Downsizing chain

[kelldog]

Greetings to all;
I am looking to replace my manual windlass ( ughh!) with an electric one on my 42ft Piver. I have 80ft of 5/16th now and I want to downsize to 1/4" but have 150ft of it and then 250" of nylon rode.

Is this feasable in terms of holding power? Say in 40 knts of wind? (most times it is around 10 or less)

Kelly.

[Submarine Tom]

Why would you down size?

-Tom

[kelldog]

because I have a manual windlass and I could handle 1/4 inch easier...i was just wondering.

[catsketcher]

the 5'16 is already on the light side for a 40footer. We have it on our 38 footer and would only go up rather than down.

6mm - 0.8 kg/mt - Break Load 1630kg - SWL 400kg
7mm - 1.0 kg/mt - Break Load 2550kg - SWL 630kg
8mm - 1.4 kg/mt - Break Load 3200kg - SWL 800kg

Stay with the 8mm if you want to sleep well.

cheers

Phil

[kelldog]

Thanks for all the replies.
Yeah, it appears the consensus is to stay with 5/16th. Looking for a decent used windlass

[cavalier mk2]

Darn it how can you stay in shape using a windlass? I never use a windlass, I don't have a windlass and I use more than a boat length of chain. So when you get that electric let me know about your manual one, the waters up North can be deep...........

[catsketcher]

I have a manual winch on Kankama and like it. It has anchored over a thousand times and it does really well. Light and gets me in a bit of sweat if I go hard at it.

The specs are from the Muir site.

MANUAL VERTICAL VMC500

VESSEL LENGTH
6 - 12m (19 - 38 ft)
___________________________________
POWER SUPPLY (DC)
Manual
___________________________________
MOTOR (Watts)
N/A
___________________________________
MAX LOAD
227kg (500lb)
___________________________________
WORK LOAD
N/A
___________________________________
AMPS WORK LOAD
N/A
___________________________________
RECOVERY RATE
36cm/revolution (14.5"/revolution)
___________________________________
CHAIN SIZE
6 - 8 - 10mm (1/4" - 5/16" - 3/8")
___________________________________
ROPE SIZE
12 - 14 - 16mm (1/2" - 9/16" - 5/8")
___________________________________
NET WEIGHT
6.5kg (14lb)
___________________________________

[cavalier mk2]

Thanks catsketcher, I like the low weight.