Broken locking mechanism on trailer winch

dburne

dburne

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
590
Nashville TN
Boat Info
2013 Sea Ray 190 Sport
Engines
4.3 MPI Mercruiser Alpha One
Well we had another great day on the water today, boat is running really great now that the batteries are wired up properly lol.

But the day was not totally without issue, I must be living wrong or something.
Anyway at the end of the day, we were loading the boat up on the trailer, and noticed the winch was not locking down when I cranked it.
Got to looking, and the locking mechanism, appears to be a machined aluminum part, the part that locks into the gears on the trailer winch, was broken off. Also there was a coiled wire in there that was broke as well.

So needless to say, I could not winch the front of the boat down to the trailer tightly properly. It was on there good, we had the safety chain attached, and the rear straps hooked on the boat/trailer and tight.
So I knew I should make it home safely with the boat - which I did, but I sure noticed in the rear view mirror the nose of the boat bumping up and down slightly whenever we would hit a bump.

Asking for advice on getting this part replaced/installed. We bought the boat new in Feb of last year ( it is a 2013 model year ), and it has a Shoreland'r trailer. Should I just contact the dealer and have him get the part? I need that locking mechanism and the wire coil that goes in it. Something I should be able to replace easily enough, or will I need to get the dealer to install?

I know usually when I load the boat and winch it tight, I usually really winch it good and tight, perhaps I have been winching it too tight over the time I have had it...

Thanks for any advice,
 
Depends on the dealer. After three years, they may refer you to the winch mfg. I had some real old winches in the past. I never had that happen to me. Sounds like a defect.

On another note, depending on your strength, if the winch folks make good, consider running the winch line through a pulley and back to the stanshion. It cuts the effort required by 1/2.

If they don't, consider a power winch. They have come down a lot in price.
 
Not sure what brand the winch would be, will take another look at it and see if it gives me a clue.

Thanks,
 
in addition to the stern straps and the safety chain you also need to use a bow strap to keep the bow of the boat held snug against the trailer....this will keep the bow from bouncing on the trailer when going down the road....a simple ratchet strap works well....

cliff
 
If its a shorelandr trailer I believe it has a 5 year warranty. May check with the manufacturer. Refer to the paperwork that came with the trailer for details on who made the winch.

I know the brakes on mine were made by unique functional products UFP. I had my calipers go bad after two years and the sent me new ones quickly with just a picture of the defective parts.
 
Agree with the others on checking to see if it is covered under warranty.

I was able to buy a replacement light for my Shoreland'r trailer from Shoco Marine. You may want to give them a call if you don't have any luck with the warranty replacement. http://shocomarine.com/
 
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Here is a pic of the part that is broken. Also as mentioned the wire coil that keeps it engaged is broken off as well...


IMG_0335.jpg
 
like i mentioned earlier you should consider using a bow strap....most likely not using one is what caused the locking pawl on the winch to break.....when going down the road and you hit bumps the suspension of the trailer loads due to the weight of the boat and then releases pushing the boat away from the trailer....this can generate a significant amount of force being applied to the winch cable or strap which in turn transfers this force against the locking pawl of the winch....i would bet that if you read the manual for your winch you will discover that the manufacturer warns you not to rely on the winch to hold the boat on the trailer....safety chains are good to have but it should be a secondary method to keep the boat snug on the trailer....the primary method is to use a bow strap....the bow strap will absorb the forces generated by the trailer suspension thus relieving the stress from the winch...

cliff
 
tony357 said:
You can usually buy new ratcheting kit to repair it.. I know D-L has the repair kit for their winches.. what brand winch is on yours ?

http://www.amazon.com/Dutton-Lainso...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0000AYFXI

http://etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Dutton-Lainson/DL70475.html
Click to expand...

Ok so I pulled out my Shorelander trailer paperwork, and it is a Dutton-Lainson winch.
So I guess the above repair kit should work for me? If so I will just go ahead and order it along with a bow strap tie down a well.
 
my trailer has a turnbuckle attached to the winch upright that connects to my bow 'loop'. this is adjusted tight after loading so there isn't really any pressure on the winch. it was on there when i bought the boat so not sure if it is factory or not. but it lays at about a 30* angle so i guess it could lift up an inch or so if i hit a big enough bump. but i doubt lt could go left or right much and definitely not backwards unless something in the turnbuckle assembly broke; ie the turnbuckle, the weld to the upright, or the bow loop
 
Anyone use one of these Boat Buckle G2 tie downs for the bow?

https://www.etrailer.com/Cargo-Tie-Downs/BoatBuckle/IMF14220.html


I think my dealer could have better educated me on this stuff when we bought the new boat last year. Heck when I took delivery and brought the boat home, noticed it did not even have the Sea Ray transom tie down on it. When I called they said, " oh no one uses those anymore". So all I had holding my brand new boat to the trailer was the winch... course I had him get me those transom tie downs and I promptly picked them up before taking the boat out for the first time lol. If you look at the pic of my boat below my signature, you will see there were no transom tie downs, I took that pic after getting home with the boat for the first time.

They have been pretty good to me though so I can't complain too much, but it sure would have been nice to have been better educated on some of this stuff so I would have been better prepared. Did not even know a bow tie down was available. Perhaps if I did and had been using one, I would not now be dealing with this broken part. Will definitely be getting one of those as well.

Thanks for all the help gang, one big reason I love this forum!
 
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Most people do not use a third bow tie-down (with the chain and strap being one and two)... But I don't know of anyone that doesn't use the transom tie-downs. Well, I shouldn't say that I've "never" seen it, but it's pretty rare - and I always make a point to remind them. As long as the bow eye is snugged up against the underside of the winch stand roller, it prevents the "hoping/bouncing" of the bow and takes the stress off that latch. In saying that, though, that's not to say that some people don't use it. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with using extra tie-downs. I do know, though, that I often see boats coming into the shop with the bow NOT snugged into the winch stand roller and rarely, if ever, does that latch break. While I can certainly see Cliff's point about the extra stress, I also suspect that there was likely a defect in the latch that allowed it to break. Regardless of the reason, I would give your dealer a call tomorrow and tell them what happened and ask them to get you a rebuild kit.

That Boatbcukle is nice, I've seen it many times. Another method is to just use chain and a simple turnbuckle. It's a little more time consuming to remove and attach, but it would be a bit more secure. It looks like you have a painted trailer - I would avoid drilling any holes in your trailer frame unless you also protect the bare metal very well (although this holds true for glav trailers, too). Another way to do this is to use the bolts that secure the winch stand to the frame as there's usually enough extra "bolt" to allow the removal of one of the nuts, then a piece of metal stock (bent 90*) placed over the bolt and then finally the nut again to fasten everything tight. There's even these pieces pre-made for trailers as they're intended to be bolted to a frame to give another attachment point for tie-downs.
 
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Great info, thanks so much Dennis!
The dealer is closed on Mondays, I will give them a call on Tuesday and see what they can do for me.
 
If you're bored, take a look at the owners manual of your trailer. I believe it has a parts breakdown for all the pieces... although it's been years since I've looked in a trailer owner's manual! :smt001
 
Lol , yeah I took a look at it earlier today and had trouble trying to identify all those parts shown on the diagram.
 
dburne said:
Lol , yeah I took a look at it earlier today and had trouble trying to identify all those parts shown on the diagram.
Click to expand...

Ahh... then it is EXACTLY as I remember... every single part jammed onto a single page? :smt101
 
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