Electric trailer winch

[Graham W]

Rob,

I found this thread on an Australian forum that may answer your question http://trailersailerplace.com.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9717.  Hard wiring a winch to the car seemed like rather too much bother but the answers from down under about a separate battery are quite encouraging.

Perhaps BC26 owners don't use this forum so much?

[Rob Johnstone]

Hi Graham,
Thanks for the link to the Aus site. I've decided to go down the stand alone battery route and am putting it in a box on the trailer, just behind the stem post. As I've a Euro 13 way connection on the back of the Yeti, I intend to bring the trailer cable into the box and then split out the "fridge" power supply to provide a trickle charge to the battery when towing. It sounds a bit belt and braces compared with some of the down under solutions!
I've also had made up a bracket for the top of the stem post to alter the "angle of attack" for the winch cable. Sadly, I can't keep the hand winch in place because the elec job interferes with the winch handle, so it's not as belt and braces as I would like but I'll keep the hand winch, it's bolts and a spanner to hand....
I'm using a NINJA winch with dyneema cable. I'll post a picture when the ensemble is complete.

And yes, I don't think the BC26 guys use this forum much. They just have select owners meetings in bars at boat shows  -:)

[Graham W]

And yes, I don't think the BC26 guys use this forum much. They just have select owners meetings in bars at boat shows

They can also meet up in the dining room on one of their yachts.

Looking forward to seeing your winch arrangement when it's finished.

[Andy Dingle]

'They can also meet up in the dining room on one of their yachts.' - In which case they probably will need the fridge battery supply for the wine cooler...!

Rob ..  Interesting idea and arrangement. I like the idea of charging the batteries like that - tho' is there enough oomph in the 12 v 'fridge' supply to charge batteries? Looking forward to seeing it.
I thought of something similar but just using a basic 12v winch off ebay. These generally are designed to 'clip' over the car tow hitch with an included bracket. So I was going to bolt on a tow ball hitch to the trailer - mount the winch and just crocodile clip it onto the car battery. It has a remote on/off switch (but not reverse).
I've got the bits but never fitted it all - I still just winch my boat manually, not too onerous. But I suppose as the years pass (too quickly) I may be looking for some electro mechanical assistance very soon..
Are you still sailing down in Chichester harbour?

[Rob Johnstone]

If you go to the link shown below, you will see some photos of the battery box under construction. The box will sit on a tray over the V of the front of the trailer, between it and the post that holds the winch. The electric winch will sit on a bracket (to get the angle of dangle right) in place of the existing hand winch. I'll attach a photo of the tray, bracket and winch to the link at a later date.

The idea is as follows. There is a connection to the car by means of a 13 way cable and 13 way European plug. This enters the front of the box through the bottom white gland. The wires for the fridge (pos + neg) are split out of the cable and connected to the battery by a pair of croc clips. I'll fit an on/off switch for this connection later. I suspect I'll have to find some sort of regulator to control the current flow but that's a problem for another day. 

The rest of the cable (without the fridge leads) then connects to at Euro socket on the rear of the box. The trailer board will connect to this socket.

The leads from the winch will enter the box through the upper white gland, and connect to the battery via a single pole on / off switch (which you can see installed but yet to be connected). The battery is secured fore and aft by some ply spacers and will be held down by some strong bungee.

The box also has space to hold all the stuff that secures the boat to trailer and also my "sheerleg top". It's the triangular piece of plywood beside the battery. This fits on top of two bits of al tube (ex hang glider) over which I lead the jib halliard as part of my "get the mast up with less effort" rig.

Also on the link is a brief video of a prototype model for a set of "bomb doors" in place of the plastic bits in the outboard well.......the push rod is a piece of fibre pole as used in llightweigth tents.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3h1evp0i5g6kr9p/AAA70W9WZOHlcI9Y96ve3JRja?dl=0

And, yes Andy, Vagabond will be at Hayling Island next summer. Sadly I can't make it to Sail Caledonia or to the Swallow Raid, the Owners Agent is demanding holidays!

[Rob Johnstone]

It would help if the 13 pin connector on the back of my Yeti had been fully connected. The cheapskate dealer only connected the 7 pins of the old configuration. Now is it worth getting that all connected (£150) or buying a cheap solar panel trickle charger (£14)? Answers on a post card........

[SteveWD]

BC26-001 Muddy Waters has an electric trailer winch with battery on the trailer. The need for one reduces the more you immerse the trailer (make sure the electrics stay out of the water).

Vis-a-vis the wine cooler comments, I really don't know whether we have one, as the Steward (who lives in the focsle) deals with that sort of thing for us.

Steve
BC26-006 Samba

[Bill Rollo]

Graham

at the risk of inhibiting discussion of batteries have you looked at 2 speed manual winches? I have a Fulton F2 obtained in the US (Amazon.com) which, so far at least, has made light work removing Askari from the water.

Bill

[Graham W]

Bill,

The F2 seems to be as good as it gets for our sort of manual winches.  Possibly even over-engineered, which makes a refreshing change for trailer parts.  They don't seem to have a European distributor for this model, so shipping from the US would be the way to go, adding about $80 to the c. $150 cost.

[Andy Dingle]

I have a Fulton twin speed on my Snipe trailer - makes short work of hauling the boat (BC23) up on the trailer., the '2nd gear' is admittedly very slow but equally very light.
It comes with a removable handle which is handy, especially when pulling the strap out. (Get a spare, if you lose it as I did, then it's catastrophic!)
Hence I never thought it necessary to finish my project for an elec winch.

Available from boat trailer manufacturers for about £65.

http://www.banburytrailers.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=275_277&product_id=2271 and others.

Mine is the braked version - so that may cost a bit more.

[david]

Here  is a sight you can use to see a great variety  of winches.

http://www.easternmarine.com/Boat-Trailer-Hand-Winches/

[Graham W]

I had a Fulton F2 3200lb twin-speed winch shipped from the US for just under US$250 and have now fitted it.  This involved drilling some extra mounting holes in the galvanised base plate on the trailer (it needs three holes instead of CLH's standard two). Its sleek design looks somewhat incongruous on my agricultural-looking trailer.  And it so clearly says "this is worth stealing" that I'm wondering how to make it theftproof.

The winch is well engineered and makes light work of getting my BR20 on to the trailer.  Even when, as last weekend, the ballast tank is full.  In the lower of the two gears, because you are not totally focused on the effort of winching (and not rupturing your aorta), it is easy to make small adjustments to the winch strap so that the boat comes up on to the trailer dead centre.  It makes an electric winch entirely unnecessary and is thoroughly recommended. 

Great suggestion Bill, thank you (and to Andy for backing him up).

[IanEagland]

Hi Graham,

Who was the supplier that was willing to ship a Fulton to the UK.?

[Graham W]

Ian,

It was from an eBay store called Boaters Plus.  If you include postage and import charges, they still seem to be cheaper than the others.  You should get a better exchange rate than I did in December.  Their service was very good.  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fulton-Winch-F2-3200lb-2-Speed-FW32000101-/142256525018

[IanEagland]

Hi Graham,

Many thanks.