Trailer winch: cable or strap?

it seems like a good secondary tie-down from the bow eye to the trailer tongue would prevent the boat from coming forward in an emergency situation. Unless of course, the bow eye ripped out or the stern tie-down gave out, in which case you might have an ass-over-teakettle situation. Yikes!

jd
 
nimrod":17kjplb5 said:
it seems like a good secondary tie-down from the bow eye to the trailer tongue would prevent the boat from coming forward in an emergency situation. Unless of course, the bow eye ripped out or the stern tie-down gave out...
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Yeah, ultimately something is going to give if enough force is applied; so I'm thinking of it like a ground tackle system, in which you just want to try to keep it reasonably strong and balanced, with no particular "weak links."

Aurelia":17kjplb5 said:
I also like neutral on a winch for "paying" out length quickly to reach out for the boat eye when needed without a bunch of unloaded cranking required.
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Thanks for mentioning the neutral function. I figured that's how it would work but it's good to know. The T2605 I'm ordering does have neutral (and a strap).

Sunbeam
 
Sunbeam,

As to launch and retrieve.... Float the boat off and slide it back on. Just remember different ramps will have different grades. It's a learning curve and sometimes you don't want witnesses..

Mike
 
Just about to click the "order" button on the T2605 winch with strap and while reviewing the specs one last time came up with a question: The winch comes with 20' of strap (and apparently that is also the max capacity of the drum). Is that enough? I'm thinking that typically since a ramp is sloped and the boat somewhat floats on, that it "meets" the trailer partway up and thus the strap never actually has to extend all the way aft on the trailer (which on my trailer would be ~19' from winch stand to aft end of trailer). Is that correct?

In other words, I guess at first glance it seems like the strap should be longer than the trailer; but as I think about it, that probably isn't actually true in the real world because of the geometry?

Sunbeam
(not clicking on the order button yet)
 
typically, I'm pulling the boat 6-8 feet max.

some folks power their boats onto the trailer, in which case you can often snug it right up to the stop, or very close.

jd
 
nimrod":2g7nt7be said:
typically, I'm pulling the boat 6-8 feet max.

some folks power their boats onto the trailer, in which case you can often snug it right up to the stop, or very close.
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Thanks. That's what I figured, upon reflection, but you can't beat experience to know for sure :thup I'll go ahead and order.
 
possibly, if the ramp is steep enough, and the rollers well-lubed.

another thing you will find, is you won't be able to "adjust" the boat side-to-side.

You'll read a lot of posts here about trailer guides to keep the stern of the boat centered on the trailer when retrieving. I never worry about that. With bunks you can use a 6 foot 2x4 as a lever against the trailer to shift the boat sideways very easily.

jd
 
In that case I better hope the rollers center it perfectly as I don't think there is anymore than 1" between the boat and the trailer fenders as it sits now.

Bill Kelleher


nimrod":1ipmfv80 said:
possibly, if the ramp is steep enough, and the rollers well-lubed.

another thing you will find, is you won't be able to "adjust" the boat side-to-side.

You'll read a lot of posts here about trailer guides to keep the stern of the boat centered on the trailer when retrieving. I never worry about that. With bunks you can use a 6 foot 2x4 as a lever against the trailer to shift the boat sideways very easily.

jd
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I lever it aft of the fenders, against the trailer frame.

the winch will keep the bow centered, you're just adjusting the stern, and want to get as far back as possible to maximize leverage.

jd
 
OK, Thanks

Bill Kelleher


nimrod":2793w5da said:
I lever it aft of the fenders, against the trailer frame.

the winch will keep the bow centered, you're just adjusting the stern, and want to get as far back as possible to maximize leverage.

jd
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Generally the 22's have enough room between the fenders--the 25's are closer. I have never levered any boat to center it--just got it close by looking. You can move the stern back and forth with the outboard as it comes up. If it is close to the fenders, then do a visual to be sure as the boat is pulled out of the water. We always attach the strap before pulling the boat up, even with a winch--you may not be 100% to the post--but usually 95%. The 22 is light enough to winch up--even with bunks. Heavier boats occasionally you have to "bump" up with the winch strap tight and hit the brakes. Also with bunks, you should use silicone spray.

Guide ones should not take the weight (the guide ons are usually bent tubing and PVC pipe over the ends and for visual centering, vs the side bunks, which will take the hull and guide it in place. Most trailers will allow the addition of side bunks--and it is often much easier to put them in place to start with.

For the back, we have sued both the wide yellow straps (2 1/2" wide I believe) or cam buckle straps from the stern tow eyes to the trailer frame. Either way--I consider it essential to have some tie down on the back of the boat.
 
