Cordless Drill Torque Ratings?

[A. Shore]

Folks, I'm thinking of using subject drill in an unusual application, turning a sailboat winch to hoist about 40 lbs; occasional use, not a steady workload - and a right-angle drill.

I've read where the 28-V Milwaukee will do this, but that's an investment I ain't prepared to make, and I'm looking at Ryobi 18V and Craftsman 19.2V My concern is torque capacity.

The Ryobi spec says 130 inch-lb minimum, but I haven't seen anything on the Craftsman. Anyone here have a manual, or spec, or some experience with this admittedly oddball usage? Thanks, all.

[Lew Hodgett]

Save your pennies.

When your piggy bank is full, get the Milwaukee right angle drill.

BTW, you will also need a S/S square stock adapter to fit the winch.

Lew

[A. Shore]

Re " ... S/S square stock adapter... ": yep, the Cranker is on order.

I assume no info re subject question?

AS

[Lew Hodgett]

I learned stay from Ryobi and Craftsman.

Screw me once, shame on you.

Screw me twice, shame on me.

Lew

[Chris Friesen]

How much torque do you actually need? The Milwaukee is rated for 1081 in-lb, or about 8x as much as the Ryobi. That's a significant difference. Most of the other name-brand tools (Makita, etc.) max out at around 600 in-lb or so.

Chris

[Lew Hodgett]

Enough to trim a #1 Genoa sheet in 30 knots of wind when you are up to your ass in alligators and 4-6 footers are running on 200 ft centers.

This is a classic sailor problem.

The wind is free and sailors expect everything else should be to.

BTDT, don't need the t-shirt.

Lew

[J. Clarke]

I'm curious--if you are strong enough to resist the torque of the drill, why can't you just use a winch handle and do it the old fashioned way? And the winch handle doesn't get upset about being doused with salt spray.

[Leon]

I imagine it would get tiring after a while, especiallly if you are constantly adjusting.

[J. Clarke]

So get a longer handle.

[salty]

Obviously not familiar with sailing...

[Leon]

Longer handle would decrease needed force but increase range of motion.

[J. Clarke]

If you're just _adjusting_ the sheets there shouldn't be that much motion needed.

[A. Shore]

Guys, tnx for the interest. Some A's fr yr Q's:

This is for a possible assist in raising the main. I'd gotten a new one, and it's a fair bit heavier as a result of heavier cloth, full battens, metal slides, etc.

WRT how much torque I need for this, I wish I had a solid number. The sail itself is maybe 60-70 lbs before applying the winch gearing. My guess is that it's maybe 20 pounds (friction included) on a 12" handle, so 240 in-lbs? (Sail is off the boat at the moment, so it's guesswork right now.) I'll try it with a corded drill as a test when the cranker adapter arrives.

The winch is cabin-top under a dodger, so handle swing is somewhat restricted. I can relocate that a few inches, but wd prefer not to.

News (to me anyway): I stumbled across Sears Craftsman Pro series, and I see a new(ish?) 20V drill with about a 500 in-lbs torque spec. At $80 for the drill and $40 for the battery/charger, this looks like good news for me. It reviews (YMMV) as a good bit superior to the

19.2V one it seems to replace, which has gone on sale.

~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~ AS

[salty]

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:21:04 -0800, the infamous "Lew Hodgett" scrawled the following:

I was reading some tales of battery woes and Milwaukee came near the top. Caveat emptor.

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:37:50 -0800, the infamous "Lew Hodgett" scrawled the following:

How well will a salt- or fresh-water-soaked tool run under those conditions, Lew? Isn't a fold-away crank handle the safest bet?

Yeah, it'd just get drenched.

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

[A. Shore]

It sometimes is mistakenly called the Black Watch, but it's a 1970 Tartan 37, design by Ted Hood. Not the S&S T37 - it looks like a larger T34.

~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~ AS

[salty]

That boat has a masthead rig with a relatively small mainsail. I think your real problem is friction, not weight. Personally, I would forget the electric winch and install a Tides Marine Strong Track system. I put one on my boat and it now feels as if the sail is not actually attached to the mast. On your boat, the strong track would mean you would raise the sail almost completely without using a winch at all. We aren't exactly young, but my 110 pound wife can fully hoist our main by hand. The winch is used just for the final tensioning. The other nice thing about the Strong Track is that when you want to lower the sail, it drops like a rock.

It's about $25 a foot installed. Worth every penny.

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:50:59 -0600, the infamous "Leon" scrawled the following:

But that's part of sailing, and keeping sails in trim manually keeps sailors in trim.

Truth, Justice, and the Neanderthal Way!

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

[Lew Hodgett]

Sounds like a winner.

Had planned to use Tides on my project.

Glad to see I was on the right track.

Lew