Winching boat off sandbars, any suggestions?

[fisherman]

Hey there,

I am looking for some suggestions for a winch for pulling my boat off sandbars. Ideally i would also like it to double as a Pot Puller as well. A friend told me about the winches from www.westcoastwinch.com and they look pretty awesome. 2000 lb. of pulling capacity and only weighing 30 lb. and they are a local company.

Has anyone used these winches before? and other suggestions?

i will post and wait for your responses. cheers.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Pulling your boat off sandbars?

 

[Finished Business]

I'm guessing someone is getting stuck in the river? lol

2000 lbs I doubt would cut it to pull a beached boat off the bar, or on it for the matter (depending your plan). Your boat wieghs at least 2000 lbs I'm guessing if you are using it for prawning as well?
Maybe if your boat came with wheels to help it roll, but no way a 2000lb winch is going to move a boat landed on the sand bar. A buddy was on a bar, he called the nearest tugboat company, they sent a 400HP River boat to pull him out...

 

[fisherman]

you don't think 2200 lb. single line pulling capacity winch would pull a 500 kg (1100 lb) boat? I have heard of a number of people that will pull their boats heavier than mine like 30 feet onto shore using these same winches from www.westcoastwinch.com. I have a 5.80 Meter Rigid Hull Fiberglass Inflatable Boat.

 

[Last Chance]

One of those 2K Pound winches will do it at about .5 foot per minute, so you are looking at a very long ordeal. In the event that there are no other options available, I'd get a used boat trailer and a bigger winch to pull it up and down the beach. You willl shred the chines off the hull in short order dragging it on sand (I know a couple of people who have done just that on Sproat Lake and had to do some very pricey repairs). A 20 footer is pretty big to do that, but a $300 non road worthy trailer and a $100 garden tractor would probably do it a lot better then that winch. I have a few of those winches for projects, they are 2000LBS right at the beginning of the spool, and they are slower then a senior citizens chess tourney..

 

[agentaqua]

If you haven't driven your boat too far up the sand bar, and you have enough cable to reach some trees behind the deeper channel water - a come-along or turfer is all you need (although an electric winch is faster and easier on you). 1000lb is a little small, but a 2000 lb would be all you would need. You do need several hundred feet of cable or chain, as well. Rope stretches too much to give adequate pull. You don't need to lift the boat - only overcome the friction along the bottom of it. Sometimes a small log can help there, but the weight of the boat often breaks the logs or just moves them out of the way. Having a batmobile with large boogie wheels would help here. If you have a small enough boat - you can lift one end and move it over a bit, and then go to the other end and work the hull towards the water that way. If not - a straight pulll is the only way - OR maybe not going aground in the 1st place...

 

[cuttlefish]

More details on the plan would be helpful. What's the issue? Tidal range? Getting it out (up) isn't the problem, getting it back in is often what's hard on the bottom.
Non-roadworthy trailer sounds like the ticket.

 

[Canso]

Launch your boat with the trailer still attached. Bring it to your sand bar, and winch it up.

 

[Finished Business]

you don't think 2200 lb. single line pulling capacity winch would pull a 500 kg (1100 lb) boat? I have heard of a number of people that will pull their boats heavier than mine like 30 feet onto shore using these same winches from www.westcoastwinch.com. I have a 5.80 Meter Rigid Hull Fiberglass Inflatable Boat.

These details would have helped in your original post. lol

here's what I would suggest.

 

[Rockfish]

Never done any boat winching but done my share of winching 4x4’s out of mud holes. Have always found that bigger is better (10,000 lb Warn on my truck).

If you want to be sure of getting a boat off a sand/mud bar why not go with a chain saw winch. Very portable, lots of power, can be moved around to pull from any direction and won’t drain the boat batteries you may need to start your boat motor. Perhaps it is a little more than you need but it is a useful tool to have in the bush.

A couple of other tips. If there is absolutely nothing to anchor too, you can sometimes dig down and bury a Danforth type anchor and get the flukes to dig in on the solid side and hold enough to get yourself out; although it is a bit of a long shot. Lots and lots of cable/rope is a better answer as on occasion have had to go a long ways to find a solid tree/stump. Also in some circumstance you can drape a few sleeping bags over the winch cable to dampen it in the event the cable breaks under load.

 

[agentaqua]

Well said Rockfish! Sounds like some well-earned experience there...

 

[fisherman]

thanks for the information everyone. But i think that instead of getting a Winch, i need to stay away from sandbars...

 

[Rockfish]

thanks for the information everyone. But i think that instead of getting a Winch, i need to stay away from sandbars...

If it is anything like 4x4’s off road, getting stuck is part of the game and will eventually happen. After a while you learn to train yourself to look around for a good anchor point and plan how you are going to get yourself out before you dive into a situation you know may be a bit dodgy.

The chain saw winch is a good idea because it does not drain your batteries (I have duel batteries on my truck) and because when you are stuck, the winch is on the front of a truck and sometimes the last thing you want to do is go in even deeper in a bad situation when you should be getting winched out backwards. It is also good for getting out that Moose that decided not to drop dead right where you shot it and ran someplace you can't get a truck or a quad.

I also suspect that like trucks off road; two boats traveling together is a good idea as you can often pull each other out when you get stuck and at least you have a way to get home and go for more gear and help to retrieve you truck/boat.

For a 4x4; a shovel, axe, heavy duty pullys, chain saw, come alongs and a Jackall, (high lift jack) with some pieces of heavy plywood and young guys with good backs and hearts are also good things to take with you.