Tender Towing Winch-gctid402234

[Pacrimrat]

This subject came up on another string so I'm starting a new one for input.

PIKA STEVE posted that on a previous boat he had a winch mounted in the laz for towing his tender.

I bought a winch a few months ago with this in mind.

Has anyone else done this? If so please share your experiences and how yours is set up.

Chris

Originally Posted by pika steve

I used this setup on our 38 foot tug as well, but had a small winch mounted under the rear deck, with amsteel rope. This rope exited the hull just under the stern bumper rail. The winch was equipped with a wireless remote so when docking I could winch the tender into the boat until I felt it bump up against the stern rail of the tug. That was a sweet set up. You did not even have to get your hands wet to pull in the 19 footer! I have been thinking of installing one (winch in the lazz) on our present 4588. Great setup for a stern anchor, shore tie, or tender hauling.

Cheers all. Steve

(Hijack)

Steve this is great timing, I was just engineering a setup like you're talking about. I bought a small 12v winch and intend to set it up for towing. Do you have any details or photos of your old setup?

Chris

sorry I don't have any pictures of the winch. Just used a 12 volt 4x4 type winch and replaced the cable with amsteel. Bolted her down and used a piece of 3/8 copper tube with a nice flare, driven in and glued into the stern rail. All the line was under deck and a straight pull to the drum. The distance to the drum was 10 feet, and it seemed to feed on evenly, perhaps because of that long distance. Why don't you start up a thread and get the thoughts of all interested parties? I like the idea of going through a roller once the amsteel goes through the thimball you will need to install in the transome (for instance)

Steve

[Guest]

Hey Chris. I see the only real challange here being the sort distance between where the amsteel comes through the transom, and where the winch might be mounted. As above, too short a distance tends to have the line pile up on one part of the drum, or at least this has been my experience with wire. I have been considering a small winch on my 4588 and will be on the boat tomorrow, so will have a look in the Lazz with a view towards where the winch might go. As I recall the amsteel floats as well, so makes a great choice for towing. Do you have any thoughts as to coming through the hull above or below the swim grid?

Steve

[Pacrimrat]

Steve,

I haven't been on my boat in a while. Should be there the 2nd if all goes well, I'll take a look.

I've been using 3/16" Amsteel blue for towing so I wouldn't need a big hole through the transom.

So below the swim step might be the way to go. It would keep it out of the way but would have to be through a eye to keep it reachable at the aft edge of the step.

Having said that, now you would have to consider the side loads at that point. (on the step)

This needs some thought.

I just had a thought, how about corrosion? did your other winch rust badly with the salt water line wrapped around it?

Chris

[Guest]

Hey Chris, just you and me on this topic huh? In regard to corrosion I just sprayed the whole winch with a thick sticky corrosion product. My line went through that 3/8 tubing and I think the pressure, and traveling through the copper tube "wrung out" most of the water. Not sure what you mean by side loads. I would think I would machine a small brass or stainless thimble with a nice trumpet shape as the amsteel comes into it from the towed boat. This would be epoxied into a hole drilled through the transome. I think the transom is pretty darn thick, and the thimble would be about as long as the transom is thick. The tricky part is having enough distance from where the line comes through the transom, and where the drum for the winch is. I suspect that too close, will have the line piled up in one place on the drum. This may or may not even be a problem. Mounting the winch at the side of the lazarett (port or starboard) would require a roller mounted on the inboard side of the transom so the line can nicely do a 90, and head the 6 feet towards the sideways mounted winch. This would allow some distance from the drum to the "fair lead" I suspect I will mount the winch on a 14" aluminum plate, and then use a large number of #10 (ish) ss screws to hold this to the transom. This way you avoid harming the transom by having he winch pull out. (my winch had only 2 big holes for mounting bolts) I did not make it to the boat today. I will be there tomorrow and scope out the install. What size is your winch? Wireless remote or hard wired?

Cheers Steve

[kwb]

When towing do you then tie the tow line to the stern cleats via - bridal or is all the towing load going back through transom and to the winch?

[Guest]

Hello, on the tug, the load was directly acting on the drum of the winch. This was a larger winch that had I think a 6000 lb capacity. It was bolted via a plate to a huge beam (of the sort you find on a tug?). On the Bayliner I am wondering if we might want to go through a roller to share the load 1/2 on the roller, and the other half on the winch, as I crudely attempted to describe above.

Steve

[Tombro]

You should have an Engineer do load calculations. I don't think the force will be cut in half using a roller. Lateral force comes into play. Also I am not sure that #10 screws are adequate to hold a winch.

Hope this helps!

Tom