Reply With QuoteHard to run over your winch
I have a lot of trouble seeing any advantage over an anchor yanker ball at all.
Hard to run over your winch
go out in someones boat with a winch and it will be obvious.Originally Posted by Fed
I used to have a ball but found it cumbersome, especially in shallow water and a lot of boats around, now its start motor, flick switch, up anchor and away. Much easier for solo trips too....but hey each to their own.
Like the age old saying goes..."you can do it the easy way; or the hard way"
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LITTLE SKIPPER!
I guess running over the rope is one point Crunchy but it's easy to see with a big white ball on the surface.
Scotty I confess to never having used a winch but take your point about yanking in a crowd.
It's my understanding you need to tie them off when anchored and also if you get 'stuck' and have to use the boat to break free?
Also have to motor forward as you retrieve and hope the anchor lifts off easily?
I don't think they'd suit me with a reef pick in 20M-80M but maybe good for sheltered waters with sand/mud bottom.
I like to anchor up then clip the ball on and let out another 2 boat lengths, all ready for a no fuss getaway.
@Fed depends on the winch, most drum style winches worth their salt dont need tying off...sort of defeats the purpose of having to go up front to tie off in my opinion, as its all about the convenience. The drums are limited in capacity (Ive got 125m on mine which suits the depths I fish/anchor in).
80M is a long way down for anchoring, we'd tend to do drifts anyway at that depths as can be hard to get on your mark even if you do have capacity.
I know the free fall models can help minimise this but have heard interesting behaviours with actuators not working so not sure Id trust them but maybe they are now more reliable (anyone care to share experiences with free fall?).
Personally the winch is probably the best extra I've put on the boat, makes it easy to up anchor and change spots or reposition if I get it wrong, and its a 1 man job (well 1 finger!). Wouldnt have a boat without one from now on.
Well if you don't have to tie them off then that is a definite advantage Scotty.
Modern electric anchor winches such as the Stress Free do not require tying off and function quite well with most types of anchors.
You make it sound like their more of a hindrance than an assistant? Eventually you will grow tired of pulling in that 100 or so metres of rope.
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I pulled anchors up by hand for years, but once you get a boat with an anchor winch, you never go back.
The ease of setting and retrieving an anchor is no comparison !
never had to tie off any of my winches, and as far as motoring forward slightly as you retrieve, well, same as manually doing it, otherwise your back is pulling the boat forward in most cases. I used to think they were a luxury item ! how wrong was I
each to there own but, a mate of mine drops anchor from the side, likes my set up but prefers his manual system.
I think once you start heading north of 50, you tend to appreciate an anchor winch even more......
B
any of you got a lone star,looking at the 6000?
Life is short fish hard!!!
21,6 Sea Fox WA Pro ....
yep, I have a lonestar, excellent piece of kit,
malki will give you excellent back up and advice, there's a life time warrantee on some of the internals, and any issues ive heard about them were minor and never an issue to contact them direct..... good winch
B
Fed, so you still need to tie off your anchor, same as a lot of winches or am I missing a special technique here.
I have an anchor winch but it is not freefall and so I don't use it offshore only in pumistone passage when I take family and friends out. One issue with the ball is that when we pull the anchor in we put all the rope, ball, anchor and chain into a bin in the cockpit, always at hand and never needing to get up front other than to let more rode out or pull some in. The bin tends to take up cockpit space when fishing though so I would appreciate a new winch however it gets a little more complex with my setup as I would have to get a new hatch made to fit one.
I have just fitted a sav winch to my 5.3 cuddy and am happy with it so far with only a couple of trips but time will tell. I had a stress free on my previous 5.3 bow rider but sadly had to part with the boat. Must admit I think the free fall on the stress free was superior to the fast fall on the sav IMO. I was a few hundred dollars short of a stress free this time around. odieman
That's what I was getting at Dignity, I was under the impression that pretty much all the winches had to be tied off. I did Google a lot of winches a few years ago and that's how it seemed at the time but now the guys are telling me it's not the case.Well if you don't have to tie them off then that is a definite advantage Scotty.
I have a low profile cabin and getting to the front is a pia and that's the whole reason i went with a SF winch to not tie off, otherwise I can't see the advantage of having one in the boat if you have to clamper to the front every time. I haven't used it near enough to give it a solid thumbs up or even justify the purchase to be honest, however i can give sf a big thumbs up on customer service with a problem i had, and from all other accounts that you read on various forums they really stand by their product which is very reassuring in today's world.
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