Harken riggong winch 500

Ragnar · Jun 4, 2023

I would think the moving rope under load on aluminum drum would wear it down faster than most would prefer. The Stein system seems like the "most correct" for lowering and being able to apply tension.

Vicente · Jun 4, 2023

Muggs said:
The GRCS is only 8-14 mm @MapleLeafRopes ? I've been having a hell of a time finding the specs for it online. On the Harken site I thought it said 10-22 mm but on your chart it says 8-14 mm? I thought it was good for up to at least 3/4" / 19mm line.....

Grcs is bigger rope diameter than that 8 won't work, 12 mm sirus barely grabs and would be the bare minimum if you're not just using it to pull tension by hand maximum diameter is at least 5/8 but i belive is 3/4 max. The half inch atlas and 9/16 kraken both work well in it.

Vicente · Jun 4, 2023

Ragnar said:
I would think the moving rope under load on aluminum drum would wear it down faster than most would prefer. The Stein system seems like the "most correct" for lowering and being able to apply tension.

The aluminum bollard on the grcs works very well, I also bought the ftc micro bollard that's aluminum it's great, I got a stien as well it's not as nice as the micro bollard but a little bit larger.

Ragnar · Jun 4, 2023

No expereince with the bollards, I assume as long as they dont loose material to wear, they would work fine (maybe better as they get polished by moving rope). The winch drums rely on friction to apply tension. I would imagine minimal wear on the waves of the winch drum would affect its perfromance. Maybe not though, just thinking. No real experience in a work enviornment.

SeanRuel · Jun 4, 2023

The capstan winch on the portable winch brand is totally smooth aluminum and works well- not sure the texture on the drums is critical

Vicente · Jun 4, 2023

Ragnar said:
No expereince with the bollards, I assume as long as they dont loose material to wear, they would work fine (maybe better as they get polished by moving rope). The winch drums rely on friction to apply tension. I would imagine minimal wear on the waves of the winch drum would affect its perfromance. Maybe not though, just thinking. No real experience in a work enviornment.

Some material loss doesn't really matter and the amount is so minimal I'd never take the weight trade off.

evo · Jun 5, 2023

Ragnar said:
No expereince with the bollards, I assume as long as they dont loose material to wear, they would work fine (maybe better as they get polished by moving rope). The winch drums rely on friction to apply tension. I would imagine minimal wear on the waves of the winch drum would affect its perfromance. Maybe not though, just thinking. No real experience in a work enviornment.

I’ve seen and used a couple of GRCS’s where the knurling has been worn smooth. They still worked just fine.

I’ll second a thing under 1/2 won’t work at all. A well fuzzed half inch can work but not very well.
9/16 is really the functional minimum diameter and 3/4 works great but lacks the extra wraps for friction so it can be a little subpar.
Oddly I’ve never owned a 5/8ths..

Naturarbo · Jun 5, 2023

Do you get the Smartwinch over there??
I tried GRCS and a few others.
The Smart is big and heavy, but is 1 piece with bollard & winch, that have no need for exchange parts for switching the line.

Friedrich · Jun 5, 2023

Naturarbo said:
Do you get the Smartwinch over there??
I tried GRCS and a few others.
The Smart is big and heavy, but is 1 piece with bollard & winch, that have no need for exchange parts for switching the line.

i own a smartwinch (but i live in europe) and i wish i bought a grcs instead. the winch on the grcs is superior to the one on the smartwinch. plastic components and too short of a winch body. also i would prefer a „free“ spool for easier wraping and unwrapping and just throw on a port-a-wrap for dynamic stuff.