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Trailex Winch
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Author:  Herbaldew [ Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:05 am ]
Post subject:  Trailex Winch

I have decided it's time to add a winch to my trailer as I am tired of straining my gizzard getting my TI loaded. In particular it is difficult with the motor mounted. Removing the motor before pulling the boat onto the trailer and carrying it up a slick ramp isn't a good option either.

Trailex doesn't have a picture of their kit mounted on their site. I could also only find one picture on this site and it really didn't show how the winch was mounted to the top of the post it was on. Would someone with a winch mounted to their 200 or 350 please post some pics?

For that matter, I would be appreciative of any pics of Trailexes with mounted winches whether or not they are the Trailex kit.

Thanks,
Herb



Edit: Doh! I was looking at the wrong item on their page, I was looking at the "mast stand" that also can have a winch mounted to it. The "winch post" is what I need and is pictured with winch mounted :)

http://trailex.com/images/options/medium/WPWCO.jpg

Author:  fishman-rd [ Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Trailex Winch

here's a shot...

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Author:  Herbaldew [ Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Trailex Winch

Thanks for the extra picture.

Mounted mine yesterday, tried it out today. Will be kicking myself in the butt for some time for not adding it sooner :roll:

Author:  Herbaldew [ Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Trailex Winch

For those who may head this route, let me share some of my thoughts now that I am done and satisfied with the outcome.

I started with a T1100 Fulton winch with a 20' strap. It worked fine but had a 4.1:1 ratio and 7 inch handle. It took a lot of easy cranks to get the strap wound in. That winch had a defect so I returned it. I then bought a Fulton T600 winch that didn't include a strap. It was rated to only hold a 15' strap but I found THIS 20' STRAP at WalMart for half the price and it is also a little thinner so it fits on the T600 perfectly. The T600 has a 3.1:1 ratio and a 6" handle. I just tried it out and it loaded up my TI complete with my 29.5# motor on the back just fine. The different ratio and shorter handle did away with the "too much cranking syndrome" but was still easy to crank.

I like the strap versus a rope because it winds up neatly and came with a sewn loop for attachment to the winch and a sewn on hook for attachment to the boat. There was no problem with stretching.

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Given the added weight of the motor when installed and the fact that I have three cradles instead of two, it does take a good bit of force to pull this rig up onto the trailer. The built in handle may well work, I don't know...but if it were to pull out of the hull it could be very difficult to cleanly fix. I decided to use a harness of 1/8" Dyneema with a breaking strength of 2500#. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it loops around the outer mounts of the front crossbar then threads through the shackle that holds the front of my spray skirts. I slipped the handle through the loops on the end of the Dyneema to keep it in check. The Dyneema has almost no stretch so it doesn't pull on the handle when winching in the boat. In the next pic you can also see a short piece of 1/8" nylon rope that I use for my stake out pole. For safety's sake I put it on the strap hook as well to stop the hook from doing damage to me or my vehicle if the Dyneema did happen to break.

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P.S. Before anyone catches it ... I know the Trailex Winch Post it not mounted correctly. When I put this trailer together I told myself that I would replace the cheap lights that came with it over the following winter. Of course I did not - I left them until one day when it was around 100 degrees and wasted an hour sweating in the yard to get them to work so I could take the boat out. I finally got around to totally redoing the lighting system which entailed running all wires inside the frame, using waterproof LED lights, sealed connections and ground wires to all from the tow vehicle instead of grounding to the frame. That made it so I couldn't move things back any further without drilling another hole in the frame (Trailex says that's a no-no to start with) and redoing the wiring for the marker light. I also cut down the winch post to give more clearance for opening the hatch on my tow vehicle. This also makes the winch pull the bow down into the bow stop rather than trying to pull it up it. I used to just have a bungee cord holding the bow to the bow stop and it bounced a lot going down the road, it looks much happier riding now. It is rock solid as shown :D


EDIT: I have since changed the "harness" to 3/16th Dyneema with a breaking strength of 6,050# and made spliced loops that attach to the crossbar instead of looping around the crossbar mounts with two ends up front.

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Author:  tonystott [ Fri Sep 13, 2013 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Trailex Winch

Nearly off-topic, but I had one of my trailer lights damaged (only lost brake light on the important non-kerb side), so bit the bullet rather than struggling with issues similar to those you faced, so I went back to basics with a light-board, and mounting frame (made from marine ply and oak dowelling). At the launch site, the whole lot goes into the car.
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