I have an Ace and like it a lot, I did raise it up about 4 inches and that seemed to bee better. Take it down and it stores away easily.

 

If you are doing crab pots and/or occasional shrimping then the Ace will work especially with the stronger motor with that opinion based upon personal experience. If I was going to do a lot of shrimping in 300+ feet of water I'd probably invest in a gas powered unit.

 

I also use an Ace Brutus Line Hauler. It gets the job done for crabbing and as Namu said the higher you can mount it the better. If I was to upgrade I would definitely go with the Discovery Bay puller. EZ Puller makes a good puller also. Just depends on your intended usage and budget.

 

I've used the Ace puller, it worked fine just wish it had more height to make it easier to swing pots over the side. I added a motor to my Folbe davit and really like it.

 

Watching this for info as I'm also looking for one

 

Electradyne and safe-t-puller.

I am building my own with a Jazzy scooter electric motor.

 

I've equipped my last two boats with ACE pulled and have learned to love them. The unit i have now is their Brutus plus, it's powerful and convenient. What I hate about ACE is they keep upgrading and producing yet better and more powerful units that tempt me to upgrade.

 

I have a Crabby Lift and a davit from Gordo’s welding in Canby. It has plenty of power for heavy pots and is easy for the kids to use. My son broke a plastic cover off the switch after we had it for a couple years, John replaced it with an upgraded switch free of charge. Overall I have been very happy with the unit. It is pretty cool that the motor/davit are made right here in the Willamette Valley.

 

I have used A Safe-T-Puller since 2014 and have not had a single problem with the unit. Note. However the motor head is very heavy compared to other options.

 

I have used the honda gas puller on another boat. That thing could really haul gear. We ran it just above idle and no faster to avoid getting buried in 500 ft. of shrimp pot line. The down side is you have to deal with the gas and oil. You can't really dismount the puller and store it in the cabin of the boat without dealing with the fuel spilling. The second thing is they rust out long before they wear out.

We are using the electric EZ Puller they sell at Englunds. It draws about 40 amps and up to 60 if the gear is heavy or hung up. I can dismount this one and store it in the cabin with no worries. It is slower than the gas powered puller but there are other advantages. Downside on the electric is you have to manage the battery. I designed our boat wiring and charging system to have a very large (4d marine) deep cycle battery for the puller and electric reels. We use a battery monitor to track the state of charge and to make sure the start batteries are not getting run down. The engine has two isolated charging circuits with one of them exclusively for the big deep cycle. Even when hauling 4 sets of shrimp gear several times we never get below 80%.

Another easy way to do this is to use a deep cycle battery on the hauler and not the electrical system of the boat. You just charge that extra battery when you get back to the beach.

 

I chose a davit style which is a slip together 2-piece aluminum thick wall tubing.
For storage - the 3 ft sections slip behind the bench seats on the boat floor. The motor, and snatch block go into the seat box.

Gordo's Welding in Canby has all the parts and can customize the mounts.

Crabby Lift is the 12V power capstan which slips onto the aluminum tube. Plugs into the Port side downrigger receptacle.

Crabbylift.com made in USA, Salem OR.

 

Good point on Gordo being able to customize the mount. I needed a custom upper mount made. I called him and gave him the measurements. The piece was welded up by the time I drove from Silverton to Canby - it was still warm when I got there. He charged me $20 if I remember correctly.

 

I got the Ace Brutus. It works great. I like how easy it is to put up and take down using the down rigger mounts. Plugs right into my DR power too so it’s really convenient.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have the Scotty capstan-style electric puller. It works great, is pretty compact for stowing on the boat when not in use, and is fairly affordable. No need for any special hardware, if you have Scotty downriggers it is plug and play, and there is nothing to unfold or assemble. The construction is pretty corrosion-proof, which I like a lot.

Only downside to it is you still have to lift the pot the final 2-3 feet over the gunnel.

 

Thanks for all the input I will make my mind up pretty quick.

 

I have an 18 year old nephew when I get tired. Afraid to switch over yet.

Pulling 6 commercial style 30" pots with 200 ft of rope is good for the sole when its my daughter and my self!
I admit I'm starting to watch this thread.

 

I have an 18 year old nephew when I get tired. Afraid to switch over yet.

Pulling 6 commercial style 30" pots with 200 ft of rope is good for the sole when its my daughter and my self!
I admit I'm starting to watch this thread.

Randy, if I had your money I'd just hire a fabricator to come by and build you one for you on site. One you drive from the helm. Robotic. Add AI and it could even sort the crab for you. It's only money.

 

The sooner you buy one the sooner you'll realize that you should have bought one sooner.

 

Ya right ! 😂
Got two electric reels (I even plumbed them) and haven't pulled the trigger on using them yet!

Stubborn or ?
Hard to stay in shape the older I get and knowing I have food on the other end of the line gives me strength!

 

Another thing to think about is what kind of rope you use. I hav head that some pullers have a minimum diameter rope. The crabby lift works with thicker rope, but works best (in my opinion) with 1/4” rope.

 

I stopped and talked with the guy at the Albany sportsman show and it actually was pretty slick. Think they had a 65lb weighted pot (If I remember correctly) as a test pot . It pulled it up like nothing. Didn't even sound like the motor was laboring. Handled it with ease. It's small, compact and can be mounted with the pulley on either side of the davit. Pretty slick out fit .

 

Don remember I have 3 daughters! Married 2 of them last year with one to go! I can't even afford to carry my wallet anymore!

 

My wife does that for me.

 

Is that all? 😁

 

Discovery bay puller and dont look back. Expensive but will pull a 30" and 30# pot full of crab like nobodies business.

 

Im using the Ace Brutus and have a Honda gas puller as backup. I have a section of pipe with a scotty mount that fits my manual davit mounts. Much better location than off a stern down rigger mount.
Love the speed and power of a gas puller but so many downsides. As John said the gas spill/leak issue and storage suck. But there is also some danger involved. The recovery rate is FAST. It takes about 2.5 seconds at idle to pull the pot from the water surface to the block. A loss of focus at the wrong time can send a line weight flying or pinch a pot off and send it to Davys Locker.

What I don’t like about the Ace:
It’s slow and can pop fuses at times. But the worst is it has a very short arm. The pots are sometimes right up against or even under the boat.