[jonnymed1c]

Hi I own a 20 ft Wilson flyer on a Brenderup trailer. I have to rope the trailer when launching and retrieving on the slipway as I can't back enough of the trailer into the water.

The approx weight of boat and trailer is 3000kg, I have to slip the clutch and getting alot of wear.

I was thinking of getting an electric winch to pull the boat and trailer up the slipway and onto flat ground where I can then hitch on.

Does anyone use a winch for this purpose.

Would this be a viable option for me given the weight of the boat and trailer.

What other options would I have.

I look forward to any replies
Thanks

 

[adammus]

Yeah, I've seen couple of options but do you mean electric winch attached to your car? You can buy electric winch with tow bar hook. Your setup winching weight will depend on how steep is the slipway - can be 500 kg or could be 2500 kg.
Have you tried with 4x4 car? It sometimes does magic.

 

[Norm B]

Yeah, I've seen couple of options but do you mean electric winch attached to your car? You can buy electric winch with tow bar hook. Your setup winching weight will depend on how steep is the slipway - can be 500 kg or could be 2500 kg.
Have you tried with 4x4 car? It sometimes does magic.

I was driving a land rover with an electric winch on the front and it pulled a police car out of a ditch in the snow, no probs. BMW's are crap in snow and ice.

 

[gordmac]

Boat club use a fixed 12v winch to launch and retrieve on our slip. Don't think we have used it for anything that heavy though. Even with lighter stuff it draws a lot of current, my clamp meter only goes to 30 amp and it is way over that.

 

[Clinker]

I don't use one for launch and recovery but I do use a 12V winch to get the boat up my drive for winter storage (drive is about the same gradient as the average slip way) - boat weighs about the same as yours (are you sure yours is that much? - seems a lot for what we can see on the photo) - it's very slow compared to pulling it with a vehicle - if there was a queue at the slip way I don't think you'd be that popular. Plus it's really a two man job as I have someone follow the boat, moving chocks up behind the rear wheels incase the winch lets go.

 

[Belfast Bill]

I fitted one to my trailer fairly easy using unistrutt, Made up a place for a leisure battery fitted a winch and easy peasy.
I might have some pictures somewhere.

 

[jonnymed1c]

Yeah, I've seen couple of options but do you mean electric winch attached to your car? You can buy electric winch with tow bar hook. Your setup winching weight will depend on how steep is the slipway - can be 500 kg or could be 2500 kg.
Have you tried with 4x4 car? It sometimes does magic.

Hi yes a winch fitted to the car. It is a 4 wheel drive hyundai santa fe.

 

[jonnymed1c]

I don't use one for launch and recovery but I do use a 12V winch to get the boat up my drive for winter storage (drive is about the same gradient as the average slip way) - boat weighs about the same as yours (are you sure yours is that much? - seems a lot for what we can see on the photo) - it's very slow compared to pulling it with a vehicle - if there was a queue at the slip way I don't think you'd be that popular. Plus it's really a two man job as I have someone follow the boat, moving chocks up behind the rear wheels incase the winch lets go.

Hi thanks for the reply, I'll have to weigh it on a weigh bridge to get an accurate weight.

I know the winches aren't the fastest, I launch from a few slipways in Donegal and most of the time I'm the only one using it that day. I always go out with another adult anyhow, with roping I need someome to remove the chocks.

What winch do you have?

I look forward to your reply
Regards Jonny

 

[adammus]

Hi yes a winch fitted to the car. It is a 4 wheel drive hyundai santa fe.

Its big and heavy car and should be easy unless its slippery etc. Are you sure its 3000 kg? Isn't your boat water logged a bit?
As I mentioned earlier - the cheaper way would be to try with an electric winch hooked up to the tow bar, I saw this before couple of times on super steep slipway and worked beautifully, unless you budget is unlimited then you can install front winch to your Hyundai - its expensive though.

 

[SiDfish]

What about a launching pole? Length of tube same length as trailer (straps on) and connects boat trailer to car, with a big gap, for launch/retrieval. Simple and cheap with no chocks/extra bods

 

[haddog]

I can’t believe for 1 second that boat goes 3t? I had an arvor 250 that went around 3t with a 230hp inboard and 300 litres of fuel. Even a fully rigged warrior 175 with a 100hp outboard is only 1/2 that weight. That said I have had a Quicksilver 500 and used an electric winch which was ok. I believe it was a 5000lb winch but would struggle a little getting her back on to the trailer. It was also a bit of a pain with getting a battery to the trailer, just another thing to consider.

 

[Clinker]

Hi thanks for the reply, I'll have to weigh it on a weigh bridge to get an accurate weight.

I know the winches aren't the fastest, I launch from a few slipways in Donegal and most of the time I'm the only one using it that day. I always go out with another adult anyhow, with roping I need someome to remove the chocks.

What winch do you have?

I look forward to your reply
Regards Jonny

Can’t remember which one without going to look at it (only used twice a year) but it was from this place:Home Page

 

[JonD]

Sounds like a pain in the butt to me. You would need a person at the vehicle to release the winch to drop the trailer down the ramp and also a person to guide the trailer down the ramp. Depending on the tide and ramp, possibly a very large winch to hold enough rope or cable. You would also need a large air filled jockey wheel tyre if there is any kind of unevenness on the ramp, also heavy duty jockey wheel fittings to get over the apex of the ramp.

We have winches on our 4x4's for pulling our vehicles out of sticky situations. These winches pull a fair amount of amps from the vehicle batteries so we tend to run lifepo4 (lithium) to cope with the heavy discharge loads. So obviously the vehicle engine remains running and midway weighting is placed over the winch cable incase of breaking and recoiling at any people in the way. Winching is dangerous so if you do try it be sure you understand shackle loadings and cable ratings etc.

I don't know anyone who doesn't use a 4x4 at ramps here but in saying that, its extremely rare to ever have to engage 4x4 on the ramps we use, even pulling almost 4 tons of boat and trailer.