Mudweight winch

[newf]

I have seen the thread on windlasses but cant find it again so once again has anybody any personnel experience of having a winch suitable for lifting mudweights. I know there are numerous suppliers but too many to chose from so I was hoping someone has one fitted and at reasonable cost. It would need to be suitable for a 27ft boat

[Guest]

I am looking for one too! have a look at this one on eBay 360158720042 in fact they are only in suffolk, now I know it says suitable for a 22 but its only lifting and lowering a mudweight not holding you in a force 8! (hopefully) if it looks ok let me know and we will see if we can get a discount for buying 2 lol

[Guest]

All I'd add to is that do you really need an electric one? A manual one might suffice if you're only lifting 3-4m and will be cheaper.

[jillR]

is this the thread?

viewtopic.php?f=68&t=8488&start=0&hilit=windlass

jill

[newf]

Dave, I had seen that one but wondered if anybody had actually got one and could comment, it just seemed a bit cheap to do the job.

Jill , that's the thread I was referring to but on reading it again it doesn't seem to help much, thanks for the info though.

Unfortunately I do need an electric one because I have developed back and sciatica problems and I suspect it aint going to go away for some time.

[Antares_9]

Was this the thread Newf?

http://www.thenorfolkbroads.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8767&hilit=windlass

The one I mention there has a rope and chain gypsy so will be suited to a mudweight.

[newf]

That's the one Antares and is the one Dave (Aquaholic) is referring to and it does seem to be in the running but I was hoping someone had fitted one and could give first hand knowledge but I might have to take a chance. Would you think that the 15lb lifting weight would be enough bearing in mind that they can get stuck in the mud and might need more power ?

[Antares_9]

You are better advised to break it out with the motor and then winch in using buttons at the helm, much like you do at sea with an anchor I would have thought.

[Antares_9]

Colin, a couple of points, I’m not sure of your type of boat or normal crewing arrangements but if you want to do it single handed as opposed to having somebody on the bow “tailing†the rope then you really will need chain.

That of course means you will need a chain locker under the windlass for the chain to flake into, something most broads type boats do not have. So it seems this is likely to be a lot more complex than I originally thought. There are options like running a rope through a bow roller then through pulleys to the cockpit and using a yacht type coffee grinder winch there, something that works well on small fishing boats, not the most elegant solution but effective.

[newf]

Antares, much appreciate your thoughts and advise. I have an Elysian 27 and yes I do have to handle single handed but there is a chain locker under where at the moment I can hand feed the rope. My problem now is that the cheaper type winches that have been highlighted by peeps are not strong enough only able to lift up to 30 lbs and my mud weight is 18kg i.e. about 40 lbs so rock and hard place springs to mind

[Antares_9]

Ah well, just looks like a wallet emptying exersise then I'm afraid, you can get a decent windlass that will do what you ask but it will be closer to 500 than 200.

[newf]

That's what I was afraid of but I have to bite the bullet I suppose

[senator]

has anyone tried a 12v winch, the sort you would find on the front of a 4x4

I know they would be too slow for an anchor but you are not going to be pulling in 40m of cable to recover a mud weight.

Not sure of the cost but just a thought. Not sure how the cable would stand up to being sumerged all the time though.

[Gordon]

Newf

Hi being a cheapskate I have fitted a trailer winch, seens more than adequate for dragging the weight out of the mud. It will not last for ever but who cares they cost next to nothing. Just one thing though, the galvanised wire will only last a year so change it for stainless steel shrowd cable if you get one

I believe you moor at Rickos, if so have a look on Woodland Dawn, behind the dinghy shed.

Feel free to wind the weight up and down.

[newf]

Gordon thanks for the invite and I'll have a look when I go over again but my problem is my back and I really need to have the luxury of electric but like you say there must be an alternative to the Marine label

[Palmtree]

Hi,

An encounter with a 4x4 before Christmas left me with a bad back this year and the physio suggested I found a better way to lift the mudweight. What I did was to put a pulley on the mudweight and that gave me a 2:1 advantage on the lift. This has worked out very well with one exception. As the rope is pulled in you have to pull on the section of rope that was in contact with the weight/pulley and is now covered in mud. OK so this is only a few feet of muddy rope but does make a mess on the deck.

