Reminder: Trailer Winch Safety

[catndahats]

Just posting this up as a reminder to everyone:

No matter how experienced you are, respect your trailer winch and the loads it carries. Dad taught me about winch safety 45 years ago, cables can break, winches under load can fail, and the results can get ugly real fast.

Couple weeks ago when loading my Catalina 22 at the ramp, heard a loud "bang" and the boat slid back a couple inches....went ahead an pulled out after making sure the boat was secure (busy ramp). Once on the level, checked out the winch and it appeared to function fine, but still was under load.

While standing next to the winch, heard a loud "pow!!!!" Next thing I know, I'm on the ground....pain! The winch failed, the handle spun,smacked the back of my hand. End result is emergency room, broken bones, and a cast to the elbow!!! Kinda messed up my summer plans. Thank God it was only my hand and was not a kid, wife or more serious injury.

I'm learning to type with my left hand.

Lessons learned:
* slow down (even if it's against ramp etiquitte)...safety first.
* be prepared, accidents happen when you least expect it.
* be very careful...don't leave a load on the winch.
* always use a safety chain.
* teach your family and friends winch safety...keep face, arms/hands in a safe place.
* even though I'd recently checked the winch, don't forget the lessons dad taught.
*

Hope this saves someone else some grief.

 

[caguy]

Thanks Cat, Hope you feel better soon.
Every season I oil the winch and cut off about a 18" of the web stap that is expose to the sun.

 

[kpgraci]

Good post, glad you're mostly ok! Sounds like you were being careful, is there anything you could have done to avoid this? I suppose not leaving tension on the winch (especially after hearing a pop) but I doubt I would have done anything different.

I hate being rushed at a ramp but you made an excellent point - work as fast as you can (to be courteous) but be safe. If some hothead gets angry that needs to be his problem, not yours. All the other ramp users around here are motorboats so when they see a sailboat on the ramp they seem to expect it to take a while.

My biggest safety rule: (It's hard to do when manually winching a boat) never stand in line with a cable under tension. That comes from my roughneck days. Sorry dad.

 

[watercolors II]

A couple years ago a fellow, new to larger trailerable sailboats, lost 2 fingers when the bow came down on his left hand during launching.

 

[Bilbo]

Wow! Hope that you get well soon.
Just Sunday, I watched a guy loading his fishing boat. he pulled out before he changed the direction tang on the trailer winch and as he was moving forward with the trailer, the boat began sliding back off the trailer with the winch handle freewheeling. Luckily, he stopped and there was no damage.