Electric Winch Problem/Question

[mali0056]

Hey guys I am hoping to get some thoughts from "the collective" out there. I have a 1997 Bayliner Trophy 1802 WA Cuddy. I also have an electric winch that I run off a battery mounted on my trailer. I run a cable not a strap in my winch. I actually have been out twice already this year and both times the cable does it's job on the way up/on the trailer very nicely with no problems but my issue is when I am loading up on the bunk trailer the winch just doesn't want to give me any cable to extend to the bow to hook up. I fish the North Shore of Lake Superior and assume much like your ports that power loading is a no-no.

I have a cable with a remote that attaches into the winch with the switch and the winch in enclosed in a housing so there really is no easy way for a manual override to release or free spool.

Any thoughts?

[SeaCatMich]

I have had a couple different brands of electric trailer winches over the years and they have all had a lever to push to disengage the spool and allow line/strap to be pulled off. I also use the long cord to the power switch to remotely engage the motor to pull the boat on the trailer, but if I move the switch the other direction (toward the front of the trailer) it will unspool line/strap too.

My normal procedure is to back the trailer in to the ramp but stop short so I can still walk up to the winch and disengage the clutch to spool out enough line/strap to get to the bow of the boat when the boat is pulled as far forward on the trailer as I can. Then I back the trailer in farther to submerge the bunks/rollers and I hook up the line/strap and pull it onto the trailer.

[tgafish]

I'm guessing what you're saying is that the cable is getting bound up on itself or the spindle itself won't turn? Either way if you keep the cable attached when launching your boat you can use the weight of the boat to pull out cable for you. Then you just leave it extended unitl it's time to load. I've had to do this once when the cable was bound into itself pretty tight from a shallow launch site where I had to drag the boat across the bunks quite a ways

[Nailer]

I have a set up a lot like yours. I have a battery mounted to the trailer that power's the winch. I also have a power feed from the truck that feeds to the battery so it always is at full charge, and the winch can draw from there if needed.

When I launch my winch has a knob to loosen to let the cable out. I always let the boat roll down then take my foot to push some more cable out. I then hook the cable to a place on the trailer so it's fully extended when retriving..

[mali0056]

Thanks guys. I will try a few of your suggestions this weekend and let you know what I find out.