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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | I learned a bit about boat winches when mine failed. I started out being unhappy that I'd bought a winch (1400 pound Fulton) and wanted a replacement or some compensation yada-yada-yada.
When I spoke with a technician at Fulton he told me a few rules of thumb ... 1. take the total weight of your boat and motor and divide by 1.5 to determine the capacity you will need and 2. for heavy boats have 3 bolt base ... 2 side by side in the front and 1 in back. if you take your winch off and set it on a table, it should sit flat and if it doesn't then you're under powered and torqued it.
After learning this and then physically looking at mine I became convinced that I was under powered.
He said some manufacturers are notorious for under-sizing winches and if you generally power load to the full extent you never exert your winch and if or when you do you will find it to be under powered ... if you feel like the handle-lever is carrying all the load and your strap is twisting ... you might have a problem.
I'm going to a larger size, going to the silver unit that has a driver on both sides of the drum and going to be over powered from this point forward.
Sometimes it's best to realize you made a mistake, learned why and fixed it vs. yelling and screaming at a company ... I'm glad the customer service guy sent me to talk to the technical guy. Now I'm going to share what I learned with the parts guy at my dealer and hopefully keep someone else from having the same problem I did. it was a little nerve-wrecking pulling the boat out of the water not believing in my winch and whether there was enough seating to hold it while i pulled it out.
Edited by jonnysled 5/19/2015 9:29 AM
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Good post Jon. I also have a 690 and I believe I'm on the edge with mine, even though when done right we only need to crank it up that last 8-12 inches, on bunks and uphill it can require some force. My question is do you understand the ratios on winches? Seems backwards to me - but is it like fishing reels, where the lower gear ratio, bigger handle makes for more power and easier cranking? If I'm going to replace it I want to get one sturdy/strong enough, but also want to get one that is a bit easier as well. What weight rating are you going to end up with on your rig? I have to be somewhere in the 1500-2000 range. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i'm getting the FW-2000 with the drivers on both sides of the barrel. the 3200 has a 2-speed drive but i don't think i need that. the black ones have the drive on only one side (lever side) of the barrel and i had the 1400 which was for sure too light for my 690. |
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| jonnysled - 5/19/2015 12:13 PM
i'm getting the FW-2000 with the drivers on both sides of the barrel. the 3200 has a 2-speed drive but i don't think i need that. the black ones have the drive on only one side (lever side) of the barrel and i had the 1400 which was for sure too light for my 690.
it is worth looking into the lower gear ratio options, such as on the 2-speeds. my father-in-law picked up a Dutton Lainson winch with a high weight rating and low gear ratio that is soooo nice. think, "winch" reels for pulling double-10s. it's not as fast, but you never strain against the handle because the gears are doing all the work for you...
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | I also have a 692 and went through this last fall. I thought I could get away with a cheap model only to find out that I stripped the main drive gear trying to crank the last 3 inches during the first time of use. I spent the winter researching and bought a Fulton overkill model on eBay. Glad I did. 2 speed and piece of cake pulling power.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FULTON-2-SPEED-TRAILER-WINCH-2-600-lbs-w-20...
MR |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | thanks for the feedback guys ... i am going to go beefy and going to the 2-speed. whodathunk a winch could give you options and benefits like this. i was a dummy when i bought this one a couple years ago thinking a winch was a winch was a winch. |
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Posts: 1088
Location: Hayward, WI | Not sure what models Fulton now gets made out of the US, but the quality on those is not as good as they used to be. |
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Posts: 1828
| Propster - 5/19/2015 10:14 AM
My question is do you understand the ratios on winches? Seems backwards to me - but is it like fishing reels, where the lower gear ratio, bigger handle makes for more power and easier cranking?
From what I've seen, baitcasting reels list the gear ratio in reverse order when compared to winches. A reel stating gear ratio of 5:1 means the spool rotates 5 times for every 1 handle rotation. A winch of gear ratio 5:1 means the spool rotates once for every 5 handle rotations.
but yes, a longer handle will require less cranking force by you. |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | jaultman - 5/19/2015 3:02 PM
Propster - 5/19/2015 10:14 AM
My question is do you understand the ratios on winches? Seems backwards to me - but is it like fishing reels, where the lower gear ratio, bigger handle makes for more power and easier cranking?
From what I've seen, baitcasting reels list the gear ratio in reverse order when compared to winches. A reel stating gear ratio of 5:1 means the spool rotates 5 times for every 1 handle rotation. A winch of gear ratio 5:1 means the spool rotates once for every 5 handle rotations.
but yes, a longer handle will require less cranking force by you.
There you go, I knew something was off a bit. So theoretically, if I wanted more power, on a reel I'd go less, like 4.6:1, but on a winch I'd go higher say 6 or 8:1 |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | my upgrade to the FW-2000 was a HUGE improvement, in-fact ... i wouldn't so much call it an improvement but i now actually have a winch.
the 3 bolt pattern is a MUST for a big glass boat and drivers on both sides of the barrel also a MUST ... ridiculous how underpowered they come from the factory and that's factories like Ranger. ticks me off actually because it's a safety feature and they are only $100 - 130.00 so why put a 2-bolt single driver piece of crap that only torques and doesn't winch your boat onto the trailer? makes no sense to me.
hindsight i may even have gone to the 2-speed 3200 pounder but not sure it would fit on my post.
i tried mine the other night just for fun and left about 2' ... winched the boat to the tongue without even having to grunt or wonder ...
maybe the smartest and best upgrade i've ever done to my boat ... |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Sue usually fishes with me.
Wait, I thought it said wench. |
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Posts: 18
| Funny seeing this thread. My Fulton 1400 on my Skeeter WX 1850 just crapped out on me this morning. I'll be upgrading pronto. Thanks for the good info here. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | My crestliner has Dutton accessories and the winch is great. Never an issue. My little 14' princecraft is on it's 5 th winch and about to get another. I have upsized but it takes a beating. Seen those double geared ones, my next purchase. I have broken just about every part of a winch on that trailer. |
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Posts: 114
| Purchased a 617VS last fall. It came with a factory installed Fulton 1400 lbs winch.
I replaced it with a silver Fulton 2000 lbs winch. Made a HUGH difference winching in that last 1 - 2 feet of strapping. Better design, adjustable length handle,
2 rows of teeth vs 1 row, gears are completely covered, looks a lot better. I paid around $100 off Amazon.
JMac |
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Boat Winches ...