DIY Winch Install

Been procrastinating on this one for too long and after the Mrs made a meal of dropping the anchor at a packed Rocky Bay it was time.

Have been researching for ages and had the Bell Viper in mind but the fellas at Whitworths have been less than helpful with advice. I walked into a new store MACA in Wangara for some fuel hose and after an hour chatting walked out with $2k worth of winch and accessories. I ended up going the 1000W Micro with the hi spec rope.

It's taken me all week getting up at 5am to chug away before work as I like to plan, measure, mark, walk away, sleep and remeasure before I start drilling holes. Neodymium magnets are a must have tool for seeing exactly where you'll be drilling through on the other side of the well.

So far I've got the roller, winch, wiring and switches in and need some longer bolts to mount the bow roller and run the winch wiring through the anchor well.

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Faulkner Family's picture

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 How thick is the part you

Sun, 2020-12-06 18:46

 How thick is the part you mounted it to . Is it going to be strong enough without reinforcing the area

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

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So I've been told Russ. That

Sun, 2020-12-06 18:59

So I've been told Russ. That was the other reason I've taken so long, wanted it checked over during my service to see if it needed reinforcing and he said no worries with a backing plate as it's 10mm ply.

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Faulkner Family's picture

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 To be on the safe side take

Sun, 2020-12-06 19:23

 To be on the safe side take it easy the first few times to make sure it's going to hold. Would hate to see someone's hard work come undone . You never realy know the strength of play until you put a load on it 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

anypuddle's picture

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Nice

Sun, 2020-12-06 22:56

 I like it.

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Anywhere anytime

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 that backing plate looks a

Sun, 2020-12-06 23:02

 that backing plate looks a bit small but hard to tell in the pic

for the effort maybe just put a bigger bit of ali underneath the s/s 1

sea-kem's picture

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  I was sortta thinking the

Mon, 2020-12-07 05:07

  I was sortta thinking the same. If you want Frosty I have plenty of offcuts and can drop a piece over to you. 

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Love the West!

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Magnets

Mon, 2020-12-07 06:01

Good tip on the magnets. What size do you use through the 10mm ply?

good work as well, looks the goods. 

bleicester's picture

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magnets

Mon, 2020-12-07 11:54

Great idea using the magnets. Thanks for sharing. Did you also buy the wiring loom kit or the chain sock?  I've been on the fence with this winch for ages too and Whitwoths support was partly holding me back. Now that I know about MACA I'll be going there also.

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Thanks for the feedback

Mon, 2020-12-07 13:43

Thanks for the feedback everyone and to Andy for the offer of the ali plate. I've been in touch with the Seafarer who have basically said it should be ok as is but a bigger plate will provide piece of mind.

Bleicester, yeah I bought the wiring loom and he was out of the chain sock so will drop back in to grab it. The wiring loom was worth the $ as everything is labelled and pre crimped except the winch cables and the hardest part was running the wire along the gunwale. I reckon it saved me about two hours of work.

These are the magnets I used which were small and strong enough to mark up the holes on both sides of the wall. My kids love drawing so they'll come in handy sticking the every growing multitude of drawings on the fridge. www.bunnings.com.au/everhang-8mm-rare-earth-disc-magnet-10-pack_p3690098

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Magnets

Mon, 2020-12-07 15:38

Thanks, Im going to grab some of those. 

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I just ran the wiring through

Mon, 2020-12-07 16:32

I just ran the wiring through the wall and it's actually 20mm ply not 10mm.

She's like Hannah Mouncey... she's got some balls

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Faulkner Family's picture

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 Well done.  Should be plenty

Mon, 2020-12-07 16:59

 

Well done.  Should be plenty strong enough still would go a bigger plate . Better to be safe than sorry.

 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

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 The upgraded Bluetooth

Mon, 2020-12-07 18:16

 The upgraded Bluetooth model? 

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Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

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The wireless kit is an

Mon, 2020-12-07 18:52

The wireless kit is an optional extra for $39 but didn't get it... yet

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sea-kem's picture

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 Jesus! Don't get your dick

Mon, 2020-12-07 16:57

 Jesus! Don't get your dick caught in the rope lol

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 Nice fit up Frosty  You

Mon, 2020-12-07 17:21

 

Nice fit up Frosty

 

 You still thinking about your fuzzy bits andy.

 

sea-kem's picture

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 It's scaring my fuzzy bits

Mon, 2020-12-07 18:00

 It's scaring my fuzzy bits lol. 

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 I'm not going near Frosty's

Mon, 2020-12-07 18:42

 I'm not going near Frosty's bowsprit

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Nice

Tue, 2020-12-08 09:37

 Have one on my boat Jack and very happy with it. No problems at all. Install looks good

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 Brando

ranmar850's picture

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The Reefrunner has a 25mm thick front bulkhead

Tue, 2020-12-08 12:24

 And Mansfields still recommended reinforcing it for a winch, on past experience.  I laminated a piece of 16mm marine ply on and glassed it over. 

Lastchance's picture

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Nice job, good write up and

Tue, 2020-12-08 13:17

Nice job, good write up and good feedback. Ive got a similar set up as you, and after having ongoing issues with capstan winches in the past - never again I can tell you! As Ranmar has mentioned, I'd still take Andy up on the Ally backing plate offer mate, Ive got a Cruise Craft and have a large stainless plate behind mine and its quite surprising how it still slightly flexes when under decent load - 15 minutes work for piece of mind I reckon.

Alpha's picture

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Nice work

Wed, 2020-12-09 07:57

 Nice work Jack. I like it. 

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 Update. Roller and bow

Thu, 2020-12-10 19:55

 Update. Roller and bow roller installed

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Just about to fit on e myself

Wed, 2020-12-23 18:06

Question for the masses.

Do you connect to starter battery or the house battery ?

Seems to be a divided opinion from some other forums.  

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 I am installing one in my

Wed, 2020-12-23 18:20

 I am installing one in my boat and thinking the house battery as if I'm only using the start battery for starting it won't take much for the house battery to start charging once up and running. 

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 Get busy living, or get busy dying!

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House battery ?

Thu, 2020-12-24 12:00

 

 The other thing mentioned was generally your motor is always running when moving up to take the slack so is being trickle charged whilst retrieving. 

I got the Australian made Lonestar GX1 which is for up to 6M boats, neighbour has installed the GX2 and said it is more than enough and his is a 6.4M trailcraft.

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I got mine connected to my

Thu, 2020-12-24 12:53

I got mine connected to my second battery which is charged via the VSR and keep the engine running while retrieving. Bell Marine recommend using the winch alone to retrieve the anchor.

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Now with Hawse pipe through

Sat, 2021-02-27 07:04

Now with Hawse pipe through the anchor hatch reinforced with 4mm HDPE aka the Wife's chopping board

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