[Rhodes22-list] Converting Electric Winch Motor Lift to a Manual System

[Rick Lange]

Hi Stan,

How much for a DIY upgrade kit, English version?

Regards,

Rick Lange


On Sun, Sep 6, 2020 at 4:05 PM stan <stan at generalboats.com> wrote:

>
> > Boys and Girls, you are clogging up my inbox with this thread, to the
> > point that you know I go out of my way not to do; step in.  Of course
> > Chis is correct: /"Are we reinventing the wheel, didn't Stan have a
> > manual lift with a 6:1 pull? I seem to recall one at the boat show a
> > while back and it lifted the motor pretty easily." /
> We did.  And of course Roger is correct.  We used a direct in line
> pulling design with most all the energy going to moving the motor
> upward.  Even folk conceived in the roaring twenties could raise and
> gently lower that contaminating part of their boat.  Actually with 6
> sheaves I think it was set up as a 7:1 ratio.  Those smirking a GB
> design, redesigned by some previous owner, are being innocently
> disingenuous.
>
> Consider the chair.  All 4 of its legs must work as designed or it
> becomes a rocking chair. Not so with a 3 legged stool. A stretch of an
> analogy but it points to the fact that any fault you are now
> encountering is not the result of a 3 X 2 wheel pulley system that
> worked heretofore, but is the fault of somehow new increased friction
> being introduced in the moving of the trolley.  So let's count those
> ways, bearing in mind that sometimes creative prior owners improve on
> our design - and sometimes, not being tuned into all the variables, they
> do not:
>
> 1. The 2 aluminum channel tracks that the trolley rides in are distanced
> so that there is almost zero side to side play of the trolley.  If there
> is noticeable trolley side to side play, /*or*/ the tracks are not
> parallel, something or someone has altered the tracks from how they were
> set when leaving the plant.   More important:
>
> 2.    The aluminum tracks must be in the same plane.   To make this
> possible on the curved transom of the boat, 2 long plastic parts are
> individually shaped and vertically mounted on the transom for the
> aluminum track channels to mount to so as to keep each track in the same
> plane. (These 2 long plastic parts are mounted to the transom by machine
> screws from inside the lazaret.) To the extent the aluminum tracks are
> displaced from being in the same plane, friction increases the force
> needed to raise the motor.  What could displace the tracks from being in
> the same plane?  Other owners "repairs". (I see in this thread where an
> owner replaced one of the two aluminum tracks with a home made plastic
> design, perhaps not tuned into the same plane need.  It did look like
> they were so far apart the trolley could be removed simply by moving it
> far enough to one side so the other side would lift out of its track. We
> do read some reporting of strange noises and machine screw heads pulling
> through transoms.  Hulls built by others were thin and reinforced with
> wood strips in the lazaret at the motor lift section of the transom.   A
> transom that could flex even slightly will take trolley tracks out of
> the same plane and increase friction that has to be overcome. On older
> recycled boats this gets caught and corrected, while it is probably
> missed on privately bought boats.  Hulls built in Edenton are coreless
> and of solid glass so thick, transoms carry motor lift, rudder loads and
> boarding ladder, all with no back up support. There is no flexing, even
> when pulled from the mold.
>
> 3.    Trolley sliders.  If you have one continuous long slider on each
> side of the trolley, it is not a factory installation and is a source of
> considerable friction in non parallel and/or not in the same plane
> tracks.  Manual lift trolleys had 4 small wheels or sliders, two per
> side, mounted on pins or axles that allowed them to adjust their angles
> continuously to accommodate small track variations.  If sliders are
> multi fastened to the trolley and thus are not accommodative, friction
> will increase.  When we went to trolleys that could work manually or
> electrically, we went back to the 3 legged stool idea. There is only one
> slider on each side of the trolley's upper end.  This reduces friction.
> There being no 4 sliders, the third leg of the trolley is a large wheel
> centered at the bottom of the trolley, that simply rides on the surface
> of the transom.  This allows for the trolley to start automatically
> tilting at the right moment to further raise the motor clear of the water.
>
> Two final comments.  To answer Peter's good questioning of 'if the
> manual version was so good why did we go to the electric version?' One,
> for a commercial reason. To expand our market appeal beyond the Peter
> principle level. */The ladies love it./*  The other, personal.  I got
> old and lazy and giving one demonstration sail after another at the
> Annapolis Sailboat show, where both sailing and motoring is required and
> the cockpit is full, I became inspired. Then during the demo sail I
> would ask one of the prospects to tell the motor to come out of the
> water.  When he or she did and nothing happened, I would say, "No, no.
> That motor is from Japan. You have to speak to it in Japaneses".
> Luckily, never having a guest who could, I would make some gibberish
> noise, press the remote in my pocket, take my bows, and maybe a deposit.
>
> The other comment is that all of the above is academic since when and if
> I ever get partnering, I have an idea that may make inboard, retractable
> electric propulsion competitive with outboards of any kind, and be
> standard with each Rhodes, making this entire thread of historical
> interest.
>
> stan
>
>
>