What am I missing? If I look at the winches shown on the chart at the beginning of this post, none of the winches mentioned (the 2 speeds at the bottom of the chart,) come with a strap. Are you going to change over to a strap? Those straps are only 20' long, according to the chart. That's really too short for a C-25. Can someone explain this to me?

I put on a strap on the winch that came on the trailer (either a T-3205 or T-3700, I'm not going down to look,) and it wasn't built for a strap. The drum was too wide, etc. So, I'm going to get a stainless cable. The replacement cables I've bought rust in a couple of months.

Late as usual, Boris
 
Hi Boris,

I don't know how all winches work, but I can tell you that the T2025 that came on my trailer (outlined in red on the chart) is meant for cable only. There's no "right" way to put a strap on it. The T2605 can be bought in either style, but you have to specify which one. The notation for that data point is confusing to me on the chart, so I only used it for the other data, and went to the web to find more detail about straps/cables.

The part number that I found for the T2605 with a strap is up at the top of the chart in light blue (kind of hard to read but I also typed it into an earlier post in this thread, for the record). I think you can also find it (different part number ending) with a strap drum but no strap, with a cable drum, etc.

Here is a link to the one I purchased:

http://www.etrailer.com/Winches/Fulton/FT2605Z0301.html

This page shows the same winch (Fulton 2605) in different "flavors." Interestingly, there is one for 7/16" rope, in addition to the strap and cable ones. I could actually imagine smalller-diameter high-tech rope being an option on a cable winch, except it seems like it might be prone to overwraps, somewhat like cable. Seems like the strap would be best for avoiding that.

http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Winches ... ulton.aspx

Sunbeam
 
journey on":3jrmiojt said:
What am I missing? If I look at the winches shown on the chart at the beginning of this post, none of the winches mentioned (the 2 speeds at the bottom of the chart,) come with a strap. Are you going to change over to a strap? Those straps are only 20' long, according to the chart. That's really too short for a C-25. Can someone explain this to me?

I put on a strap on the winch that came on the trailer (either a T-3205 or T-3700, I'm not going down to look,) and it wasn't built for a strap. The drum was too wide, etc. So, I'm going to get a stainless cable. The replacement cables I've bought rust in a couple of months.

Late as usual, Boris
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I don't understand why anyone really needs more than a 6-10' feet of cable, strap etc. When I had my 22 on a roller trailer, I would undo the safety chain, back the trailer well into the water with the cable attached, let the boat off the trailer a few feet with the cable and undo the cable latch. I don't think I ever had more than about 10' of cable out to launch and it was typically 6-8'. To retrieve, I needed even less since I would motor onto the trailer under power to within 1-2' of the stop (or sometimes all the way to the stop), latch up and take in the cable.

With the Tomcat on a bunk trailer and strap, I usually loosen the safety chain, give a couple inches of slack on the strap and back in fairly far. I then undo the stap and safety chain and have to power off the trailer. I don't use more than a foot or two of the strap in this case. I power up to the stop on the retrieve and only need a few inches of slack on the strap.
 
We float the boat on the trailer during recovery and 3-4ft of strap is about all we use. On one or two occasions an odd ramp configuration has meant using 10-15ft of strap. 20ft seems plenty to me.
 
When I put a strap on the T3XXX winch, I thought that, well the whole trailer is only 22 ft, and I'd never gone more than half way, so 20' is enough, even giving me a goodly number of strap wraps. and I have a roller trailer, so I can just run the boat up on the rollers, right?

And I was proven right for the first 3-4 launches, in San Diego and St Paul. Then I had to haul out in Dubuque, Ia, with the Mississippi river running low. I buried the truck and the strap just barely reached, with Judy and I pulling the boat on the trailer for all it's worth. That was a looong winch. So, the length of the strap/cable/rope is not for the normal launches, but the weird ones, like Dubuque or anywhere in San Francisco Bay (Sausilito, San Rafael, for 2.) My apologies to Dubuque and San Francisco, in advance.

Now there are different ways of getting the boat up on the trailer, all of which require less cable than I use. However, if the strap/wire/rope is too short, you're at a ramp a long way from home, you probably don't have a cable stretcher with you either. So my new rule of thumb is 30' min, off the drum. For those who launch at a ramp they know, less is probably enough.

And Bob is absolutely correct on tying down the back of the boat. The first time I did it, on a 22' sailboat, it kept me from dumping a boat on top of a house in Ensenada, Mexico. The only time I've ever done something in advance that saved my rear. NEVER leave home without a strap across the rear of that boat. Here's a place you can get a good strap cheap: USA 2 " Tie Down Strap. Get the cheap one, the others are too complicated.

Boris
 
For those rare (hopefully) cases I would simply extend the strap with one of my (heavy duty) dock lines. Double it up if in doubt. But then, I'm mean :-)

M
 
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