prawn puller

[nevada crawfish]

Have reserched building a puller with a winch motor ,is the contact info for island plastics still good?Any one delt with them lately?Also how does it work , do you take one wrap around the big wheel and then keep tention on the rope by hand sort of like on a sailboat capstan winch?

 

[Kisinana]

Here is what the ones we built somewhat resemble.

http://www.acelinehauler.com/easeofuse.html

 

[Time]

One wrap and keeping tension like on a capstan works for me.

 

[lazoman]

Here's what can happen, with mine anyways, with more than one wrap. Less tension is needed, but the line tends to get caught under the extra wrap. Started with the $39 CTC special winch, 1500 lb, lots of power but the motor is a bit noisy, and clunky, overall it works well.

 

[nevada crawfish]

for the wheel i was thinking of sandwiching plastic cutting board and machining on my wood lathe ? Any Thoughts

 

[Time]

Plastic cutting boards - usually about 1/2" thick - may be a bit light, although Lazoman may have used something like that.
On mine I just cut 3 plywood discs out of 3/4" plywood, outer discs 12" diameter, inner disc 10" diameter, then glued the 3 pieces together with some ss wood screws.
The 4 bolt heads you see on the plywood are holding the wheel onto the pulley (which is held in place by the pillow block).

 

[nevada crawfish]

calculated no load speed on winch at 40 rpm w /11 inch wheel at 115 feet per minute .Does that seem fast enough for crab rings and pots?.Light rec use, pots come out at 25 lbs before pulling against the tide.I like the plywood idea, could make a two step spool like on a drillpress use bigger / faster dia for light rings and smaller/more power for pots ?

 

[lazoman]

My winch takes 6-7 min to pull 450 ft with two commercial prawn traps and weights. Don't mind the wait, sure beats hand bombing it. My inner disc is about 11 1/2 inches. There is definitely enough power.

 

[nevada crawfish]

lazoman what did you make the wheel out of?

 

[lazoman]

Made it from "plastic" material from Industrial plastics. They have several different types/densities, some can be very expensive. The cheapest will do fine. Cutting boards might be the cheapest, just laminate them together. I like the wood idea, you could bandsaw it round, or even on a table saw with the right jig.

One thing I am going to update is the leading pulley. It should be able to swivel.

 

[Sculpin]

Those are wicked looking machines boys. I love the UHMW blocks around the winch spool so you can wrap the line with out feeding it through.

We built 3 of these units a few years ago. Prototype models for some of the stuff I've seen on the net. Nice to see guys making them "right". I am going to make a really awesome one soon. Just working out the motors. It's going to have a tall davit so I don't have to bend over to get the traps.

I gave away mine with my Cope when I sold it.

"I'm not talkin bout pleasure boatin or day sailin......I'm talkin bout workin for a livin"- Captain Quint

 

[Lifetimer]

Wheelchair motor 24 VDC.(from ebay) will run at 12 VDC okay. Drum is made from two stainless steel Ikea candle plates (Florera). Pulls two traps at 100 fpm.

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[geo_tonz]

All nice rigs boys. I've gotta build myself one of those. I thought hand-bombing would give me "a little exercise" but I need to rig something up.

A wood pulley block, why the frig didn't I think of that!

Any lines on a cheap winch or other motor? Been checking Ukrainian Tire but no sales yet...

The worst day fishing is better than the best day working...

 

[lazoman]

Lifetimer, I see you and Sculpin have the same terminal pulley, what's it from, wher'dya get it?

 

[Lifetimer]

Harbor Chandler in Nanaimo carries the terminal pulley shown.

 

[Sculpin]

Lifetimer that looks like a very nice unit you built there. We whipped up the winch prototype in just over an hour! It has since packed it in and I have to build another one. I think I will incorporate some of the things you did into the new one. Thanks for the photos. I will spend some more time building the new one and hopefully turns out as nice looking as yours.

"I'm not talkin bout pleasure boatin or day sailin......I'm talkin bout workin for a livin"- Captain Quint

 

[reelfast]

if you look at what lifetimer built and what the ace linehauler have in common it's the small pulley below the big sheeve. if you incorporate that simple mod, you will be good to go. you simply pop the line in the snatch block, take the line around the small pulley and then over the big motor driven one. just keeping a bit of tension on the line is all it takes at that point. no need to put multiple wraps around the motor driven sheeve. the nylon snatch blocks are commonly available at most marine outlets.

 

[geo_tonz]

quote:Originally posted by Sculpin

Lifetimer that looks like a very nice unit you built there. We whipped up the winch prototype in just over an hour! It has since packed it in and I have to build another one. I think I will incorporate some of the things you did into the new one. Thanks for the photos. I will spend some more time building the new one and hopefully turns out as nice looking as yours.

"I'm not talkin bout pleasure boatin or day sailin......I'm talkin bout workin for a livin"- Captain Quint

How long did it take before it 'packed it in'? Just wore out or do you think the salt got to it? (Wondering if I should go crazy with some marine silicone).

The worst day fishing is better than the best day working...

 

[Captain Dudds]

anyone ever tried pulling them up with an anchor retrieval system? Just drive away, and up they come?

 

[Sea Ranger]

Captian, I thought the same thing and was told it would work. I think you would want to go rather slow and it would probably work great but the problem is if you put your trap down where there are a lot of other traps then it might be tough finding a long enough sraight stretch to pull it. I would love to give it a try out in the sooke area but gotta watch the tides or anchor your traps real good.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!