Advice needed:: Electric Drill wincher

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by tdtrimmer

Check out the Winchrite by Sailology. This is an awesome powerful tool. I have found it to be superior to the right angle drill.

But at double the price!

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by tdtrimmer

Check out the Winchrite by Sailology. This is an awesome powerful tool. I have found it to be superior to the right angle drill.

Many people like this tool. I think it’s easy to store away. If your loads/boat are not large this may satisfy your need.
PROS
Compact
Generally water resistant and marinized parts
Purpose built
CONS
No interchangeable battery. Dead is dead
Short torque arm
Expensive at around $750
Older models had a problem with the drive falling off or breaking. Maybe OK now

Milwaukee
PROS
huge torque with a longer torque arm.
Interchangeable batteries. 28 volt Li.
Shop Amazon. About 1/3 the price of winchrite
Not purpose built. It is also a big drill. If you buy other Milwaukee tools the batteries are interchangeable.

CONS
heavy and bulky
Exposed parts are steel. Keep clean, dry, oiled.
In reverse the chuck can unscrew. Winchbit has a fix for this if you buy their bit. We find forward is low speed on all of our winches, no problem.
Spare batteries are expensive. Amazon for aftermarket interchanges. Keep them dry.


It is possible to stall the Milwaukee but you best have a tight hold. Our main is 80 feet. The Genoa weighs nearly #200. Tacking the Genoa requires winding it in most of the way so the furler needs the Milwaukee.

We have a suit of Milwaukee tools in their large red canvas bag as below except my set also included the right angle grinder. I don’t often use the circular saw but the drill and grinder are indispensable and exceptionally good. I use the reciprocating saw three or four times/year. The kit came with two batteries and a charger. I had previously bought the winch driver tool, battery and charger so total we have three batteries, two chargers. Our kit was $750 two years ago. Compare to a Winchrite for the same price.

[dwightsusan]

Milwaukee 0721 28V 1/2 right angle with "Winchbit" in Milwaukee chuck, in use for over 5 years on 48' x 28' x 18" high performance offshore Cat with no problems. Issues: the tool is HEAVY, bare steel parts prone to corrosion, loads of torque mandate a firm grip. Extra batteries recommended - we keep 3 charged. Keep bare steels parts clean and oiled. Keep tool in the Milwaukee case in a dry location - ashore when not in active use. No problem hoisting my 230# butt to the top of our 64' mast. Even a very heavy fully battened main is light work for the tool. One of my best boat purchases ever!

[Sindbaad]

Originally Posted by geoleo

Need advice on which Milwaulkee 1/2 inch right angle lithium battery powered drill set to get to winch sails..... Im planning to get back into sailing at age 83 with a fake replacement left shoulder., bought a 85 Jeanneau Sunshine 36' Racer Cruiser. Going to replace the 3 straight non self tailing winches with self tailers . Plan on running them all with the Milwaulkee 1/2 right angle drill . Need to know which model and set up works best as there are several available. Thanks in advance.

In the same boat (pun not intended) as you are. 83 years of age, both shoulders dud. Still sailing single-handed a Hallberg Rassy Monsun 31, Hull # M778. Been using a WinchRite Cordless machine to hoist main or trim genoa for two years.
The contraption is rechargeable on 12V and external power 110-250 V. The winches you are using it on MUST be self-tailing.
The battery is quite powerful and holds charge well. It is a manageable size and shape. Has a receptacle that is fixed in the cockpit and keeps the machine out of the way. Highly recommended.

[Sindbaad]

Same boat as you are! 83 years old and two dud shoulders. Still sailing single-handed on a Hallberg-Rassy 31, Monsun, "Athesa," Hull No. M778. I have used a WinchRite machine for two years. Rather costly at just over $500.00. It is neat in design, manageable in size and handy. Has a receptacle that mounts in the cockpit out of the way. Battery is powerful and lasts long. It may be charged on the boat's 12 volt or on shore power 110-250 Volts.
One point: like other s the machine needs selftailing winches to do its best.

[sailorxyz]

To all you guys and ladies who are getting on in the years, nothing will keep you sailing longer than a junk rig. The hardest bit is raising the sail, which can be done with an electric winch or the Milwakee thingee.. everything else easy. You can put a reef in, in about 2 minutes and without leaving the cockpit. You can make it all disappear nearly instantaneously in an emergency... Tacking & gybing, just put the helm over. Downwind the rig is rock steady, no need for vangs et al... and the modern rig with a cambered sail goes to the windward pretty much the same as the average cruising boat. Whats not to like?

