How to make a pot puller

R

RGS

New Member
Help with how to make a pot puller

I am planning to make a pot puller and am looking for some input from others with experiance doing this. Also would like others to post some pictures of what they have made. I will be using it in Washington state at this time but might travel north in the future.

I am planning to use a wheelchair motor with 12V. I could use 24V if needed. I was wondering how much power it used from the battery, ie how many pulls I could expect. If this would provide enough torq to pull 1 trap. Also what size wire that others have used to power them. Also how fast a retrival rate to expect.

I presently use Kolstrand hand gurdies for downriggers on 1" pipe davits that I should be able to mount the motor to so I am set up for this presently.

I am planning to use two stainless steel Ikea candle plates as Lifetimer used in this one http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?11409-prawn-puller/page2 but might use wood or plastic discs to make something 11 to 12 inch. Have others found this to be a good combination?

For others using wheelchair motors did you remove the brake or just energize it?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think Sculpin is working on something and will post a how to if I'm not mistaken
 
Does anybody else just use their Hali anchor system (with the sliding bolt retriever) to pull the traps? I've being doing and it works a damn trick! Definitely cheaper than a pot puller too if you already have the system anyway.
 
I use mine all the time even went and set up another one just for pulling the traps.
 
casper5280 said:
I use mine all the time even went and set up another one just for pulling the traps.
Click to expand...

Nice! Ya seemed like a no-brainer to me but I suppose it's probably a safer bet having a puller yank em straight up. No issues so far though - just gotta make sure to pull toward deeper water lol
 
TheSookesOfHazzard said:
Nice! Ya seemed like a no-brainer to me but I suppose it's probably a safer bet having a puller yank em straight up. No issues so far though - just gotta make sure to pull toward deeper water lol
Click to expand...
Ya only been a couple times that I couldn't use it, as after I dropped my traps there was aerial bombing of traps all around me.LOL but for the most part it works great.
 
Hey RGS, search trap pullers in the search function at the top right of page, there are a few threads there on this topic for sure.

Take a look at this link: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?15444-Trap-Puller-I-built.&highlight=trap+puller there is three guys on this thread that made trap pullers, one of which is me, a little bit of ingenuity, spare parts and pieces, and some crafting, it is amazing what you can do. Have fun and good luck:).

Most of the pullers that I have seen have been built with the electric winch motors (these babies are LOUD), a wheelchair motor might be a good idea if the torque is high enough and the power consumption is low, never thought of that one, good one! Keep us posted as to how you make out with it.

Cheers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
gidyup said:
I think Sculpin is working on something and will post a how to if I'm not mistaken
Click to expand...

Yeah I have been meaning to get to it for about a year. We have built 4 of the winch style ones and tweeking them everytime. I am going over alot of different designs that have been posted over the years. So many great idea's. I want to let it all sink in and make a really nice one with just the right size wheel and material etc. I have been looking into the air actuated foot pedals as well that you see on really expensive units.

The loudness of the ATV winches is a downside but like someone else posted turn up the stereo ha ha. I have become used to it. The pulling power is unreal (we used to use the 2000 lb and have upgraded to the 3000 lb models when they come on sale) and I want to try some bigger wheels to see how the time decreases. Right now with the current units we are using (about 3 years old now) we get about 8 minutes to pull up two traps from 300 feet. I want to get that down to 5 or 6.

If you have access to scrap aluminum and the means to weld up a frame or bolt up a frame etc. these things are hard to beat for cost IMHO. I would love to buy a unit like Black Velvet has with a hands free option but they are like 1300 bucks. I can build a home made unit for around 100 bucks. Labour is free and beers with the boys and the fun time building it is priceless.
 
Post your build Sculpin so other builds & ?? can B put 2 rest
Like that innovative LOW budget design, great concept. Using the main drive motor as Gibson
Instead as some models as line specific route that gives the drive roller tension by using other rollers

KH
 
Bringing this back up as I still want to build my own puller (but with so much going on, its a backburner project)....seen the builds members have done using princess auto ATV winches, someone here used a wheelchair motor...

Its not easy to find an affordable continuous duty motor, which is what ACE an other brands use. From what I can tell the motors are worth a few hundo at least so thats where the $550 + price tag is coming from...

an option I am considering is using a variable speed treadmill motor. They are usually 1-3.5 hp motors and I would think maybe, they would make a good puller motor. They are a continuous duty motor, you can find free treadmills on craigslist, and with variable speed you can use the knob control to control your retrieve rate on lighter and heavier trap lines.

Question is to those in the know, are they a strong enough motor and is this worth looking into further?

-FB-
 
my question would be if the motor is a/c or d/c...if a/c you would need an inverter and a decent sized one to convert to d/c...that conversion is very inefficient, not to mention not ecinomical if the purchase of an inverter is involved
 
My buddy still uses our first prototype using the 3000 lb. Champion atv winch. This unit is probably 5-6 years old and still works great. Just had to change out the wires and switch once. He looks after it pretty good. I killed one already by leaving it in the back of my old Cope all winter in the snow and rain etc. (my bad) and never rinsing it off after use. All in all they are pretty tough cheap motors if looked after.
 
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