Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Anyone have any experience with the Powerwinch units for your anchors? I like the idea (I hate throwing wet, tangled anchor line under my seats...), but I have no idea how the unit works logistically. How is the anchor held secure when it's up? Anyone used one of these things? Thanks!

In my humble opinion, motorized anchor winches are just one more thing to add weight to the boat, break down and it takes up space somewhere. Now, let me say that those folks who are physically impaired or have shoulder /arm issues throwing and retrieving an anchor, will benefit greatly from a winch unit.
A cheap and effective anchor storage that I use is a cheap $3.00 mop pail . Great for wet, nasty anchors and coiled wet rope. I have two anchors ( river anchors)and keep the buckets in the corner storage bins both front and rear. the anchor fits perfectly inside and the coiled rope wraps around the shank ready for the next deployment. I keep 200 ft of rope in each pail and keep 60-75 ft coiled up around the anchor stem so I can cover 90% of the depth we need on our lake . In those rare instances or situations where I need more for whatever reason, its there in reserve. Its a quick, easy and no mess method.

Soonertoon wrote:In my humble opinion, motorized anchor winches are just one more thing to add weight to the boat, break down and it takes up space somewhere. Now, let me say that those folks who are physically impaired or have shoulder /arm issues throwing and retrieving an anchor, will benefit greatly from a winch unit.
A cheap and effective anchor storage that I use is a cheap $3.00 mop pail . Great for wet, nasty anchors and coiled wet rope. I have two anchors ( river anchors)and keep the buckets in the corner storage bins both front and rear. the anchor fits perfectly inside and the coiled rope wraps around the shank ready for the next deployment. I keep 200 ft of rope in each pail and keep 60-75 ft coiled up around the anchor stem so I can cover 90% of the depth we need on our lake . In those rare instances or situations where I need more for whatever reason, its there in reserve. Its a quick, easy and no mess method.

THIS..... I do the same thing, but only one anchor in the bow corner seat base. Works perfectly. I often lift the pail out and let it sit in the sunlight to dry up on the ride home.

I agree with the other posts. Get you a "box anchor" and it will fold up and can be put in a bucket when back onboard. Needs less rode and can be retrieved easily.

I love my box anchor - and when it's not in use, I keep it in a soft-sided cooler under the seat. Keeps it from banging into other stuff.

Since we're talking about anchors, I'll just to throw this out to save some hassles. For anyone in the western US (west of the Mississippi) and trailering your boat, keep your anchor and anchor line clean, free of plant stuff and mud, and someplace you can get to it easily.

With the Quagga/Zebra mussel situation out here, your boat will be inspected crossing state lines, and possibly entering any public launch area. One of the things they will want to look at is your anchor and line. Keeping it handy and clean will save time and hassle. If it's not clean, they can impound your boat and/or disinfect it before you can continue on your way.

And before you start with the gestapo accusations, realize that invasive mussels and other non-native species/plants cause billions of dollars in damage to lakes, marinas, water intakes and other infrastructure. They travel from affected areas to uninfected areas via boats, primarily recreational. A few minutes of care will save hours of hassles down the road. Not to mention possibly preventing the spread of invasive species.

And even though our pontoons generally don't have "bilge" plugs, if yours does, or you're pulling another boat, make sure you pull the plug out and leave it out while traveling, so any water drains out. Especially in Arizona where the law permits LE to stop you on the highway and check your boat, if they see the plug is in place, or weeds/plant stuff hanging from the boat or trailer.

http://www.100thmeridian.org/

I mostly just drift around, but in a cove I use my Trac 35 Power anchor mounted on the rear deck. It's out of the way and holds the pontoon just fine. It has a remote control. No problems with it at all.

BoatCop wrote:Since we're talking about anchors, I'll just to throw this out to save some hassles. For anyone in the western US (west of the Mississippi) and trailering your boat, keep your anchor and anchor line clean, free of plant stuff and mud, and someplace you can get to it easily.

With the Quagga/Zebra mussel situation out here, your boat will be inspected crossing state lines, and possibly entering any public launch area. One of the things they will want to look at is your anchor and line. Keeping it handy and clean will save time and hassle. If it's not clean, they can impound your boat and/or disinfect it before you can continue on your way.

And before you start with the gestapo accusations, realize that invasive mussels and other non-native species/plants cause billions of dollars in damage to lakes, marinas, water intakes and other infrastructure. They travel from affected areas to uninfected areas via boats, primarily recreational. A few minutes of care will save hours of hassles down the road. Not to mention possibly preventing the spread of invasive species.

And even though our pontoons generally don't have "bilge" plugs, if yours does, or you're pulling another boat, make sure you pull the plug out and leave it out while traveling, so any water drains out. Especially in Arizona where the law permits LE to stop you on the highway and check your boat, if they see the plug is in place, or weeds/plant stuff hanging from the boat or trailer.

http://www.100thmeridian.org/

Didn't sound like Gestapo but sounded more like good helpful hints from someone in the "know".

I had to laugh when I retired and finally got my little boat back out.

Went to get it registered and inspected. The guy asks if it's been cleaned of zebra mussels and I laughed and told him it hadn't seen water for 7 years.

He laughed and thought that was probably sufficient to keep invasive species from being transferred.

Nowadays, the Marina pressure washes it as it comes out of the lake and goes on the trailer.

And since I haven't trailered it anywhere, it spent 5 months sitting in a dry warehouse before being put back into the lake.

In my case at least, I'd think I'm safe.

But if I trailer it somewhere different, I plan on remembering your tips. The anchor lines are something I hadn't thought about and will keep in mind.

I have a box anchor for sale used 4 times 18'-30' Boats 19-lb. Small Box Anchor 22" x 8.5" x 5" (collapsed) bought at Overtons will sell for $125.00 shipped to you.

Capt Sully wrote:I mostly just drift around, but in a cove I use my Trac 35 Power anchor mounted on the rear deck. It's out of the way and holds the pontoon just fine. It has a remote control. No problems with it at all.

Trac 35.jpg

i use the same power anchor, but mounted on front of boat... it might sound weird, but here's why, (beyond the water hitting the pontoon hydrodynamically)..

when anchored from the front, the boat will naturally swing around and face the wind.....

my grill is on the rear of the boat....

when grilling, the smoke doesn't choke everyone on the boat...... just blows away, behind the boat...

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was all set to buy a Minn Kota Deckhand power winch, but in thinking about it, I might just stow under a seat in a container of some sort. I dont like the idea of drilling into the deck and having a constant trip hazard on the front deck, which we will use for boarding a lot of the time.

Good ideal that is what I do and have no problem. Most of the time by the time I get back to the dock the rope is dry and if not I just leave it out till it drys and then put it away

While I don't have any after pics to share what I did was to securely mount another cleat outside of my bow gate on the Starboard side just slightly off centerline so as to not be a toe kicker when using the front gate. I then used the bow corner under seat storage where an all but useless garbage bin was located. I keep an tri-lobe mushroom anchor and 100-foot line in there. I keep the line through the bit at all times so when I want to anchor I open the gate and seat and toss the line over the side then tie it off, then close gate and seat. There is nothing to get in the way or get tangled thus far....

Hi everyone, I'm still around, we also have the Trac 35 on our boat, though it's mounted below deck. It's really nice to deploy or retrieve the anchor with a push of a button and not have to move people around to get the old anchor from under their seats. I'm using a 20 lb. mushroom that works well.

Here is the link of the install:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16044&start=0&hilit=power+anchor