Cabin Top Winch

[cb32863]

For those of you that have mounted a winch on your cabin top (I have a 25' CB O'Day). Did you put any sort of solid "pad" under the winch? If so, how did you go about fabricating it, out of what material, and do you have information on making one? I am going to move the winch from the mast to the cabin top. I already have the deck organizer and clutch mounted. Not a lot of room there to run lines but I think I got it angled OK. I know the halyard needs to be at a certain angle of attack to the winch coming to it, would like to know that too.

Thanks!

 

[Jonzi]

I have a 1984 34' O'Day, but I suspect the installation is about the same. I installed a round block of wood approx 2" thick under the winch (on top of the cabin) to space the winch up to the proper height so it would align well with the halyard(s). I purchased the block from a boating supply store. I expect they are available through west marine. Directly under the winch inside the cabin i installed another round block of wood approximately 1" thick to act as a backing plate and help distribute the pressure of the winch and reinforce the cabin top. I ran the winch mounting bolts through the cabin top and through the reinforcement block and used ss washers on the inside to prevent the bolts from pulling through. Also squirted some 5200 in the bolt holes to prevent water from getting into the core of the cabin top and leaking into the cabin. 6 years now, and no leaks or stress cracks or any signs of trouble. Good luck!

 

[Griffinroydonald]

I have a San Juan 23 with a cabin mounted winch. There are no backing plates from the factory. The holes are sealed to prevent leaks and I use this winch to raise and lower the mast using a small a-frame with no problems.

 

[RichBone]

I installed two when I rebuilt mine.