Anchor windlass manual back-up

[Morris8]

Hello

I have been looking at boats in the 40 ft range and all have electric anchor windlasses and all chain. From what I see, there does not seem to be any serious manual back-up in case the electric motor fails. Some but not all have short handles that appear to be for manual operation, but none that I have seen appear to have a serious way to pull up 150 ft of chain and a heavy anchor if the motor fails.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Thank you

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Morris8

Hello



I have been looking at boats in the 40 ft range and all have electric anchor windlasses and all chain. From what I see, there does not seem to be any serious manual back-up in case the electric motor fails. Some but not all have short handles that appear to be for manual operation, but none that I have seen appear to have a serious way to pull up 150 ft of chain and a heavy anchor if the motor fails.

Any comments would be appreciated.



Thank you

The Muir Cougar has a very workable manual backup mode. I know it's good because I don't actually have battery power to mine so I am anchoring the baot manually. 44 footer with a nice big No 7 Super Sarca. (25 kg)

[ItDepends]

We have a Lofrans Tigress windlass on our 53 foot boat that has a manual crank handle that fits in the drum. Is it FUN pulling up a 105 pound anchor and a shot or two of 10mm chain? Hell no. That's why it is electric.

It is not fun, but it IS possible. I have done it. I use it occasionally to be sure it works.

When I had a 40 foot boat, I had a proper, 2-speed, manual windlass. It was easier, you could stand up and work it. But make no mistake about it, if you were pulling up 60lbs of anchor and 3/8" chain from 80 feet of water, it was a serious workout.

If you have an electric windlass, you should take very good care of it.

But... it is an electric motor. They are one of the more reliable pieces of kit out there. Keep water out, feed it good power, change brushes BEFORE needed, and they run for a VERY long time.

[Jammer]

I have a Lofrans Cayman and it does have a manual means of retrieval. Convenient? No, but workable.


It is also possible to retrieve the anchor by using a line to the primary winches and alternating sides when a new purchase is necessary.



Windlass motor failures are not a common problem.

[Morris8]

Thank you,

That is good information and sincerely appreciated. I will research those those windlasses.

Cheers!

[Ericson38]

Originally Posted by Morris8

Hello

I have been looking at boats in the 40 ft range and all have electric anchor windlasses and all chain. From what I see, there does not seem to be any serious manual back-up in case the electric motor fails. Some but not all have short handles that appear to be for manual operation, but none that I have seen appear to have a serious way to pull up 150 ft of chain and a heavy anchor if the motor fails.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Thank you

Sailing large boats are for the strong, and mechanically/electrically astute. On our 38 Ericson on the West Coast, when I was 45, it was easy to pull up a 35 pound CQR and 60 feet of 5/16ths HT chain with no windlass. We didn't have or need one. The rest was rode.

Now 23 years later, it is hard to even think about pulling up a 50 pound plow and all chain 3/8ths HT chain rode without the electric Maxwell 3500. The Maxwell is great, and I run the generator-inverter when using it. What gets brushes and armatures hot is current, not voltage, and the higher the speed they run, the lower the current, due to back EMF. But at close to stall or at lower continuous running voltages, they will pull more current. Feed them 14 volts (if a 12V model).

But to pull 500 lbs of gear off the bottom without it, even with the included 3 foot capstan bar, would be too hard to do in less than a couple of hours. Don't talk about blood pressure, heart rate, blood thinners, pacemakers, and the like.

I do wish the Maxwell 3500 capstan had a winch handle fitting so that I could use a powered winch handle, in case of failure during use.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...t=0&ajaxserp=0



Youth is wasted on the young.

[Bowdrie]

If you want the best windlass that offers superior back-up manual operation there is only one choice.
I've been to the factory, nothing else comes close.

Lighthouse Manufacturing USA

[Morris8]

Thank you for your comments. I will research these models.

Cheers

[wrwakefield]

We upgraded our windlass when we first bought this boat to a Lighthouse 1501. [As Bowdrie mentioned in #7, above.]

The manual back-up options using a winch handle also work well with our Milwaukee drill motor with a winch bit.

In case this is of interest.

Cheers! Bill

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

We upgraded our windlass when we first bought this boat to a Lighthouse 1501. [As Bowdrie mentioned in #7, above.]

The manual back-up options using a winch handle also work well with our Milwaukee drill motor with a winch bit.

In case this is of interest.

Cheers! Bill

I am experiencing windlass envy.


I have a Lewmar Ocean 3 which is rumored to have an optional manual backup, but I've never seen one for sale, nor do I suspect it is much good.


My approach to this is to carry a spare windlass motor.


Also my kedge anchor (a Fortress with rope rode) is also quite OK for anchoring overnight if the weather isn't bad. That anchor I can retrieve with an electric winch, or in a pinch, by hand.

[Madehn]

If I needed to I would run a line to one of my sheet winches connected to anchor chain with a rolling hitch. It would be a pita but would work if my windlass failed.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Morris8

I have been looking at boats in the 40 ft range and all have electric anchor windlasses and all chain. From what I see, there does not seem to be any serious manual back-up in case the electric motor fails. Some but not all have short handles that appear to be for manual operation, but none that I have seen appear to have a serious way to pull up 150 ft of chain and a heavy anchor if the motor fails.

We have a Lofrans Project 1500 vertical windlass, and the owner's installation and use manual describes manual operations.

(Ours won't actually turn manually, just now, but I think that's because something is hosed up on the portion of the unit underneath the deck... and troubleshooting is on-going.)

Our previous was a Maxwell RC-10/10 vertical windlass; it actually would retrieve chain manually. Difficult, when it came to anchor weight, though.

In our neck of the woods, even if we had 150' of chain out, retrieving that manually -- a bit at a time, at approx only 1-lb/ft -- -- wouldn't be too difficult. There's not that much weight to deal with... as we use the boat to slowly move toward the anchor.

The last 15' or so is when it would get more difficult, since that's be approx the weight of the anchor AND 15'' of chain. In our case, I think that would likely have meant pulling up the anchor chain with a separate line, fastening the rode off, cranking the slack through the windlass... repeat several times... until the anchor comes home.

-Chris

[Jammer]

The trouble comes if the windlass packs it in on a day when you're anchored in 95' of water.


If you know your windlass isn't working and are anchoring in deep water you can re-rig your anchor with a float to bring it to the surface. Scott Bannerot's "The Cruiser's Guide to Fishing" covers this and other no-windlass techniques but there are other online descriptions:


https://www.thefisherman.com/how-to-pull-an-anchor/

[Morris8]

Sincere thank you for the comments. That explains a lot. Seems that in general if the motor fails then the manual feature is designed with sufficient mechanical advantage to get the anchor up, so not a major worry, and if it gets too tough then have a line ready for a winch.

Cheers

[JPA Cate]

When we had windlass failure, we used our reaching sheet that has a hook on one end, and put the hook through the chain, then led the sheet back to the primaries. We had been anchored in 45 ft., would have had at least 135 ft out, so it took a number of about 30 ft. pulls, and feeding the chain down by hand.

Another time, we used a halyard winch, to get up an anchor on the 30 footer, and the next weekend, the winch pulled off the mast, so I'd suggest sticking to the primary winches.

We, too, carry a spare windlass motor. When things go belly up, a swap is way easier and quicker than a repair-from-scratch. It was an eye opening event for me, the first time I swapped out a brake cylinder, rather than honing and replacing the seals, etc. A really good lesson.

Ann