What size trailer winch

Greengas

Greengas

.
Mar 28, 2015
184
Macgregor 25 Cherry Creek
I am looking at replacing the very old winch on my trailer. My boat is a Macgregor 25 that displaces 2100lbs. My question is what weight capacity winch should I get? Does the fact that the boat is in the water at launch and retrieval reduce the weight capacity needed? Also looking at other posts, it seems a strap is better than a cable so I am looking in that direction.

Thanks in advance for the education.
 
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rgranger

rgranger

.
Jan 19, 2010
12,553
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Northern Tools, Lowes or Tractor Supply all carry trailer winches. Get one that has bolt holes that match the pattern on your old one. And then get one that looks to be the same size or larger than the one you are replacing. You don't actually pull the entire mass of the boat using the winch. You may need to use the winch to ease the boat up the last few inches but it is in the water so once you have the boat on the trailer, your car is pulling the boat up the ramp and the mass of the boat is sitting mostly on the bunks.
 
Greengas

Greengas

.
Mar 28, 2015
184
Macgregor 25 Cherry Creek
rgranger said:
Northern Tools, Lowes or Tractor Supply all carry trailer winches. Get one that has bolt holes that match the pattern on your old one. And then get one that looks to be the same size or larger than the one you are replacing. You don't actually pull the entire mass of the boat using the winch. You may need to use the winch to ease the boat up the last few inches but it is in the water so once you have the boat on the trailer, your car is pulling the boat up the ramp and the mass of the boat is sitting mostly on the bunks.
Click to expand
So in otherwords, I don't need to worry about a winch that can haul 2,000 plus lbs. That is what I was thinking, nice to see that I seem to have got that one right. And would you go with a strap over a cable? I've been doing some forum reviews on that and it seems that the strap might be safer. But it sure would have to be long enough.
 
BudGates

BudGates

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Apr 19, 2012
1,043
O'Day Daysailor 17 Nevis MN
With the trailer mostly submerged I rarely roll my winch out more than 4 or 5 feet. Having said that, I'd still want it to reach to the end of the trailer incase I should need it. There are pros and cons regarding using a strap or wire rope. I would have gone with the strap but when I replaced my winch the wire rope was a lot cheaper.
 
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rgranger

rgranger

.
Jan 19, 2010
12,553
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
The last few winches I purchased were all strap. And the strap can get rather long so that has never been a problem for me.
 
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W

watercolors II

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Dec 23, 2008
771
Catalina 22 Central Penna.
You should not have a winch so strong as to lift the total hull weight, the weakest part of a chain is just one link.
Catalina Direct is an outlet for parts of all Catalina trailerable boats, years ago they offered a heavy duty bow eye upgrade, they now offer a super duty upgrade.
A winch cable that is the length of the trailer is only asking for damage, you need to find another launch ramp.
 
S

sesmith

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Jul 1, 2010
990
Catalina 350 Port Huron
UV light is what takes the toll on straps. I did have one break on a previous boat, and have had cables on my last 2 winches. Other than that, straps worked just fine. It's just that you never know when it's getting weak until it does (and that's usually when you're on vacation).

I use etrailer.com for a lot of my trailer parts purchases.

Also, make sure you have a good safety chain for the boat when trailering to back up the winch strap or cable.
 
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