Need Help Quick! Winch strap....
 

My 1992 2000Z is sitting on its trailer in my yard, waiting to go into storage and for unknowns reasons, the winch strap that connects to the bow snapped.

The material, which as we all know is like seat belt material, literally just ripped in two.

The boat had been sitting a few inches back from the V-shaped boot at the bow, so I put the tongue of the trailer all the way down, and winched it forward to snug it up.

Then, I jacked the tongue of the trailer up to tilt the boat back to let any water run out the drain plug, and when I came home from work, I noticed the bow and the V-shaped boot weren't touching and that the boat had shifted back slightly.

Luckily, it wasn't at a steep angle and I have additional cambuckle tie-downs on the bow and stern.

But, I need an idea quickly as some strength guage for the replacement winch strap. It's an easy replacement job, just not sure how strong the winch strap needs to be to hold the boat safely in place.

Any help would be appreciated..will be picking up a new strap either tonight or tomorrow because it goes to storage on Sunday!

Thanks all,
Patrick

Re: Need Help Quick! Winch strap....
 

I replaced mine this spring with one from west marine. I think it was a 2" strap rated for close to 3000lb working load. To come up with a comparable material, I'm not sure how to measure how thick the strap is, but if you have any sort of a marine supply store near you, I'm sure they'll have a replacement.

If you just need a temporary material to hold it until you get a suitable replacement, pull a few revolutions of the strap off the winch, cut it and toss that part out. Now you should be down to the part that hasn't had nearly the uv exposure that broken part did. Tie the strap to your boats eye hook and crank it down. Be sure to tie a bowline or some other such knot that you'll be able to untie again.

Something of note though, I never store my boat with full tension on the winch strap. After I crank it on the trailer and snugging it up to the bumper stop and pull the trailer out of the water, I then back the winch off a couple clicks so there isn't so much pressure on the strap. I usually flick my thumb across the tensioned part and listen to the sound it makes to determine if it's too tight or not. If it goes "tinggggg" then it's too tight, need to back it off a click or two.

Good luck with a replacement.

Re: Need Help Quick! Winch strap....
 

Thanks for the advice on the tension.....was just making sure it was snug for the ride to the storage facility and I'm sure the extra strain is probably what snapped it.

As for cutting it off and shortening it, that might work for a quick fix, but am hopeful that I can find a replacement and just replace and be done.

Thanks again.