good rope windlass

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fotwins94

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exMember
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Has anyone out there had any experience with a rope only windlass ? I recently purchased a silverton 310 expess and it has a goode rope only windlass, I cant imagine trying to anchor without a few feet of chain before the rope..I e-mailed good and they told me as long as I have a t least a 15 pound anchor it shoud not be a problem. Just looking for a little input and reassurance dont want to embarass myself trying to set the hook...
 
An all rope rode ( windlass or not ) is not my idea of a good rode. The chain used serves two important tasks: 1) helps keep the anchor's shank down near the bottom and b) provides a chafe guard for the abrasion sensitive line used in the rode.

I have used an all-rope rode on small boats ( ie: 13 ft Boston Whaler ) but never on anything larger. Typically I use about 1/2 boat length of chain...

Ok, so now you know my bias. Yes, it certainly could work. But it will not likely work as well as a rode with chain, and you will likely need to replace your rode more often. But should you change? That is a totally different question. I would try it carefully, and if it works for you, then stay with it. Changing to a mixed rode ( or all chain ) will at the very minimum require a new capstan and that = $$$.
 
I used to have a "good" (brand name) windlass that was rope only on the previous boat. The windlass worked fine, but the danforth did not hold very well. We added 8' of chain, and the anchor then held fast. We simply wrapped the chain around the windlass, and used bungie cords to snug it up and keep everything in place. Worked okay, but I really love the Simpson Chain/Rope unit with 30'of chain, and a Delta anchor on my currentboat. Holds very well, and is a snap to use (although it still does jam on occasion).
 
I recently ugraded my Good rope only to a Good unit that does rope/chain. I now have 60' of chain and the anchor holds like iron! My set up is on a 40' Mainship.
 
I have the rope only windlass, with an oversized anchor. With enough scope, I've never had a problem with the anchor not holding.
 
I have a Good rope only windlass. It came with the boat. I added 6 feet of chain to the end of the rode and do what JOhn151 does.

Last year at a local boatshow I stopped at the Good booth and asked about rope/chain windlass as a replacement for the rope only windlass. They have a rope/chain windlass that fits into the same mounting pattern as the rope only windlass.

One day when my windlass dies I will replace with the rope/chain windlass.

eric
 
Our boat came with the the all rope Good windlass. We have no problems but we also do not overnight with it, just anchor during the day.

Keep in mind a big part of anchoring is getting enough scope out.
 
I had the factory replace my rope only unit and install with the Good 850 Stealth. They are only about 9 miles from my marina.
 
I had one on a 37 Sea Ray and it worked just fine. We have lots of sandy bottom places to anchor. Might not be so good, no pun intended, in different conditions.
 
The Gypsy on many windlass' will work with chain or rope. Sometimes you can buy the optional Capstan which gives assistance when you're pulling rope and feeding it into a locker. Some manufacturers call the capstan a "Optional Drum".
 
I had a good Windlass on my 30 ft Carver, Rope only. I was completely satisfied with it. When Anchoring make sure you get alot of rode out, I always used the 7 times depth rule and only had a problem once in a deep mud bottom. I also use to have 4-5 boats raft up off only my anchor.
If you take your time and set the anchor you will have no problem. As Hogan said an over sized anchor wouldnt hurt either...

When I talked to the company about repair parts they did make an offer to take my old one in trade to the newer version, which could have been rope or rope/chain. I only need a gear so I rebuilt. I think they still have the trade option available on there web site.
 
We had a Good rope only windlass with a Danforth anchor on a 350 Sea Ray EB. Anchored many times including overnights with no problems. Trick is let enough rode and a little more for the conditions and anchor with patience. Too many just lay the hook down quickly, don't check to see if the anchor is set and figure everything is OK.
 
Good had a trade-in policy to exchange the rope only with a rope/chain gypsy which I used on a 37 Silverton about 5 years back. It still had a problem occasionally at the tapered chain rope splice. I ultimately added 100 foot of chain and simply used all chain from that point on. We sleep a lot on the hook.

Tom
 
We had a Good rope windlass on our Carver 3257. No problems at all although the anchor was a custom made job with an extra long shank. Like others, we always made sure we had plenty of scope and more than once we had the only anchor out on a 3-4 boat raft.
 
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