Pot puller / line hauler

[MurrayM]

Any suggestions for devices to make pulling crab traps easier?

The wind had picked up quite a bit during the day yesterday, such that my wife had to keep us in low idle forward gear as I was pulling the crab traps to keep us from being blown ashore. (Live in an area with deeeep channels and steep bottom topography). I'm 55 now and losing muscle mass...it was a grunt & my shoulders are sore today!

There's a bewildering array of solutions on that InterWeb thingy, from electric, to manual, to using anchor pulling buoys.

What's your solution?

 

[Rebel112r]

Yes there are lots of pullers out there. I had a Sportsman, made in WA, which was a small power block, 12 volt, hanging from a davit. It worked well, newer ones with guide wheels seem better. I looked at the newer Scotty puller as I have Scotty downrigger mounts already. Ended up buying a Ace Brutus hauler, which has worked with no problems. There should be lots of them up there in the Kitamat area. Ace has a add on gizmo, that will tail the line as it is retrieved, no experience with it though.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I like the ACE pot puller. They fold for storage, can be mounted quickly.

Ace Line Hauler, BRUTUS Plus 40, 12 volt Electric Pot Puller, Cannon S

 

[AKDoug]

I have an Ace Brutus as well. It comes down to how often you use it and how hard you use it. I pull 600' of shrimp pot line up to about 4 times a day with two pots on each line. I also have two Scotty down riggers on my stern and the Brutus fits right onto the swivel base and adjusts to my "best" angle to pull (according to wind and current).

I have hung up pots on the bottom before, but the Brutus (even mounted on the plastic swivel base) is very adequately strong. If I pulled a LOT more pots I would invest it a more powerful and faster puller, but for personal use it is very satisfactory. It also breaks down quite small and stores very well. They are very popular up here and are the least expensive option for a decent quality puller. Scotty also makes a puller, looks like a capstan, which I have seen used out of skiffs. It sits too close to the rail for the pots to clear the hull coming in IMO.

 

[Sharpseadog]

Any suggestions for devices to make pulling crab traps easier?

The wind had picked up quite a bit during the day yesterday, such that my wife had to keep us in low idle forward gear as I was pulling the crab traps to keep us from being blown ashore. (Live in an area with deeeep channels and steep bottom topography). I'm 55 now and losing muscle mass...it was a grunt & my shoulders are sore today!

There's a bewildering array of solutions on that InterWeb thingy, from electric, to manual, to using anchor pulling buoys.

What's your solution?

I have a fly bridge and boat deck on my trawler.

I took a 1 inch SS flag rail mount I got from West Marine and put a stanchion eye on the end of a 2 foot piece of 1" dia SS tubing and put the other end into the flag socket and then mounted this at the base of one of the stanchions accessible from the cockpit.

I hang an open face block with a carabiner to the eye. Easy to haul down on the line, then when pot is up, pull it into the cockpit. A cheap, effective, non-obstrusive solution. I take the block and carabiner off when not in use.

 

[AKDoug]

If you try to use the boat and an anchor pulling buoy to pull your pots you risk breaking them off as they hit the ring. I use a mushroom anchor on the end of the line and clip my pots onto the line with heavy duty longline clips, you don't want to pull one of those into a ring.

 

[rochepoint]

Scotty here in Sidney make a line puller. Compact like their downriggers....

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Check out Electra-dyne electric haulers. They sell all the associated gear with them. There is a dealer in Alaska who sells many of them to "Ocean boats" with the davits etc. The east coast tuna fisherman use them as anchor haulers from their cockpit.

 

[MurrayM]

Well, looks like we've achieved the same level of consensus normally found in anchoring threads

Thanks for your tips...will give me some googling targets to work with

 

[AKDoug]

There are many paths to enlightenment Pick one that you agree with and can afford and go with it. Electra-dyne is ultra premium, if you want to spend $1500+ on a pot hauler. I would love to have one myself, I simply can't justify the cost of the quality for the number of pots I pull annually.

 

[koliver]

"I'm 55 now and losing muscle mass...it was a grunt & my shoulders are sore today!"

Giving up manual pulling? For shame. If you think you have lost muscle mass now, check again in a couple of years after NOT pulling your traps manually.

Only half serious. After turning 65 I bought a Scotty Line puller and use it a lot for pulling my Prawn traps. 600 ft of line is a lot to pull manually. I still pull 100 ft of crab trap line manually, though the trap weighs as much as 2 prawn traps.

 

[FF]

IF you will be doing it a lot the Hydraulic units seem to be the choice.