. I had a PW712 that was fine for the roller trailer. If I get another it will be the 912.

A bonus for me was that I had a second winch that I put a trailer ball receiver on that I carried with me on hunting trip and in snow country. Never had to use it but it gave me comfort to have it along.

Pros and cons both ways.

Chris
 
I use a two-speed manual for our 10,000+ lb 26-footer on a bunk trailer. KISS principle, and it's never been a problem.
 
:thup For the fulton two speed manual on my 22 it's effortless and unlike a power winch practically maintenance free!
 
I've also kept it simple, using standard two-speed Fulton's on both my C-Dory 22 and my twice as heavy Sea Ray 265.

Nevertheless, the lure of the electric winch's possible convenience and the fun of engineering the system still sometimes lures it's develish head. However, when you think it through, you always come back to the conclusion that it's just not necessary, and just another complex system to maintain, like Roger says.

They make wireless controls for winches, and you can install one on your trailer winch, your truck's or car's winch, or on your boat's windlass, which I was going to do at one point, but again, the KISS of common sense came and embaced me before I could commit the crime of Unjustified Electrical Proliferation. (Which is Illegal by law in most states.)

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I too would vote for the two-speed winch. Way more simple, and the ones I have had gave me all the power I needed. Damn shame I have to buy a winch to feel like that.
 
Im going to have to go the other way. I have a electric winch and love it. Took it off of my other boat/trailer before I traded it in. Have never had a problem with the clutch or electrics in the 9 years I've owned it. The only thing I have replaced is the cable. Just my 2 cents.
Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
 
Chuck,

Who is the maker and which model of power winch do you have? It's always nice to know who makes something that works well and lasts.

Tom
 
Tom
Hi, It is a Powerwinch model 712-A. I hope this helps.
Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
 
Two quick "Lessons Learned" about electric winches:-

1. Do not rely on them in any way to hold the boat on the trailer. In fact, on a steep ramp the boat MAY try to move backwards even against the gearing when you stop powering the line in. (Not clutch slip). Tis means you will need an extra retaining strap to keep the boat snug up to the bow roller in the same way that your manual winch with anti-rewind pawl would do. You should also have a tie down to the trailer bed which makes for a lot of hooks and straps.

2. Beware of cable kinks. When you launch, you let tension off the drum. When you retrieve, you can easily force turns inside each other which jam on next release and/or kink. The "level wind" devices are simply not strong enough to prevent this.

BTDT

Merv
 
I also had a PW 712A and while it worked great and was probably as old as Chucks, it was very near the top of its load range on a fully loaded 22. If you are talking 25, especially on a bunk trailer, I think the 912 would be a far better choice.

On several occasions, on steep ramps, I found I had to back the boat down in the water again to take off a little weight to fully snug up the last foot or so (or at least to reach the safety hook, and then snug up on flat land). The 912 has almost twice the single line pull. I've seen new ones sell for under $250 on e-bay occasionally. The 912 can be compared at that same web link.

Chris
 
I've got the 912 on my trailer which is a 1981 and I assume it came with the trailer when new.
It still works great, especially when I am running the boat onto the trailer and Sher is doing the winch work.
I carry a spare battery in the back of the truck that the winch power cord is connected to, we just plug it in and away we go.
I took the cable off and put a 20' strap on, I also was concerned about it binding on itself.
The only issue I have had was my own fault. We normally launch the boat in the early spring and dock it all summer. This year I forgot to retighten the tension knob after launching and lost the knob and spring on the way home to park the empty trailer,
I found a parts dealer online and have ordered an new one.
I have a safety chain that is fairly tight which goes on once the boat is tight to the roller
We have a 20' Regal that has the 2 speed hand winch and although Sher can crank the boat on, she definitely prefers holding down the switch!!
Jimbo
 
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