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Let's Talk Winches


ajive

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So my winch came from the factory with a slightly bent mounting plate and the strap comes in at an angle and is already fraying at the edge.  To add insult to injury, I managed to bend it a touch more on a flat ramp with high water the other day trying to get that last 1" to the roller.  I could probably go in for a warranty claim since it was damaged from the start, but after researching, I'm liking the idea of a bit more pulling power of the two speed models.

So first, I do try to get the trailer deep and float it on best I can, but my primary ramp isn't super steep, and as already occurred this spring, that isn't always possible.  I feel like the bow eye must be highly reinforced, but is anyone overly concerned with the tension they put on it?

The stock winch is rated for 1500 lb with a 4.1:1 ratio.  I'm thinking about the following options to replace:

This 2600 lb with up to a 12.2:1 ratio https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Winch/Fulton/F142418.html

Or this 3200lb with up to a 16:1 ratio https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Winch/Fulton/FW32000101.html

And lastly, a very slight upgrade to a 2000lb single speed with 5.1:1 https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Winch/Fulton/FW20000301.html

I'm obviously never going to just drag it up on the bunks dry, but the extra advantage would be nice.

Any concerns with doing this?  Or any experience with winches I should know about?  Thanks!

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I have the F2, two speed.  It is overkill on my SSLXI, but I like it as it is pretty effortless.  I don't trust it as it will pop out of gear occasionally when cranking it.

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8 minutes ago, Bozboat said:

I have the F2, two speed.  It is overkill on my SSLXI, but I like it as it is pretty effortless.  I don't trust it as it will pop out of gear occasionally when cranking it.

Yeah, it looks like you can't really see the gears in there.  I like the XLT because my single speed you can physically press the latch into place when you are done to be sure and it looks like that is the case on the 2 speed as well.

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My new XLT plate is bent as well and it won’t stay locked in position. I am going to get it warrantied as soon as I can get the time to contact them. I use a safety chain all of the tome now.

Edited by wdr
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3 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

I was attracted to this topic 'cause I thought it said "Let's talk wenches".  :)  (It was a long day....)

 

Haha.  I thought about opening with a cheesy joke, but opted against it.

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3 minutes ago, wdr said:

My new XLT plate is bent as well and it won’t stay locked in position. I am going to get it warrantied as soon as I can get the time to contact them. I use a safety chain all of the tome now.

So I'm not the only one!  I feel like it's undersized as-is for the 23lsv.  It's a 7500 boat with a 1500 lb winch.  Not that there should be a ton of friction if you have the trailer deep, but if it's that easy to bend it's clearly a problem.  Mine still locks but doesn't fully engaged without some manual assistance.

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Mine was bent on day one. The weight of the boat in transit must of bent it. I am going to make an internal back plate for the replacement unless the new one has bigger cajones, which I doubt it will.

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I always do the "free upgrade" with boat winches.  I cut the 20' strap down to about 5'.  This make the spooled up diameter about half size, which doubles the pulling force (same result as doubling the gear ratio).  I can't ever imagine needing 20' of winch strap.

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1 hour ago, MadMan said:

I always do the "free upgrade" with boat winches.  I cut the 20' strap down to about 5'.  This make the spooled up diameter about half size, which doubles the pulling force (same result as doubling the gear ratio).  I can't ever imagine needing 20' of winch strap.

Good idea, though would have stung me a few weeks ago when I backed my boat down thinking I'd unhooked the strap.  That made an awful racket and soaked the back of my truck with the spinning handle as my bud floated away in my boat.  (oops)  That's what happens when you launch at 5 am...  lol

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I upgraded my winch on my baotmate from the standard Fulton to the 2 speed version on boatmate's site and it is night and day difference. My boat is extremely heavy in the bow and with a steep ramp is a pain in the a**

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got out for a real world test of the new winch.  Can confirm, it's a great upgrade.  Even on the 5.1:1 gear I was able to effortlessly get the bow tight to to roller.  Even on my old VTX I don't think I've ever had it that tight without power loading.

Disappointing that the factory skimps on an undersized winch, but the upgrade is pretty cheap.  Highly recommended I'd you feel like you struggle at the ramp.

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