DIY anchor winch?

So I was at bps earlier on today picking some things up when I noticed they have these really nice electric anchor winches.. for a steep $150. I also saw a manual one for $90, if I were to pay $90 I'd rather pay the extra $60 for a electric one.

Anyways, I've looked around online and haven't found much information on making your own anchor winch.. also did a quick search on here but didn't find anything.

Has anyone pulled this off successfully?

8)

I have run a boat that had a pair of DeckHand electric anchors (DH-18 if memory serves me right). They are SLICK. Touch of a button and the anchor drops. Hit the button again and they raise automatically; and the motor stops when the anchor is retracted fully rather than the motor continuing to pull on the rope. They retracted quickly...lot quicker than I thought they would, and the anchors dropped in a free fall.

Now I think they can be had in a wireless version. Cool.

I thought the price was steep too, but I guarantee that if I had the space on my decks, I'd have at least one of them.

I love to tinker & make stuff, but these electric anchor thingies are something I'd just buy rather than trying to make. I figure by the time I had one that actually worked decent, I'd probably have at least $150 in it...with the way I do things, probably double that. And it'd probably sink the boat if it retracted and the anchor hung up on a tree limb or rock.

I've got a minn kota deckhand(I believe that's what it is)

It has a remote(wired) that's on the dash and the switch on the motor. The thing is awesome.

The only issue I don't like is that when you're anchored in waves, you can hear a bump on the bigger waves where the spool moves just a little. I remedied it by dropping anchor and then tied off to a cleat.

I picked it up used for 75 bucks. I've seen a few on ebay that are going for about 100

I had a manual one, but it rusted out after about 3 years

Sometimes the bell anchors stick in the mud and u got to break them loose manually if u don't the circuit breaker will pop

I've actually thought about this....I think a manual one may be doable. Electric...well there is more to that than you may think.

I have several old winches from trailers that I have replaced. I kept them for whatever reason. Now I am wondering if I can make one of them into an Anchor winch. It would be plenty heavy enough. Just spool the rope up. It may not lift to fast though. LOL... But if I could use the spool and get creative I probably could fix that...hmm now you got me thinking....just what I need another project....lol

JasonLester said:

I've actually thought about this....I think a manual one may be doable. Electric...well there is more to that than you may think.

I have several old winches from trailers that I have replaced. I kept them for whatever reason. Now I am wondering if I can make one of them into an Anchor winch. It would be plenty heavy enough. Just spool the rope up. It may not lift to fast though. LOL... But if I could use the spool and get creative I probably could fix that...hmm now you got me thinking....just what I need another project....lol

Click to expand...

Only problem I see with doing it this way is that the handle will be whipping around pretty good when you drop anchor. My anchormate has a free spool button that releases the drum from the handle for the anchor to drop. Otherwise the cranking on the anchormate is 1:1 and I would guess the crank on the winch is at least 5:1 so yeah real slow.

I made one for Our 2072 that's used for steelhead fishing in rivers with a lot of current, but we're talking a heavy anchor, as in 80# +. I'm in the process of making a smaller weight version for my tracker 1648 I'm doing now. When it's done ther'll be pics on here

The trailer winch would work. If you're in a saltwater environment, be prepared to replace it frequently.

The only problem I see is rode capacity. If you're using rope as your rode, doubt you'll be able to get much on there. Maybe use it as a capstan with rope. Steel cable will give you a greater capacity, but again, the elements won't be your friend.

just out of curiosity,how heavy of an anchor are you guys using?i use a 10# bow and 5# stern.i have a scotty hand retrieve on the bow and it works great.my boat is a 14.5 ' g3 and weighs close to 800 lbs. loaded.mind you i only have 50' of anchor rope on mine.

novaman said:

I made one for Our 2072 that's used for steelhead fishing in rivers with a lot of current, but we're talking a heavy anchor, as in 80# +. I'm in the process of making a smaller weight version for my tracker 1648 I'm doing now. When it's done ther'll be pics on here

Click to expand...

Nice anchor winch...but I'm more interested in that cover you have on the boat. Looks like a really cool tent. More pics please.

The trailer winch would have to be modified somewhat I know... I don't need a huge amount of rope. I usually don't anchor in stuff over 20 ft. So 50 ft of line is prenty.

I saw that too fender. I like that idea of having something to take shelter in