[cabo_sailor]

Both my wife and I are getting older and neither has quite the strength we used to but we don’t want to give up sailing.
Electric winches are nice but dang expensive for one let alone a full set.
We attended the Annapolis sail show this year and saw the demo of winchrite. We received a considerable boat show discount which meant we paid about $500 usd. Haven’t had a chance to try it yet (the boat is on the hard) but looking forward to it. At the show there was a fellow just across from winchrite selling a similar product for $2000!! Doubt he made many sales.
By the by, the winchrite demo consisted of raising and lowering what is supposedly a 500 lb bucket of concrete. Which he zipped up and down with no problem. He used a decent sized winch but now that I think of it I can’t remember if the bucket had a multi purchase block and tackle attached. Were I to go again I think I would ask for a regular winch handle to see how much difference there was.

[seatotaler]

Nobody has mentioned about a "soft start" feature on the Milwaukee or the Winchrite. So I'm guessing that that isn't an option? My davit boom is fairly flexible and when I crank my winch by hand, if I'm aggressive it bounces my 9' Avon quite a bit. I don't think the davit boom is vulnerable enough to put a permanent bend in the davit boom from the bouncing, but I can see it being an issue if I was using either of these two tools on start up, or is the low speed super slow? I'm not concerned about lowering it in position into it's cradle because the dinghy is light enough that I unwrap the manual winch so the line goes around it only once and I pay it out by hand slowly quite easily.

[cabo_sailor]

I don’t know about soft start on the Milwaukee but the Winchrite has it included. There are also two speeds both forward and reverse on the Winchrite. I do like being able to charge the Winchrite on 12v dc without the need for genset or inverter.

[seatotaler]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I don’t know about soft start on the Milwaukee but the Winchrite has it included. There are also two speeds both forward and reverse on the Winchrite. I do like being able to charge the Winchrite on 12v dc without the need for genset or inverter.

Good to know cabo_sailor

[Tanqueray]

My wife bought me the Milwaukee 90degree drill and a winch bit for Christmas.

I had a few problems right off the bat...
1) my cabin top winch (Lewmar 16) needs the drill to run in reverse. This caused the containment screw in the chuck to break. And then the chuck unscrews.

2) I bought new screws, same thing happened.

3) Exchanged the original winch bit (chucks into the drill) for the “Ultimate Wincher” bit, that replaces the chuck. You have to drill a dimple in the drill shaft for a set screw to keep the bit from unscrewing if used in reverse. Didn’t get the dimple deep enough the first time and unscrewed they bit.

4) Redrilled the dimple a bit deeper, and the bit is now very tight.

5) With my Lewmar 16, single speed winch, the drill will not lift my weight (215 lbs).

6) I am going to try to route the halyard to my primary winch and see if the drill can lift me with the better gearing in the primary.

I do use the drill to raise the halyard, which is fast and easy. Yes, the drill is a little heavy and awkward, but once it is in the winch, you don’t really have to support it. Just hold it from turning.

Greg

[Jim Cate]

5) With my Lewmar 16, single speed winch, the drill will not lift my weight (215 lbs).

I bet that you can't hoist that much weight with a lewmar 16 using the normal 10 inch handle either!

The Millie will not give you more peak torque than a fit person can apply manually, but it will do it effortlessly and for a longish period of time and if lightly loaded, much faster than you can manually crank (as in furling a big genoa quickly).

I note that you finally solved the reverse problem. Upthread I reported solving that problem by using red Loc-Tite on the threads of the chuck drive. Haven't broken a retaining screw in the 5+ years since.

Jim

[SailorRon49]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

I tried the Milwaukee right angle drill a few years back, and found it overly heavy and cumbersome, for both my wife and myself.
I bought a Winchrite, which is designed for winches, not just a modified drill. It is much easier to use one handed, when tailing a line. It is as powerful as the Milwaukee, with two speed and reverse. It has a special holder and pouch.
I don’t know about the price comparison nowadays, but I know which I would sooner use.

DO NOT use Winchrite! Mine stuck with power on! I managed to bang it up and out of the winch before it injured my wife's wrist, or the jib sheet ripped out the clew! I TRASHED MINE AS A SAFETY ISSUE!!!

That was in 2nd year of use. In first year I had to send it in for repair of no charging issue. Very poor implementation of a good idea.

[SVAscension]

Originally Posted by HiAndDri

To those that have the 28V drill, does it have enough oomph to get a 200lb person up a 48' mast, do you think? Is its speed sufficiently controllable?

I have the M28 with the winch bit. It easily hauled my 220lb butt up the mast. This drill has more than enough torque and makes sailing short handed much easier.

[swolf]

There is a new machine announced from Milwaukee that runs standard 18V-batteries, has brushless motor (which is good for marine application) and provides sensational 122 Nm of torque as compared to 146 Nm of the M28.


look for M18 FRAD2-0,

quite nice alternative;-)