Can anyone suggest a block and tackle system that is reasonably priced?

[Chotu]

Can anyone suggest a good block and tackle system that is up to the task of lifting a dinghy onto davits or lifting Outboards on a track?

I had bought some from Harbor freight many years ago and they lasted about five years without any type of care. They were good. They were like $20 each or $40 each.

I just wasted about $120 on Amazon buying ones that seems like the same ones from Harbor freight, but in reality, they were toys. They were not even full-size.

I am definitely open to the nice ones also, but they keep looking like they are $1000. I’m not feeling like that’s a very good price for what it is.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I think four pulleys/blocks on each side makes it good.

[rslifkin]

Garhauer sells the 6:1 tackle they include on their davits for a bit over $300 including lines. I put a set of their davits on this past spring and have been happy with the included blocks, etc.

[Tsuru]

+1 for Garhauer, that said I use a Lifesling 5 to 1 to lift our dingy off/on the deck. Also doubles for it's intended duty. :-)

[Chotu]

Great! That’s a reasonable cost to get the nice ones.

I’ll certainly grab these. Thank you for the information. Would have taken me half a day looking that up. And I only have about 14 days left.

[Chotu]

Just to clarify, these are them?

https://www.garhauermarine.com/shop/...t-dd-btc-port/

They don’t seem to have all that much mechanical advantage compared to the cheapo is from Harbor freight, but, I think the friction inherent in a bad system of sheaves might have probably made the pull equivalent.

[Don C L]

I would bet the Garhauer will stand up to the elements better than the cheapo.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I would bet the Garhauer will stand up to the elements better than the cheapo.

I would expect it to last forever like most of these systems for dinghies do. That’s why you can’t find them very easily. Not many people need these since they last. However, if it doesn’t have the right mechanical advantage, it’s useless from day one.



I’m trying to imagine the lesser mechanical advantage is made up for it with the nice rolling bearings or whatever these have over the very high friction in the el cheapo ( which lasted 5 years with no help at all, just sitting out in Florida weather. Bare metal. Not painted.)

[Don C L]

Isn't the Garhauer 6:1? Am I missing something? How heavy is your dinghy?

[Tsuru]

We used these Garhauer units on our last boat and they are good quality. My 100# 4'9" wife could hoist the dingy, but it was done one side at a time. We also had this unit on our outboard life that worked well (almost easy). Wife hoisted and I helped from the dingy.
These are well made, using low friction sheaves. The line is long enough to do the job and is also good quality. Should last the life of the boat.
Garhauer is a good company, I believe the hardware is made in house, by people who seem proud of what they do.

The Garhauer are indeed 6 to 1 purchase. I confused the point by stating that I now use 5 to 1 lifesling hoist. But our situation is different because we use the boom to hoist from the deck, no longer using davits. I had the lifesling hoist so I use what I have.
Sorry for the confusion.....

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Isn't the Garhauer 6:1? Am I missing something? How heavy is your dinghy?

El Cheapos are 8:1

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

We used these Garhauer units on our last boat and they are good quality. My 100# 4'9" wife could hoist the dingy, but it was done one side at a time. We also had this unit on our outboard life that worked well (almost easy). Wife hoisted and I helped from the dingy.
These are well made, using low friction sheaves. The line is long enough to do the job and is also good quality. Should last the life of the boat.
Garhauer is a good company, I believe the hardware is made in house, by people who seem proud of what they do.

The Garhauer are indeed 6 to 1 purchase. I confused the point by stating that I now use 5 to 1 lifesling hoist. But our situation is different because we use the boom to hoist from the deck, no longer using davits. I had the lifesling hoist so I use what I have.
Sorry for the confusion.....

OK. Fantastic.

I’ll definitely go with these. That’s the main concern. All the women in my life are about the exact same size as your wife. So, I need them to be able to easily hoist up the dinghy with the engine.

And the set that I use for raising my main propulsion outboards out of the water should have maximum mechanical advantage too. Just because I’ll be more inclined to keep them raised all the time, keeping them free of electrolysis and growth.

[s/v Jedi]

I use a single 1/4” Amsteel Blue Dyneema line 1:1 on a winch (polyester cover where it engages the winch). I used blocks but now plan to switch to low friction rings. This isn’t just enormous savings but also much easier handling

[rslifkin]

Yup, that's the Garhauer stuff I was referring to. They sell a pair of them slightly cheaper than the individual ones.



They're 6:1. Going beyond that tends to add a lot of friction, so if you need more mechanical advantage, it's usually time for a winch (which can be used with a block/tackle setup if desired). My dinghy is ~260 lbs. Lifting the bow with the 6:1 tackle is downright easy. I wouldn't mind a little more mechanical advantage on the stern, but it's certainly do-able. Weight distribution in the davits is probably something like 90 / 170 (lbs). We lift the dinghy with the outboard still on it.

[Franziska]

Chotu, use low friction rings, Dyneema line and divert to a winch.
Funny enough 3mm Dyneema line has a breaking strength of about 900kg, so 3 lines coming through a large low friction ring from 3 directions to one thicker "winchable" line is no problem.
Much cheaper than classic block and tackle.
We use that, works great.

Even though we have no classic davits we have one line with three ends which pick the three corners of the dinghy and winch the one line up. Than afix with two straps for storage.
Solar panels stops the dinghy with filling with rain (it has a self draining cockpit anyway).
If you want I can take some pix tommorow, it's nighttime here already.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Chotu, use low friction rings, Dyneema line and divert to a winch.
Funny enough 3mm Dyneema line has a breaking strength of about 900kg, so 3 lines coming through a large low friction ring from 3 directions to one thicker "winchable" line is no problem.
Much cheaper than classic block and tackle.
We use that, works great.

Even though we have no classic davits we have one line with three ends which pick the three corners of the dinghy and winch the one line up. Than afix with two straps for storage.
Solar panels stops the dinghy with filling with rain (it has a self draining cockpit anyway).
If you want I can take some pix tommorow, it's nighttime here already.

Interesting! I would like to consider this actually. This sounds like a good solution. I am stuck in the old days I guess.

I could run this forward with all of the rest of the crap I have running forward to my sail control table and just use the electric winch to pull it up.

This means running it all the way forward to the mast however, then around the corner 180 degrees, to the sail control table inside the salon.

I hope to see the picture soon to consider. Really sounds creative.