Keel winch mounting

[Bill Ogilvie]

I recently bought a 1976 Catalina 22 that has the swing keel locked down and has the original winch and cable removed. The PO bought a replacement winch and cable from Catalina direct. There are two 1/4" bolts thru the raised part of the cockpit just aft of the companionway that don't match the hole pattern on the base of the winch. Looking at the thickness of the fiberglass there, it's hard to believe a winch pulling up a 600 lb keel can be mounted there. Does anyone know if the original design had some woodwork in this area to support the winch? I'm thinking a cross-member to distribute the load more evenly (instead of concentrating it at 2 bolt holes) might be the minimum required. I'm planning on mounting 2 U1 size AGM batteries below this area in the bilge. Since the battery boxes will be strapped to 3/4" pieces of marine plywood, I could provide additional support from the cross-member to the plywood bases. Am I over-building?

 

[john renfro]

winch

hello bill, the holes on my trailer winch are 3 in., the holes on my keel winch are 37/8th. inches apart. did the po get the wrong winch?half (or so) of the keel weight is suported by the front mounts. i haven't seen reports in this site about problems in this area. if piece of mind is needed, build to your needs.john

 

[Bill Ogilvie]

Thanks John

I forgot my HS Physics - it's half the weightthe winch has to pull. The winch looks like a Catalina winch, and not a regular boat winch; but the holes don't line up. I guess I'll have to drill at least one more hole in the winch base.