Worth It?

Evan71 · Posted: Sep 16, 2008 12:57 am Post subject: Worth It?

So lately i have really been contemplating purchasing a winch, I have a boat (ski boat) but only get to ride every other weekend in the summer. And my dad is somewhat supportive of me getting one, he thinks its too dangerous, I mean i know its dangerous but with the right techniques,(anchoring tieing it down and what not could make it a lot more safe. But my main concern is there arent very many spots around my town, no gaps really a couple of flat water spots ocean, and also another thing is cost. But it is a definite possibility, what would you guys say?

lumpy pants · Posted: Sep 16, 2008 1:10 am Post subject:

LiquidForce71, I would look into building one. I have always wanted one but they costed way too much and I went to my parents storage unit the other day an realized I have a go gart in there so I am goin to attempt to build one and lately all I think about is winching

SleuCrew · Posted: Sep 16, 2008 2:22 am Post subject:

LiquidForce71, I agree with lumpy, you can save yourself a lot of money building your own vs. buying one. One thing that might help you along with your dad is try getting him involved in the build, address his concerns with why he thinks they are dangerous etc. maybe the two of you can come up with something he feels is safer. If all else fails its a cool project you and your dad can get involved with together.

Evan71 · Posted: Sep 16, 2008 10:41 pm Post subject:

SleuCrew, ive wanted to build one, and he is a master craftsman and just keeps saying it would cost too much and be too dificult, he would rather me just look into buying one.

lumpy pants · Posted: Sep 17, 2008 3:16 am Post subject:

LiquidForce71, Show him what the costs would be.. On ebay you can find a tav2 for about 160 shipped and at least at my local harbour freight they have a 6.5 hp engine for 150. I haven't really looked at rope costs yet, but you living in SoCal I assume you can find both of these items in your area for probably even cheaper. Same with rope and once it is built just from traveling down there and watching tv on LA/OC your going to probably have more winch spot options that people living in Florida especially if you travel to the beach. I personally think it;s a total waste of money to buy a name brand winch when you can build your own for a quarter of the price. Thats just my $0.02

ILwake12 · Faceplant Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 City: Milliken

i fully agree with everyone on here, and my dad is also quite handy and i got him on the build of my winch, great bonding experience, and so many good winch seshs with my bros behind that thing, totally worth it

POPTART · 360 flip Joined: 24 Jul 2007 Posts: 7621

a friend and i have built mine and a second one is on its way out of fabrication, im 600 dollhairs into two Shocked

u cant even think about buying a production winch for what common sence and elbow grease can get you.

its like building your own chopper

have fun with it , go find a local lawnmower engine repair shop....the most expensive item i had to get was the line

Evan71 · Posted: Sep 17, 2008 3:40 pm Post subject:

What about the welding part, how do you attach the motor to the frame, ? also what do you make the spool out of?

Thanks for all the help so far

cjbecker · Posted: Sep 17, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

POPTART, my most expensive thing was the rope also.

ILwake12 · Faceplant Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 City: Milliken

i built the side walls of my spool out of diamond plate aluminum with threaded rods as the spindles going across the middle and it's worked great

Evan71 · Posted: Sep 17, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject:

Any topics on here on how to make a winch????

Montgomery · Backside 180 Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 976 City: Rogers

LiquidForce71, I built mine for a little under $800 which is pretty cheap. My buddy is a bad@ss welder and fabricator so that helped out a lot in price but if you can find someone to weld it all up for you decently cheap I build my own it's fun you learn a lot and you build a very nice Love/Hate relationship with your new toy Wink

My winch in the almost finished stage

8hp Briggs, Releasing Spool, and TAV2 . . . We went a little overboard with the 2x2 steel that we used it's a little hefty weighing in at 140 +/- lbs . . . I'm going to rebuild the frame sooner or later with either 1x1 or 1x2 steel