Good luck with your project. I tried one of those clothes line retractors. Guess the one I bought was junk as the spring rusted out in short order and then it was junk. I was using it in salt water and that may have contributed to the failure. I have since purchased an Anchor Wizard. BTW it is not cheap. Ha Ha. So far it it working as advertised. I even use it to lower and retract my weighted underwater GoPro Camera setup. John
Seem to me that stainless cable might be hard on your hands . I've always wondered how strong the original cord would be , someone needs to test it with like 5 or 8 pound weight
I think the issue with the stock PVC line is that it would stretch and eventually weaken due to the outdoor conditions. I am curious as well as to the stock line test for weight capacity.
The biggest issue people are having with this setup is after repeated uses, the water rusts the inside coil spring, causing it to fail prematurely and not wind back up correctly. it's a good idea to drill a few small holes into the bottom of however it is mounted, to help drain any excess water out.
Yes, you are correct about the rust complaint. Drain holes are a good idea. I think most of the accumulated water is from the users that replace the PVC line with paracord. The paracord does absorb water which does not easily dry causing rust. I'm hoping that by using the ss line that the absorption problem will not be as great leading to a longer life. I will see.
Nice video. I've considered doing this, but I can't think of a way to use a clothesline retractor *AND* be able to quickly detach from the anchor line. I frequently do that to do get my lure unsnagged. I clip the anchor line to a trolly and use a small floating buoy to keep the end of the anchor line available and floating in place after I detach. After getting unsnagged, I can paddle back over a re-clip to the anchor line and go right back to fishing the spot without having to re-deploy the anchor. The cable also makes me nervous because I think I would want to be able to quickly cut the line in an emergency. I once got the anchor snagged in a river with a little bit of current and had a hard time getting free. It was potentially a bad situation and I learned my lesson about anchoring in current that day.
I would worry about having to cut loose in an emergency with that stainless steel cable. I like the idea though and pretty nifty splice idea so your not taking the whole thing apart to change the lines.
Thanks Dave. A regular wire snip cuts the line easily in case of emergency. You can also mount it with the screws/bolts not tightened all the way so you can remove the whole piece.
Great video. This is what I was looking for.
Thank you Lisa.
I have been wanting to do that. Just have not gotten around to it.
Good luck with your project.
I tried one of those clothes line retractors. Guess the one I bought was junk as the spring rusted out in short order and then it was junk. I was using it in salt water and that may have contributed to the failure. I have since purchased an Anchor Wizard. BTW it is not cheap. Ha Ha. So far it it working as advertised. I even use it to lower and retract my weighted underwater GoPro Camera setup.
John
Thanks John. This is definitely not recommended for salt water use. I like the GoPro idea and would like to see anything you do with that.
Hi, good idea...Can you show the use in the Kayak?
Seem to me that stainless cable might be hard on your hands . I've always wondered how strong the original cord would be , someone needs to test it with like 5 or 8 pound weight
I think the issue with the stock PVC line is that it would stretch and eventually weaken due to the outdoor conditions. I am curious as well as to the stock line test for weight capacity.
Would love to see a photo of how you mounted it. Thanks for the video
I plan on doing something like this and mounting it to the side of my kayak crate behind me, simply using zip ties.
The biggest issue people are having with this setup is after repeated uses, the water rusts the inside coil spring, causing it to fail prematurely and not wind back up correctly. it's a good idea to drill a few small holes into the bottom of however it is mounted, to help drain any excess water out.
Yes, you are correct about the rust complaint. Drain holes are a good idea. I think most of the accumulated water is from the users that replace the PVC line with paracord. The paracord does absorb water which does not easily dry causing rust. I'm hoping that by using the ss line that the absorption problem will not be as great leading to a longer life. I will see.
Nice video. I've considered doing this, but I can't think of a way to use a clothesline retractor *AND* be able to quickly detach from the anchor line. I frequently do that to do get my lure unsnagged. I clip the anchor line to a trolly and use a small floating buoy to keep the end of the anchor line available and floating in place after I detach. After getting unsnagged, I can paddle back over a re-clip to the anchor line and go right back to fishing the spot without having to re-deploy the anchor. The cable also makes me nervous because I think I would want to be able to quickly cut the line in an emergency. I once got the anchor snagged in a river with a little bit of current and had a hard time getting free. It was potentially a bad situation and I learned my lesson about anchoring in current that day.
Thanks Nathan. Your concerns make perfect sense. I fish lakes and do not have the same issues.
I would worry about having to cut loose in an emergency with that stainless steel cable. I like the idea though and pretty nifty splice idea so your not taking the whole thing apart to change the lines.
Thanks Dave. A regular wire snip cuts the line easily in case of emergency. You can also mount it with the screws/bolts not tightened all the way so you can remove the whole piece.