Almac Boat Loader
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2020
- Australian (Bundaberg) owned and operated small engineering business, ALMAC Boat Loaders. Why the heck would I not support local, and Australian?
I had the loader fitted sometime ago but the bridle and rear ropes had not been "adjusted" for the tinny I had. Well, a bit of trial and error (2 blown fuses) and a little research later and I finished with a loader that fitted description, it loaded the boat.
Not sure about you, but I could find next to nothing about how to set the ropes up for a "correct" installation. When I blew the fuses for the Mean Mother 2000 lb ATV winch I could not find anything on the internet about the rated (correct fuse size) amp capacity for the winch.
I could have opted to up the fuse rating but I chose not to and continued to "play" with bridle rope lengths.
Anyway, as I type this from the side of the road at Bamaga, far North Queensland, I can report to you that the ALMAC Boat Loader is still working a treat. Just a pity about my rod holder that was mounted off the side. Ohh, and a pity it does not help catch fish or crab either.
Kenny - Авто та транспорт
i really enjoyed watching this
ta Naomi, I can see one of these on Aidens' xms present for sure
Hey mate if you raise the stern ropes you will make the load on winch and boat attachment points far more less stressful and will winch over a lot easier
Saying that. I like it.
Ta buddy. It does work a treat and once not had any problems in well over 12 months.
kennym
Warts and all report which is great.....
A couple of observations (if I may be so bold)......
1. You could have checked the current draw of the winch with your clamp meter....
2. With Anderson plugs: CRIMP...CRIMP...CRIMP... no solder allowed!!! hahaha....
3. You might want to consider adding something to protect the frame where the winch cable rubs; both right near the winch and at the back where it again changes direction. Either additional pulleys or even some of that blue plastic stuff like you have on the guide/guard that plugs into the towbar. If the latter, it would be sacrificial and would need to be changed periodically.
Cheers mate and hope the Cape York trip is going well...
Thanks Bill. I don’t have a clamp meter. Current draw will be commensurate with load so I’m not sure using a clamp meter would have helped.
I’m adverse to having unsoldered copper exposed, whether crimped or not. I find tinning copper prevents some oxidising that inevitably occurs. I appreciate tinned leads carry the potential of stress fracturing but given the use and location of these plugs very minimal.
There is a “guide” at the front near the winch. The square tube the rope runs over at the rear is rounded and has no sharp edges. If, somehow, that tube gets some rough edging on it then I might look at mitigating abrasive issues 👍
@@kennymepicadventures876 ahh, sorry I thought you had a Fluke clampmeter....
A wise person from the RAAF (not Zak) once told me that soldered joints were a huge no-no on aircraft because of their propensity to fail at the most inopportune times (I guess with a plane, there isn't exactly an opportune time...haha).
As such, I've always crimped my large cables and then added glue-impregnated heat-shrink over the whole lot. I used to use a 18" long hand crimper, but now have a hydraulic jigger that does a much better job.
I recently upgraded the alternator to a Mechamn 370 amp unit and ran 70mm² cables to each battery and also earthed each battery to the alternators housing....all crimped.
Anyway, if solder's working for you then why would you change....horses for courses.
As regards the wear of the winch cable points, I think it would be the steel frame that would suffer....but then again, it's not like you'll be loading the boat hundreds of times etc....so that's probably just something to keep an eye on in the longer term.
We're finally going to head to NSW in a week or two... YAY!!!
On watching your set up on the ropes on the back of the boat. The length of the ropes should be such when the boat hits the rollers in the vertical position the balance point of the boat is approx 50mm below the roller pivot point, this will only require a small amount of load to pull the boat over into the horizontal position. This will put least amount load on your winch
Hi John,
Thanks for your thoughts 👍. I did a follow up on that vid, I think I called it Almac Boat Loader 3 months on.
I’ve been on the road on this trip for almost 4 months, with the boat on the roof. No problems (knock on wood) with the winch and rope set up so far.
Almac have a display set up that I’ve looked at and I’m pretty sure they did not have the transom more than 300mm off the ground (when horizontal).
The length of the boat might also affect the “roll over” position you mention too.
Anyhow, thanks again for your thoughts.
kennym
Great vid, thanks for posting. Can I ask what type of rope/ cable you are using for your bridle ?
That was supplied by Almac. I’m guessing it’s the same as the winch cable.
kennym
You will find that the 2000lb winch rating is on the first wrap of the winch drum. Probably 200kg rating on the last wrap. Also at max load, those winches pull 145a.
Thanks bud. I’ve not put a clamp over the loom when the winch is under a bit of load. But gee, I’d reckon the 60 amp fuse would blow before it pulled anything like 145 amp, and the wiring loom would melt too me thinks.
Hopefully I’ll not ever see that occur 😀
In my more recent vid on the Almac I mention load (amperage) that the Almac people told me 👍
kennym
@@kennymepicadventures876 no worries, i used to use a handwinch on mine and i dont think there was too much load on it
Hey mate just wondering how wide is the roof rack just the width that the rack sides on top of the canopy ( not the skids where the boat sits) thank you
The roof rack (skid width) is made for the tinny. But the rack you talk about is made to the width available on the canopy or whatever mounting platform it is to be fixed to. In my case the Almac bolts to an existing roof rack. That existing roof rack is bolted to the top of my canopy.
So, in short, I don’t think Almac make a “standard” width rack off the shelf. For sure they will likely have widths for common mounting platforms, but I have a custom canopy and roof rack so I’m not sure any measurement I give you will assist unless you have the same canopy and same roof rack.
If you still want the measurement let me know and I’ll measure it up for you.
kennym
Hey buddy, measured the outside width for you. It’s 1212mm wide.
kennym
Pretty good report. So what are we drinking?
Nino, not much at the moment. All my lemoncello is at home 😢. Still remember that terrific kale vodka you fed me last year, yummo