Replacing the Winch Strap on Fulton XLT Marine Winch: Pictures and instructions for putting on a new strap
Boat trailer straps occasionally break. Could be aided by UV deterioration, rodent chewing, or good old-fashioned boneheadedness like not unhooking the boat before attempting to launch it. After you tie a knot in the strap to get the boat back onto the trailer, you need to replace the strap with a fresh one to stay safe (and hide your shame). The Fulton XLT manual marine winch is what Mastercraft uses on their trailers (or at least on the trailer for my 22’ boat).
Tools you’ll need:
- One ½” (or 13mm) socket and one ½” (or 13mm) set wrench (or socket)
- Two ¾” (or 19mm) sockets; the larger nuts are recessed on both sides more deeply than a set wrench can cleanly reach
Step 1: Buy a replacement strap. Here’s an (unsponsored) link to a 2” replacement strap with hook on Amazon, rated to 2,600 pounds. More than suitable for my 4,300 pound, 22’ wake surfing boat. My local boat dealer had this strap available for 75% of the cost from Amazon.
Step 2: Separate the plastic cover. The cover is made of three pieces of plastic: two side halves with a center badge. The badge has two tabs inside that you can reach in, push the wedge flat away from the middle, and push the tab out the slot. After both tabs are free, lift the notch on the bottom of the badge free from the two halves.
Step 3: Remove the nuts and washers holding the left cover. The winch handle makes it harder to remove the plastic cover on that side, so we just remove the cover on the left side (as seen when facing the back of the trailer). Note that there are washers inside the nuts that you’ll want to catch and save.
Step 4: Remove the drum from the winch. It’s far easier to remove the bolt that secures the winch strap with the drum out of the winch. Pull the large drum axle (the larger bolt) most of the way out until you can just lift the drum out of the winch.
Step 5: Remove the bolt that secures the strap. Your strap—old and new—has a loop on the end to secure it to the winch. As seen above, the there’s a bolt offset from the center of the drum that holds this loop. Use your ½” or 13mm socket and wrench to remove the nut from this bolt, and slide it out. This will release the metal tube that goes through the loop of the strap.
Step 6: Attach the new strap and wind it onto the drum. Put the metal tube through the loop end of the strap, and re-attach the bolt through the tube. Wind the strap onto the drum, taking care to think about which direction you want to wind it so that the hook at the end of the strap ends up where you want it. You’re a hairless ape, you can figure this out.
Step 7: Put it all back together.
- Put the metal drum back into the winch, and slide the large bolt through its center.
- Attach the left plastic cover to the right half by inserting the tabs from the right half into the slots at the bottom.
- Secure the left cover using the washers and nuts; the smaller diameter of each washer should face the interior of the winch.
- Attach the hook to your boat and crank the winch to tension the strap.
