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Anyone using an electric boat winch?
Thinking ahead of time for getting my boat off the ramp when water is low,,, Should I buy maybe an electric boat winch seeing my boat weighs so much? I have seen the water get very low come winter water levels on many lakes here in the Midsouth and would hate to have to abandon ship one to any low water conditions come Febuary, March.... Any suggestions on what to buy and how strong a winch to get for my Ranger fish-ski 397xt? She's 19.5 ft and I'm sure over 2,500 lb s.....
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Think I would investigate one of these. Those electric winches would be nice on rare occasions but seems they might be a pain in normal everyday use. Plus you have wiring and plug in's to deal with and if it's going to fail it will when you least need it to. Maybe someone on here is using one that can give you real world Insite into them.
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Never had a problem with a manual winch on my 23' Ranger.
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If the boat will float off the trailer then you can load it with a hand winch, the one Cray posted shifts into a lower gear and will do the job no problem.
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Reese,,, , never had an issue before,,,, Just heard a few nightmares of guys getting stuck trying to get out of some places come winter levels....
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We unloaded last year at Nader when it was at 193.5, trailer litterly was covered with mud when we pulled out unloading and loading but was able to load with no issues. I do think if its a ramp that is short and you are trying to load without backing in far enuff that's when the issue arises.
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Better to have too much power than not enuf. I would go with at least a thousand pounds over what ur boat weighs.
Last edited by LowePro; 11-28-2014 at 09:20 AM. Reason: left word out
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This came from harbor freight. Comes with a remote and a handle in case of dead battery. Slow, but I like it.
Made a bracket
Swapped cable for strap
Added in and out switches, didn't want to use remote
Added heavy duty marine battery
Connect battery to smart charger when in the shed.
Works great with my Predator.
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I used a Harbor Freight $49 ATV winch. wireless remote, used ATV battery, smaller, just as much power as big bat. Pulls my 21' Stratos (3500#s) fine.
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