Milwaukee 28 v Winch Buddy!! help.

[neilpride]

Hi, anyone have first hand experience with this baby? they cost here around 500$ and we wonder if is worth it... we are really tired after 3 or 4 mast inspections at the end of the day , just a example , yesterday we fix a new furler in a Pogo 10,5, small diameter dyna Halyards and no dc winches or windlass to help, any idea or experience with a Milwaukee winch hoist??

[Moody46CC]

I have one of these--sort of. Mine came with a former boat and was called a Cinchwinch. But it is a 18v Old Milwaukee right angle drill without the fancy blue cover. It works. Mine will send a 200lb man to the top of the mast, but since it is an 18v job, it takes two batteries. At about the second set of spreaders it runs out of juice, so I just switch batteries.

A 23v system will probably get someone up the mast in one pull, but if you are doing several per day you will need a number of batteries. They can be recharged, but I've never timed the process. The batteries are not cheap.

Where someone can really make some money is to make an adapter so this set up can run on 120v. Then all you need is a good, long extension cord. Or just buy a 120V right angle drill with a head that will fit a winch.

[neilpride]

Thx Moody, the salesman offer us 2 batteries but we are in doubt if is worth the batterie option or the AC versión 220v.
Sincé the boats are most of the time docked and with a plug close to the boat probably we bite the bullet with the 220v , thanks anyway for your opinión...
Cheers.

[AnchorageGuy]

You can buy the standard right angle for much less than $500.00, do a Google search. The sleeve is not worth the additional extra cost IMO. We used one for years and finally sold it when we bought our trawler. My wife could haul me up the mast with it and we used it often to raise the sails as well as adjusting sheets on the winches. It worked great, and I used it as a right angle drill on several occasions. You can buy the bit separately on Ebay and still not be anywhere near $500.00 Chuck

[donradcliffe]

I bought the 28v Milwaukee drill, an extra battery, and the winch bit for about $500. A full charge would get me up the mast at least twice on one battery, but I only weigh 160 lbs.

Its also great for hoisting heavy sails and sucking in reefing lines. I tried it for grinding in the genoa when tacking, and it gets it about 90% in for 4-5 tacks before you have to change batteries.

If you let the drill stall, a safety circuit cuts the battery out and you have to put the battery on the charger to reset it.

[a64pilot]

Battery charges rather quickly, maybe 20 mins?

[Roy M]

I love mine. Anyone know where to order spare winch bit s?

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I bought the 28v Milwaukee drill, an extra battery, and the winch bit for about $500. A full charge would get me up the mast at least twice on one battery, but I only weigh 160 lbs.

Its also great for hoisting heavy sails and sucking in reefing lines. I tried it for grinding in the genoa when tacking, and it gets it about 90% in for 4-5 tacks before you have to change batteries.

If you let the drill stall, a safety circuit cuts the battery out and you have to put the battery on the charger to reset it.

Thx Donrad , can you comfirm if with 1 battery i can reach the top of the mast of a médium size spar, doublé spreader? im planing to buy it tomorrow, my 2 options ,,,, the Milwaukee or a Monster makita sander polish machine with speed selector...and the winch adaptor..

What we dont want is to recharge 2 batterys for one single mast...

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Neil,

My experience with the Milwaukee 28 V: it will haul me up our 20 M mast twice without recharging, and still have some power left. There are a set of LEDs on the battery that show state of charge, and after two hoists one is still lit (out of four). I weigh about 75 kg.
Recharge from that state takes approximately 1/2 hour with the charger that came with the drill.

Cheers,

Jim

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Thx Donrad , can you comfirm if with 1 battery i can reach the top of the mast of a médium size spar, doublé spreader? im planing to buy it tomorrow, my 2 options ,,,, the Milwaukee or a Monster makita sander polish machine with speed selector...and the winch adaptor..

What we dont want is to recharge 2 batterys for one single mast...

I've been hauled up the mast twice, raised the mizzen and then the main and still had some battery power left over. We had two lithium batteries but one usually provided all our needs on a ketch during a day on the water. Then it was charged overnight. Chuck

[tartansail]

I agree that you should be able to find the drill for a good bit less than $500. It has hauled my 200# up our mast without difficulty.

I would recommend shelling out for the replacement chuck (http://www.thecranker.com/The%20Ultimate%20Cranker.htm) rather than just the bit. That way you can reverse the drill without difficulty which allows you to use both speeds on a 2-speed winch. I have no affiliation with the maker, just have found it a good piece of kit.

[neilpride]

Okey Jim, Anchorage and others, thx for the feedback, definitely we try the Milwaukee...
No more cranking winches and doing acrobatic exercise with the bosum chair...I can wait!!!!
Cheers...

[a64pilot]

I agree on the replacement chuck, makes it a little lighter as well

[bcboomer]

Looking at the Milwaukee site I found this:
M18 FUEL™ HOLE HAWG® Right Angle Drill w/ QUIK-LOK™ | Milwaukee Tool

It is about 1/3 lighter (6.9lbs vs 10.44 lbs)

Or, with a conventional chuck at 7.4 lbs:
M18 FUEL™ HOLE HAWG® 1/2" Right Angle Drill | Milwaukee Tool


I've requested the torque figure as it's newer technology but so far, after 3 e-mails, that info is still a secret.

If it has the power, it would be easier to handle.

Neil

[ALIAS]

Beginning to wonder that the purchasing of an Ultimate Cranker was a mistake.

The Cranker arrived post haste and on removing the chuck off the Milwaulke 18V right angle drill I discovered that the thread hole on the Cranker was considerably smaller than the shaft on the drill.

On trying to get in touch with the supplier as per their email address on the website it turns out the email address is no longer active.

I also left msgs on their Ebay site and have failed to receive a reply/response.

A local engineering shop quoted me A$110 to rebore and rethread the Cranker.......a bit steep I thought.

So beware folks.