Been thinking of adding a electric winch to my trailer. Not Because I am lazy by any means, but there are times i have had to pull the boat out by myself. Thinking that if I had a electric winch with remote, I can hold the side/stern of the boat from blowing sideways, while winching (handheld remote). Any thoughts on this? I would add a deep Cycle battery mounted in the trailer tool box, and hook up the charge wire from the truck harness to charge battery while towing.

Only concern I have, is if the winch crapped out on me. I suppose even a mechanical can break, strap, handle, etc. I could always keep a backup style winch strap/cable thingy in truck for emergency use.

Almost all electric winches have a handle available to hand crank them. Look into Powerwinch. for small boats they work good if still mostly floating, they will not work very good on a dry bunk. Roller trailers are the best thing for electric winches.

Also, never trust them to hold the load! Use a safety chain!!!!!

I had a friend that had one and hated it. He said it was a lot more trouble than it was worth. I'm guessing mainly because we had in and out service at the time and his battery was dead every time he went to use it since he didn't use the trailer a lot. Also said it wasn't strong enough. Almost like an electric assist (still had to crank).

If i was to buy one, I would try to go with a true winch, something like a warn or superwinch, that can really pull. I been looking at some of the boat ones, and they look kinda chinsey. A friend of mine actually has one of the "boat" ones, thats enclosed in a plastic box. I am not sure I care for it. It does work nicely on his 30FT boat, pretty sweet at the ramp just holding the remote button while the boat is winching up the trailer....

Virtually everybody I know with one of those eventually gives up on them. Just too many problems.

Personally, with every boat I've ever owned, I think I've used maybe a foot of cable or winch strap - because I drive them on the trailer instead. And yes, this did lead to a problem the one time the motor died on me. I'll put up with a hand winch for those kind of odds.

Just back the trailer in so you can drive to the winch stand

That's what I did with the dead boat, but that's way too deep for regular retrieving. There, you need to leave it far enough out so that you truly drive the boat on and it centers itself.

one more thing to break.

Driving on really isnt a option. My trailer is a float on style myco. There are no forward bunks, just has the 4x6 style rear bunks, and typical myco bow stop. Without the Forward bunks, even when you winch the boat to the bow stop, the boat wants to drift, which sucks when pulling up the ramp, only to realize its not centered. I suppose I can look into adding some 2x4 Bunks, under the galley area, to help keep it centered.

I really don't understand why guys have trouble with electric winches. As I said in another recent post, I love my Powerwinch RC30. It does have a remote, so you could run it and guide your boat. There's no need for a battery on the trailer. I bought a matching weatherproof connector to the one on the winch and mounted it in the bed. Power comes from the truck's battery. I have a 4' cable that connects the two. If for some reason the electrics fail, there is a hand crank and it will function just like a normal winch.