Dinghy Crane- Linear Hydraulic Winch

[ABfish]

I pulled the trigger on a bigger dingy, an Achilles HB350DX, and I'm now selecting a crane to go on the foredeck of my boat.

I'm sold on the benefits of a full hydraulic crane (rotation, boom extension, luffing) but I can't find much on drum-type cable winches versus the linear hydraulic winches.

The drum winches are cheaper than the linear winches. Some, such as Nick Jackson, use Warn hoists which means replacement parts are easily obtained. On the other hand, every cable hoist I've ever been around was prone to bird-nesting and usually required some operator's attention when using.

The linear winches are more expensive, but I would assume they are quieter and less prone to cable fouling.

 

[Stout]

We have a STEELHEAD MARINE Hydraulic davit / Dacron line /Model: ES 1000, 2008 vintage that has all the actions you describe. It is very easy to deploy and retrieve our 11.5’ Boston Whaler sport from our upper deck. It has been trouble free for our 4 years of ownership. We added the wireless factory remote to replace the wired unit.

 

[ABfish]

Thank you, Stout. I've gotten a quote from Steelhead; they're not cheap, but the quality seems to be top notch. The sales reps are also knowledgeable and helpful, which is a big plus sign in my book.

 

[Stout]

AB: They do have good customer service. When I enquired about a wireless remote, they had a plug & play kit for our 2008 crane. Like you said, they are spendy, but the equipment is well made. If I was specifying a new boat, I would buy another Steelhead based on our experience with this unit. Ours got quite a workout on our last trip up into B.C and the Broughtons. We anchored out most of the trip so the dinghy was used a lot. The only other thing I have done to this is use the needle valves on the hydraulic power pack to reduce the speed a bit for our use.

 

[TowLou]

Liftmoore is the crane on our service truck. They may have something that will work.