Electric winch holding up boat ramp

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric winch holding up boat ramp

What's missing here is that nobody apparently offered (in a civilized manner) suggestions on how the winch he has can be better utilized. Getting impatient and bashing a person who uses a product for the first time, or who may not even be a seasoned boater is of no help. All impatience does is get everyone upset. The man bought a winch -- that's what he has, you don't know if he has any physical limitations, so relax, help if you can. Of course every one of us were born knowing all the ins and outs of boating. Ya - right!

 

[Chas0218]

Re: Electric winch holding up boat ramp

I took one of my boats out Sat Morning, the launch has two ramps, one dock, with a launch ramp on each side of the dock.
The river was ripping pretty good so the down side of the ramp was all but unusable. There was a line of about 30 boats.

The guy ahead of me, launching maybe a 16' aluminum boat had a power winch, one of those from Harbor Freight. It took him 25 minutes just to power out enough lead to unhook his boat. I was lucky enough to be the guy right behind him.
Several of us even went over to see what the hold up was, and the winch had no freewheel, only power in/out, and it was slower than slow.

What gives with these things? Don't they make a winch that can move a bit faster for lighter boats? I could see that the thing was brand new, and he had no clue as to how to operate it but the fact that you can't just dump the boat in would aggravate me to no end. He had a roller trailer, so he couldn't back it off and then unhook it, the boat was hanging on the cable the whole way and just heavy enough you couldn't hold it back enough to unhook the cable either.

Are there other power winch brands that make these without a freewheel option?
I've only owned Powerwinch brand, on which all I needed to do is turn the knob to release the cable and let the boat roll into the water.

I'm sure the rest of those in line had the same idea I had about getting out on the water early but we weren't early enough to beat that guy. He held up the ramp for almost an hour by the time he got the boat back in and unloaded and got clear of the ramp. The rest of us were in the water in 3 minutes or so. Most guys were in the water faster then the others could warm up their boats and pull away.

Sounds like he needs to learn how to power load the boat. That is the only way I will load my boat anymore. I am literally on the ramp for about 5 minutes and that includes backing my trailer in.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Electric winch holding up boat ramp

If you like you could come Power Load at my ramp if you think you can! I'll even come watch.