New anchor winch

[svhoneybee]

Our 4 year old Muir VRC 1250 looks like going in the bin. We are looking for a replacement.


I would be interested in views on a suitable anchor winch for a heavy 40 foot boat with 200kg of ground tackle (10mm chain).



At this stage, I am thinking that we might be better to go for a deck mounted horizontal, rather than the anchor locker mounted vertical. Space is tight and maintenance access is important.



The Lofrans Tigres looks like a possibility.


Given recent experience, manual override seems pretty desirable also.

[redbopeep]

We have an old deck mounted horizontal (Ideal Windlass Company) and love it. I'm unfamiliar with all the brands but know Lofrans makes some good horizontal ones that are readily available. I hope this is helpful to you.

Yes, make sure it has a manual mode! Ours does and we did have to use it. Ours is also NOT power down--it uses clutch and brake and you let it go down manually so you have to have someone on the foredeck. Newer ones have power down mode but that's slower than the way we do it.

Best of luck!

[svhoneybee]

Well, our new Lofrans is in place. We wrote to Muir about the problems we experienced with our VRC 1250, but they didn't reply. That reinforced our decision to not repair the Muir, but go for a whole new installation from someone else who appears capable of supporting their product.