Is there a rope that the mud will not stick to?

David's suggestion of a Yacht winch might help, these winches have a handle that fits in the top and can give you plenty of torque to pull the weight out.

Ian

[Gordon]

Yes I guess that a hand winch would be particularly difficult on an Elysian with a bad back as having no well as such it would be a hands and knees job, not easy, anyway have a play on WD and you will see how easy to turn the winch is,

[newf]

I had a look at Senator's suggestion for 4x4 winches and found that some are very cheap and maybe with a little conversion may do the job, any negative thought would be appreciated

http://www.electricwinchshop.co.uk/cata ... Range.html

[Antares_9]

Apart from the obvious aesthetics and possibly impractical (boat dependant) deck footprint I can’t see any drawback, they are designed to sit outside in all weathers and whilst I would be a little concerned at using one in salt water the fresh water on the broads is no worse than road spray. I would still give it a good hose down after every trip though.

[teadaemon]

One of the boats I look after at work is an Elysian 27 with a manual trailer winch fitted at the bow for the mudweight. I have to say that it's definitely less than ideal, as to drop (or if you prefer, throw) the mudweight you either have to flake the rope out on deck before you let go, or let the winch spin at high speed, with consequent risk to life and limb. There's also the issue of getting the mudweight back on board - on this boat it hangs just below the bow, but that's not a situation I'm particularly happy with.

A 12V electric winch will use a lot of power, so in addition to the cost of the winch, you'll probably also need to factor in some very thick copper cables, and possibly a dedicated battery (not to mention chain locker, chain, bow roller or fairleads, and some means of making the chain fast when the winch is not in use).

[Gordon]

That sounds completely different to my trailer winch set up which has forward and reverse ratchet and winds up and down in a highly civilised and safe manner. I agree with the bit about dangling the weight over the bows and get round that by having about a foot or so of rope spliced to the weight which gives a safe if muddy handle to lift it that last few inches onto the deck

[teadaemon]

That sounds completely different to my trailer winch set up which has forward and reverse ratchet and winds up and down in a highly civilised and safe manner. I agree with the bit about dangling the weight over the bows and get round that by having about a foot or so of rope spliced to the weight which gives a safe if muddy handle to lift it that last few inches onto the deck

How well does you mudweight hold after being deployed in this manor? I've always been taught to let it free-fall (either dropped or thrown overboard) in order that it buries itself in the mud as deeply as possible, hence my comments about flaking out rope.

[Gordon]

Ah good point , I have never really thought about the difference in hold depending on how the thing is presented to the mud. This will probably start a whole new chain of debate on the forum

Certainly there is nothing but gentle presentation when it is held on stainles shrowd cable, I am assuming an electric winch would also lower the weight is a fairly sedate manner

[Antares_9]

A "proper" windlass will, or should have a free fall option, if you use chain and a self launching roller the weight would snug up to it well away from the hull and you should be able to do it from the cockpit.

[newf]

I thought I would post an update to my original question about windlass’s/ winches. After some browsing ect. I have decided to go down the 4x4 type winch .

I ordered the smallest one in the range that I could find , this has a pulling capacity of nearly 1 ton and considering I only need to lift about 40 lbs I think it might cope !! It usually comes as standard with a wire rope but on speaking to the suppliers they can replace this with a synthetic rope at extra cost (which they have ). It also comes with a long wired remote but again they can supply at extra cost a wireless remote . The synthetic rope was quite expensive but I think a wise substitute and it is as strong as the wired variety.

I ordered over the phone on one day and it arrived complete with the rope changed and the extras I requested the next day, now that in my mind is good service and the customer care service from this company couldn’t be faulted.

So in conclusion , I will submit a further update when I have it installed but for now the box contained , the winch complete with synthetic rope installed, all fixing bolts, plate and hooks ect. wireless remote and winch cover. Total cost inc. VAT and shipping £184.

The supplier did point out that these winches are designed to pull at the horizontal and not at standing start from the vertical so as long as you can start with a small horizontal pull this would be ok.