Bell Viper Winch
Submitted by Jackfrost80 on Fri, 2020-08-07 13:18
Looking to pull the trigger on a drum winch after giving up all hope for an electric motor due to the extra cost of boat mods required.
Does anyone have a Bell Viper and been happy with it? Not sure if I can justify the additional $500-600 for a Lone Star.
Cheers JF
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sea-kem
Posts: 14851
Date Joined: 30/11/09
What's it for Frosty? Anchor
What's it for Frosty? Anchor or pots? I've just bought second hand South pacific EC600 with foot switch for $450
Love the West!
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Anchor mate. Lachie is still
Anchor mate. Lachie is still not old enuff to pull mine and don't like the kids being unsupervised whike I do it plus.... you know... fuck pulling a pick by gand
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sea-kem
Posts: 14851
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yeah true especially if it's
Yeah true especially if it's well set. I only ever use a reefy even on sand as I run a lot of chain.
Love the West!
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
If it's any help, I have a Tuffwinch
I got the bigger one, 300mm, quite a bit cheaper than Lonestar. The boat has done just on 600hrs, lots of anchoring, regularly up to 40m deep, No problems at all. TW240 HC with the 300mm drum. And this is where we get into the pro's and con's of gypsy type, such as sea-kems mentioned above, vs drum, freefall vs power out.
Get the popcorn out
Shark1
Posts: 1084
Date Joined: 21/05/12
a m8 loves his Tuff winch, -
a m8 loves his Tuff winch, - but his is under cover
it really is only a 12v motor on a gearbox the drum itself is piece of urine to fab up
can u buy the motor /gearbox seperately?
that type of money - have u considered a minn kota or watersnake ;p
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Looking at $2.5k+ for a Minn
Looking at $2.5k+ for a 12v Minn Kota and then need to get a mounting bracket fabbed and the hull reinforced where it attached and then have the battery housing area in the cuddy reinforced and buy the battery. Looking at over $4k compared to $2k for an anchor winch with anchor and bowsprit
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Dyls 570
Posts: 18
Date Joined: 29/09/15
Tuff winch
Second the tuff winch. Really well built and well priced, and the guy that runs it (Darren Molloy) is helpful and provides good wiring harness and diagrams makes install really easy. They also stock sarca anchors which are a good match.
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Mine is mounted inside the well,
Where they belong. As for the drum being a piece of piss to "fab up", well, good luck with that. Fine with full fabrication facilities. and the skills to use them. Most people don't have that, not handyman stuff. Tuffwinch import the motors and drives--drives are Italian manufacture, IIRC. The rest of it is fabricated and assembled in Australia.
As for " that kind of money have you considered a minn-kota or watersnake" Good throwaway line, but, to put it nicely, I'd advise you to Engage Brain before putting Mouth in Gear. For that kind of money, , around $2k all up, you get nowhere near the type of electric needed to keep any boat bigger than a dinghy in place. Installation for mine, all up? If I elected to go lead acid batteries , because I would need 36v , I'd either be up for 90kg of battery permanently weighing the bow down, , and $1000 bucks worth of them. If Lithium, to save weight, at least $2K, and probably, $3K. Then the motor itself is $6K.
Then, we have the plain and simple fact that electrics do not replace an anchor. They have their limitations. Somehow doubt I'd be sleeping overnight ( which I do) on an electric . Or holding place in 30 knots of screaming easterly up north of Kalbarri , fishing inside while waiting for the wind to drop, which we also do a lot. They certainly are the ducks' nuts for holding a spot, in fairly calm conditions, I'd love one, but can't see much change out of $10K for an installation on my boat. So a $2k installation, for me, is a good compromise. Until I win lotto.
Shark1
Posts: 1084
Date Joined: 21/05/12
did u notice the ;p after the
did u notice the ;p after the minn kota part of the response ranmar - it means its in jest
as for fabbbing up - i said its apiece of piss and it certainly is - some of us has facilities -and i have offered numerous times to help fab stuff up for FW members and have helped a few out
u on the rag ranmar?
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Was that last bit necessary?
And show some respect for the forum by actually trying some grammar and punctuation. if you can't be fucked, well, you need some basic internet education. This is not SMS. Or, if you genuinely have adult literacy problems, my genuine apologies.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
You might want to fix up the
You might want to fix up the start to your second sentance Ranmar.
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Shark1
Posts: 1084
Date Joined: 21/05/12
Sentence, is the correct
Sentence, is the correct spelling Jack Frost, seeing the grammar nazi's are here.
As for literacy, Ranmar I am dyslexic -luckily it doesnt matter when I m fishing or fabbing stuff up- I can read drawings.
The Ms checked this and says it's good.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Hahaha
Hahaha
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Daryn
Posts: 161
Date Joined: 01/05/12
I've got one. Perfectly
I've got one. Perfectly happy with it. Been going for 3 years with no issues, no sign of anything going wrong.
It does trip its circuit breaker if the anchor is stuck, so I use the boats motor to lift the anchor up of the bottom and then the winch to wind it in. Having the winch trip when vertical to the anchor is not a good place to find yourself! Guess that's the same with all of them though.
You are welcome to see it in action - PM me.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Cheers mate, the tripping is
Cheers mate, the tripping is def something to keep in mind as I know the Lone Star did very well in this regard in the winch shootout
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Chinbald
Posts: 315
Date Joined: 21/02/09
18 months all good
I had one fitted to the Reefy 18 months ago and no complaints. Most of my fishing is drifting so my main purpose is overnight anchoring and family days where the Mrs doesn’t need to pull the pick. Had a character building experience at the Carnarvon Islands last Carnarfin when a very still night turned into 30knot easterlies at 3am, the winch was not tied off and it did its job as the boat bow was pulled underwater for 4 hours waiting for sunrise. There were pictures of swamped boat on here from the same week so never underestimate what an easterly blow can turn a sheltered bay into it. Not much sleep was had. I still look at pictures of the dead glass at midnight and cannot believe the same anchorage had breaking waves in 5 metres of water.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8047
Date Joined: 07/05/12
A question on reinforcing the
A question on reinforcing the anchor well wall. I just got a rough quote of $1k to glass up and reinforced the inside wall of the anchor well which now pushes this project out of my desired budget but….
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Shark1
Posts: 1084
Date Joined: 21/05/12
Reckon that is something one
Reckon that is something one needs to see the boat to determine.
if the glas is good where u are going - and u can access the underside to put a mounting plate underneath the glass as well - eg sandwich it (thats what u talking about as sandwich plate?) then i reckon u dont need to
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Plate
The plate is only reinforcing around the screw holes.
Was looking at one fitted to a reef runner the other day and there was no glass on the cabin side of the bulkhead at all.
Had to glass ply support into the well from each side of the hull across in the well to strengthen it sufficiently.
If the glass wasnt tied in at the edges there was a good chance the whole lot could be ripped out in the future
Silver Fox
Posts: 1097
Date Joined: 19/06/14
Grumpy old men......
Vote one for Ranmar.
My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....
dodgy
Posts: 4562
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Was a nice offer shark made
Was a nice offer shark made to knock up the drum for Frosty though....
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?