Rebuilding Bow Winch U-Bolt

[smoedog]

So the PO looks to have jerry rigged the U-bolt for the winch hook.



So with the Ubolt as it is now it is just rotating and bending the crossmember. I do not like winching my boat up because i don't want to destroy the crossmember. So i have to , sorry guys, powerload, hook up the winch tighten it up and then pull out. but most of the time when pulling out of the water the boat settles and will slide an inch or 2 away from the bow stop.

So what I want to do is pull it all apart, straighten the crossmembers out and mount the new ubolt one crossmember back where you can see the existing holes that are on the face and not the bottom of it. Then get a new beefup plate maybe 6" wide and enough to go back 2 more crossmembers.

Will this work? I haven't seen how other boats are setup. I just want to quit powerloading and actually have my boat tight up against the stop

 

[jergeo]

Re: Rebuilding Bow Winch U-Bolt

Yes a heavier aluminum spanning more ribs will work fine. Go to a fab shop and they should have the material your looking for and they can weld a box out of the same material to put your ubolt into, then you won't have to worry about it again.