Thoughts on Electric Winches?

[Kd9truck]

How big is your boat?
DEWALT FLEXV 60V MAX VSR Stud & Joist Drill (Bare Tool)
I shopped around and got it with a battery then bought another so one is always fresh. all my tools run on the same dewalt batteries.

I have had this tool for 5 years, it has been extremely helpful. I have a 45 ft vessel my main is about 100 lbs, I also use it it hoist my first mate (225 lbs) up 65ft of mast up and down five times on the same battery.

I just took all the winches apart (4 harkens) for maintenance and could not notice any difference between the 40 I use for my halyards.

I have seen hydraulic winches shred sails, I have seen electric winches die draining the battery bank.

Cheers

[VChild]

I had a company retrofit my Barient 32 manual winches with electric winch motors. Saved a lot of money versus buying new electric winches. They are a game changer tacking my 130 genoa. One of my favorite upgrades. I always turn off the breakers when not actively sailing. They are very powerful and I fear that accidental activation, short circuit, etc., when the sail is furled at anchor or in a marina could do major damage to the rig or worse. Or, just make it a habit to take the sheets off the winches.

[twofingerpoi]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauke...5-20/202901662

$150
125 in-lbs torque
0-1500 RPM
2.7 lbs w/o battery

Any more torque or rpm could lead to problems. In fact, you want low rpm and with this much rpm you can't just grip it and rip it, so you need to do bursts.

I also have the Milwaukee cordless polisher and a dual battery charger.

[SaltyMetals]

When i bought my boat in 2016 she came with 4 manual Harken winches. Two 44 Harkens for the halyards and furling and two 48 manual Harkens for the genoa sheets.

Since winches always rotate clockwise i changed my port halyard Harken 44 to an electric Harken 46. I know Harken state they can electrify their manual winches but for my manual Harken 44 (date on the boss was 2003) it would have cost about 80-90% of a new electric winch. So i put my 12 yr old 44 Manual Harken on eBay and sold it for GBP500 (cost as new would have been GBP1,000) which helped contribute to the cost of a 46 Electric Harken. That is the only winch i changed to electric.

For all the lines/halyards, furling, that arrive through Spinlocks on port directly to the port (now) electric Harken it is fantastic. For all the lines arriving through Spinlocks on starboard i simply turn the line around the manual Harken starboard winch and pass it across to the electric Harken 46 on port.

For new arrivals on my boat i recommend (=insist....!) that they only put two turns around the electric winch. That way the line will slip on the winch drum if there is a jam they have not noticed. Also warnings about long hair, loose clothing, etc near the electric winch. As a result my electric winch is the star performer and does all the hard work.

I have never thought of changing the genoa sheet winches to electric since during a tack it is always poss to haul in the genoa on the new tack before the sail fills with wind. Possibly later only needing a few turns with a winch handle to perfectly trim the sail.

So my message is to only splash out on the cost of one electric winch. All my sail controls arrive at the cockpit, no winches on the mast. I have in-mast furling of the main with absolutely no problems of jamming, even though the main has vertical battens.

The electric Harken 46 also enables me to unfurl/furl the large gennaker from the cockpit. Yes, i know it should be easy to unfurl manually but i always have many extra furling turn of the sheets running down the gennaker to hold it in place while furled and possibly minimise UV damage, so why sweat manually when it can easily be done and much faster with the electric Harken 46 until it is sufficiently open to unfurl itself?
Andrew
"Genial Bee"

[TPG]

Honestly, I think every boat should have at least one. If you get injured or need extra help, and electric winch can be a real benefit. (We use ours mostly to get the main up at this point.)

[Sevi]

Define damage?

If your fingers are anywhere near a shorted electric winch, it can rip them off; I know of two separate cases where that happened.

Also, if you’re not carefully observing your sail, it can easily tear it and or beak the halyard.

By all means, get an electric winch. I did, but respect what it can possibly do to both you and your boat.

[FlyingScot]

Another problem with electric is the foot switches seem to stick or fail in the energized position. I'm upgrading to a larger better quality one this time.

[Cpt Mark]

I used to run a 55' catamaran. All lines led to the aft helm station. I controlled everything from 1 winch and a bank of clutches. 2 things I knew I wanted on m next (now) boat.
1. Electric winch
2. Top lifeline to be SS tube.

My boat came with both

[Mush]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

I'm VERY happy with my M28 Milwaukee angle drill with an appropriate bit (available on EBay) to drive a winch. The torque is phenomenal, it's MUCH cheaper than an electric winch handle, and it can be used for other jobs - like drilling big holes!

Thanks friggen awesome!! Never thought of that Capt!

Blessings

[gagrant]

I put a Selden e40i on the deck under the dodger for the main halyard. It has the electrics inside the drum and not under. It does not need a large motor under the deck. I love it.

[captmikem]

I had electric winches on an Alden 54, main cockpit winches and one at the mast. All were very handy and I was very happy with them. The one at the mast I could lead any halyard (except spinnaker) to it and found it handy getting the last few feet of main up. Also could run my reef lines to it and found it very handy when pulling in a reef.

Next boat was a Frerrs 80 and I put electro hydraulic winches on it. Again all were very handy and I was happy to have them. The main was full battened on Harken luff cars so it went up and down pretty easy but got a bit heavy about half way up, I was grateful for the powered winch.

Where it was extremely useful was going aloft. So simple and easy for the person on deck.

They were power hogs so I had lots of battery, and a good changing system.

As far as doing damage, as long as you are keeping an eye on things there is no problem. I have to say though, on a long pull, it is easy to be distracted, on a 154 ft ketch with a 200 ft main mast I was hoisting the main with an electro/hydraulic winch, was taking a while as 200 ft is a long hoist, I got distracted while hoisting and tore about 20 ft of luff tape. Costly mistake.

M

[vic008]

If you have a deWalt or Milwauki, what is the charging like, if no shore power handy? Take long?

[Nicholson58]

We have electric primaries and a Milwaukee 1/2 inch 28 volt lithium battery powered drill motor with a winchbit. This is a brute. It will haul me twice in the 80 foot mast on one charge. Look on line for factory reconditioned with charger and batteries