As the spring slowly approaches I have been thinking about ways to make hauling the cat up the beach easier. Most of the time the incline up the beach is just beyond what I can pull on my own, even with a good set of beach wheels.

I was thinking of mounting a small ATV winch to a tree, placing a ATV battery in a box with a solar trickle charger next to the tree and finally installing a wireless remote. Below is a link to amazon for what I initially considering.

Shopping List

Does anyone have any experience with this? Or any advice?

RAYC in Auckland has a capstan style winch at the top of their ramp for pulling Flying 15s out of the water. Its a good idea because you can pull the cable/rope back down the beach without running the winch backwards or dragging it off the drum. Its a bad idea because every now and then someone ends up in hospital with badly damaged hands through inattention.

If the goal is to make using the ramp single handed then yes you'll need a remote as soemone needs to balance/steer the boat.

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a A Cat?

Just upgraded my system. We have a box built into the beach with a solar charger and the same winch you show.

I use the XT Series winch. I it is a little more but it pulls a little faster.

Also use a flexible solar panel. I have had two of the glass ones get broken over time. Below is an ebay link.
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZPowerfilmQ205WQ20RollableQ20SolarQ20Charger

Craig,
I was considering a system like this to get my trailer(and sometimes boat and trailer) up a next to the side of my house(nice incline and cannot pull it with a car). I thought it would drain down a battery before the trailer made it up the hill.
Jeff Bowers
Mystere 6.0

I have a Marine battery and have not had any problems with running out of power yet. I am not pulling the load you are talking about but you can always add another battery if it is a problem.

A rope "Ladder" of PVC perpindicular to the hulls will allow you to easily slide your boat up the beach. My friend(who is in his 70's) slides his SC 20 up his beach with no damage to his hulls, and they are HEA-VY!
When your boat is in the spot where you want it, fold up the PVC ladder and you're done.

Bill Hendrix at Mainsail marine in Greenville SC also makes a small sandbag out of Sunbrella? that slides as easy as anything Ive ever seen. Just keep moving the sandbags while you are sliding your boat, and either empty them and take them home or leave them filled. It sounds crazy, but it really worked well. The bags were approximately 8 inches in diameter by 12 inches long. I think the material was the key, but I cant remeber what they were made of(maybe a trade secret too)

And if it's next to your house, get a 110V winch and plug it in...no batteries.

Every 110V winch I priced was about $400. Know of one cheaper?

Sunbrella is expensive, tough polyester cloth.