Trying to decide on capacity and size of drum winch

[myusernam]

Howdy as a spearo I never used to line fish much out at the reef much but my new boat is much bigger and i am looking at drum winches and wondering how much line capacity i need. I dont want to go too small and be wishing i went bigger if i get into fishing for Reds at night etc.
For the lineys out ther do you anchor in these sorts of spots or drift? (I previously have anchored using the bouy method)
What drum winch do you use? I take it free fall is highly desireable? The micks and wolfwinch arent but still fairly quick

I am really going to have to choose wisely and compromise with line. probably need to account for 4.5 ton of boat. Will still do lots of spearing so I can't go light on the rope size - if you only linefish its not so big a deal but its no fun to come back to where you left your boat to see it drifting over the horizon. I figure I still need 12mm. I reckon I'd like to be able to anchor in up to 50-60m when calm? or do you only drift at these depths and anchor in less than 50? So for 50-60m i am looking at 150m of 12mm which limits my options
My budget wont stretch to dyneema and I wouldn't feel comfortable with it anyway. Double braid they say you can go thinner but I really am worried about going to thin - its a big boat and thin stuff wears away/ is susceptable to wear.



someone suggested getting a smaller drum winch and still using the bouy method in deep water with another rode but i'm not sure about this at all. I can get muir winches at cost of a mate but they are small
thinking of the wolfwinch 3000 or 2500 made a bit bigger. Not free fall but fairly quick? (perhaps optomistic stated speed when compared with others?).


for rope i was thinking of This stuff
https://www.whitworths.com.au/silver-blue-8mm-50m
in the 12mm has a breaking strain of 2645kg which is actually more than the nylon they have. It's hard wearing. Whats everyones opinion? ok on a drum winch?

[ranmar850]

Ah, the old conundrum. just been through this myself. What you are looking at is just old fashioned silver rope. cheap and fairly strong, although nowhere near as strong as dyneema. Are you sure that quoted b/s is correct? here is a post which lists them all, and IMO, it is accurate. Go down to post #4 http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...=1#post1388140

12mm silver rope is about the same as a good quality 8mm nylon ( not PP) double braid. And dyneema is far stronger again. You'll need a bloody big drum winch to hold 150 metres of 12mm. I've just bought a Tuffwinch 240HC, 300mm drum, which holds 120m of 8mm nylon DB. This will fit on easily, and I'll likely have 30 metres of 5mm dyneema underit, then a heavier topshot of 20 metres or so for abrasion resistance. This is what worries me most for the smaller diameters.

You know there is an alternative to drum winches if you don't want to be limited by the drum size. A horizontal gypsy type is limited only by the amount of rope your anchor well can take. As long as you have a deep well ( wide and shallow is no good) you can just keep piling it in. BUT there is a catch ( knew it, he thinks ) and that is that the only rope which works well with them is plaited 8-strand nylon, and it is expensive. And you need a specific size, can't go thin and save money. I have a Maxwell HRC 6FF on the boat which I am selling ( have sold, just waiting on money) it's an absolute brute, very powerful, but I was always a bit limited by the depth of my anchor well. (500mm)If i only wanted to run 100m out, fine. But if I wanted to get near the 130 metres I had, it would often just pile up a little high right near the end of the retrieve, and just spin the wheel. Just a matter of sticking your hand in the well and pushing the top off the pile, but it was annoying.

I think that if you get a winch that will hold 150 metres of 12mm rope, you'll be paying a lot more extra for the winch than you would have by going to "expensive" high breaking strain rope with a smaller winch. If the thinness worries you, have a heavier topshot for abrasion resistance.

[Marchy001]

I fished the reefs of NQ (Townsville) for 10 years using the buoy method and finally upgraded to a drum winch. I too stewed on drum capacity for weeks and weeks. Made my decision and ended up fitting on 100m of 8mm three strand nylon and 30m of 10mm nylon as a top shot for added strength for that last bit that sees the most action and 8-9m of 8mm chain.

I then measured my old rope and chain that worked well for 10 years. 100m of silver rope and the same 8-9m of chain is all I had....... I chased reds in 50-60m regularly and never had any dramas unless it was blowing it’s arse off.

4 years into the drum winch and 8-10mm rope combo and it has not missed a beat and bent some solid anchors.

As for free fall, I don’t have it and I don’t want it. The winch is plenty quick enough and it’s just another potential failure/wear point. Not idea if the free fall parts wear or deteriorate in time but I don’t have to worry.

Hope that is of some use to you.

[shakey55]

Have a look at these links. Can’t load some links.

Not sure of your budget, but lone star may be able to help.

http://www.maxwellmarine.com/gen.php

http://www.anchorright.com.au/downlo...a_brochure.pdf

Lonestar Marine - they have a GX5 and a GX6 they maybe good

Good luck with research
Shakey



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[peterbo3]

Dyneema from ATS Nets at Clontarf is available in bulk in all sizes. Maybe less than half that Whitworths charge. As for the drum winch I would suggest the biggest that will fit.

[myusernam]

I think spectra/ dyneema is problematic as it is very low stretch.
Ryanmar it's not silver some pe blend. Breaking strain on spool says 2645kg, on whitworths web description in link below says 2430kg.
https://www.whitworths.com.au/silver...mm-50m?q=72163
Silver feels waxy and burns your hand easy when pulled through, this stuff is rougher / coarser. And 250m is only $200 ($100 for $100m).
I used it.in my last boat which was half the weight (2.5t) so not keen to go smaller. Winches this size not cheap hence research. The Maxwell and Muir options my mate said he could do at cost just too small.

[Crunchy]

Being the ######## that I am and not doing anything by halves I got may anchor warp from this outfit in NZ, they are the only Llloyd's certified splicers in the region, wealth of information on their website and great guys to deal with. Freight might be an issue but I was in NZ anyway so was able to bring home my new warp in checked luggage, but even if you don't buy from them great info on their website.

www.chainsropesandanchors.co.nz

I ended up with 15M of italian Maggi chain spliced to 8 strand braid, couldn't be happier. NZ make good ropes...