Converted Ace Hauler Pics and Instructions

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SIR

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After burning through my second Ace Line Hauler motor (having already chewed through 3 Ezzy Pullers) I finally decided to follow the advice of some fellow board members and upgrade my puller to a stronger motor. The stock pullers are okay in fair weather with light traps but if you are pulling heavy traps in any type of wind they just don't have much longevity. We are out year round in fairly ugly weather so seem to have been eating up pullers.

I've put about 15,000 feet of line thru the puller so far and am very happy with it. It pulls a steady 70' per minute but does so at pretty much any load. I hooked into a friends line who uses a hydraulic puller and pulled up the end of his string with concrete cinder blocks and four big traps with NO slowdown on the motor.

What follows are some photos of the converted puller as well as some "How To" notes.


Puller1.jpg


Puller2.jpg


Puller3.jpg


As recommended by others I bought a T1500 Superwinch from Crappy Tire for $250. I looked at the Champion $70 "made in China" winch next to it but I've had so many problems with made in China tools recently that I decided to go with the N/A product.

Disassemble the winch getting rid of the cable and the housing saving just the winch and the spool. Mill the inside of the spool to make the inside edges flat as opposed to beveled so that the high density plastic pillow block will be a tight fit on the inside of the spool hence not wear out. (You could probably skip this step but I think the edges of the plastic block would wear fairly quickly making the fit sloppy over time) To make the pillow block take a square of high density plastic or teflon and bore out the center to the inner dimensions of your spool. Cut the block in half and drill out mounting holes. A good option is to drill out a grease fitting hole into the pillow block so you can keep it lubricated.

Next step is to drill out the plate of the Ace puller so the spool can go through the wall. Drill holes so you can mount the wheel to the end of the spool and drill the holes to mount the pillow block to the Ace plate. At this point you have the pillow block/spool and wheel all installed.

Last step is to make an angle bracket to hold the motor in the correct position. I bolted the bracket thru the square tube to leave me some play for alignment but there is no reason you couldn't weld the plate in place. I needed a small spacer plate to get the motor to line up with the spool. You may or may not need this plate depending on the thickness of the material you use for your mounting bracket. Two more bolts to attach the motor to the mounting plates and it's on to electrical.

I couldn't find a water tight 20amp switch so I made one as per the photos. I bought a 20 amp switch from NAPA and a water proof box from the hardware store. I PVC cemented closed the openings I didn't need in the box then drilled the cover plate to mount the switch thru. I bedded the switch in silcone when installing it and silconed around the wires. Only thing to watch is that you get the wires connected right. The winch will run backwards if you get them wrong so test them before soldering or crimping them down.

I stayed with my Scotty plug as I didn't want to start making mounting plates for the new style connectors which are only designed for thru-plate mounting.

Good luck!!!
 
Great info! I like to see other peoples projects. I have to start taking the camera to the boat. I just got a water and shock proof Olympus 7.0 megapixel now it's time to use it.
 
PS - Thanks again to Blueorca and Kisinana for their help in how to make this!!!!
 
I am trying to find the web site or phone number of island plastics if anyone can help, as they will machine the pillow bloock and pulley for a buck and a half.

Sir--- where did you get the material from?

[8D]
 
Sir how heavy are the traps you are pulling? I have an Ace too, Just wondering.
 
Island Plastics

2036B Idlemore Rd, Sooke, BC V0S 1N0
(250) 642-4544
 
Traps are the standard large stainless steel round commercial hoops, not sure how much they weigh. I get them cheap used as not many people want to pull them by hand or with their pullers :)

Got the plastic block from a local fab shop, not sure of his source, sorry.
 
Nice Job. If I didn't know better I would say you have seen mine, only difference is that I attached the plastic block and motor to the same plate and bolted it to the back of the bracket.
SIR if you just bought the winch did you get the T1500 or the T2000? Reason I ask is, the T2000 is on 1/2 price this week at Canadian Tire, 2 weeks after I bought mine they put them on sale the same way and I went back and they refunded 1/2 the price. That made building the modifications so much more satisfying.
 
I bought the 1500 with the hopes that with the lighter lift rating the gear ratio might be higher than the 2000 and I'd get a slightly faster retieve rate. Will keep an eye out for sales on the winches this week, needed to buy it when I did to get some prawns in the freezer before the commercial guys take over on the 1st. Looks like it's going to be a zoo by Lund this year, lot's of boats in the area already. Lot's of new boats as well so everyone must have done okay last year, but it looks like the price is going down this year so could be some grunmpy commercial prawners around the bay...

I decided to mount the block to the puller as if I ever need to change the motor I only have two bolts to undo this way.

I usually run two traps per line but with the new puller I may go double buoy and run four. May drop fewer traps into the deep abise that away...

I buy my traps from direct from the prawn boats at the end of the season. Some are usually exiting the business or are just rotating their traps. Up side of living next to a prawn plant. Down side is yelling at them to slow down all the time as they roar past my float on the way to the plant.
 
Ooopps. Had the wrong circumfrence for the pulley wheel, actually getting 100' per minute not 70'. Sorry about that, measure twice then measure again IS a good rule of thumb :)
 
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