Winch Boat Hoist and Charging Recommendations For Marine Applications

Question:

Two Part Question: First, I am replacing the winch on my standing aluminum arm davit crane. The davit is located on my boat and is used to lift the dinghy out of the water and place it on the bow. Dinghy weighs 550-600# fully loaded. Which hoist would you recommend? Second, my current winch is 120V and most Ive seen for my situation are 12V. What size battery would I need to operate the hoist. Typical use would be putting the boat in the water, then 2-3days later, lifting it back on the bow. What charger would you recommend? Thanks for your help.

asked by: Darren M

Expert Reply:

I recommend using a winch with a synthetic rope. Since you'll be by the water when using this winch, it won't rust over time. This winch # BDW15018 has 3,400 lbs of capacity so it should be plenty for what you need. I use a Optima Marine battery for any application needing a 12V battery. These are the best in my experience. Since this winch has a 12V motor, I recommend using an optima marine 12V.

Since you're boating, I presume that it will be at least overcast out and not storming, if that's the case you should install the Bright Way Solar Battery Charger # BRW54FR. This will charge your battery for FREE! The only way this won't be that useful is if you park your trailer in a garage or somewhere where you won't get sunlight. If that's the case I would just get a charger that you can use for other things too. This way you can get a really nice charger that you can use on any battery. We use the NOCO charger # 329-GENIUS10 at the shop. Works really well and can charge all sorts of batteries.

expert reply by: Adam E