Minnkota Deckhand - DH40 Electric Anchor Winch

I have recently encountered some health issues so handling the anchors is going to be a serious issue for me. I’ve briefly looked into the Minnkota electric anchor winch and I’m considering getting one….at least for the front anchor.

For those of you that have experience with these or similar units I would greatly appreciate your comments…..pros and cons.

Question that come to mind:

1). Is battery wear a problem?

2). Any tips on best way to mount? 

great insight but it’s always good to hear from the LL crew.

If you slip bobber fishing you still need 1 in front and 1 in the back.   CARPIO 

Moose

Buy the MinnKota mounting plate so you can slide it on and off and lock it so nobody steals it. I lock mine every time with heavy duty lock. 

Buy the remote to keep by steering wheel.

Make sure you buy a 30lb anchor. Works the Best.

When your using in water. Make sure you startup motor and idle up a little giving it slack before pulling up anchor so you don’t put lot of pressure on Shear Pin. I broke my shear pin and MinnKota service tech told me to do that. Never broke another pin again. But I bought extra pins just in case. Very easy to replace right on boat.

Best investment I ever did about 15 years ago was buy Deckhand 40

I have a deckhand 40 with a 30lb anchor. It's in the front and holds the boat great. I rarely use 2 anchors anymore. It's very handy being alone. In my opinion it's great. I will never own a boat without one. Good luck to you.

hockyguy - You might have to break it free first by putting the boat in gear and just giving it a tug, then hit the button to bring up the anchor.  If its really stuck in mud that is and the anchor holds that well.  We even had to do that at times with manual anchormates when we couldn't hand crank them.

I had always used a regular river anchor.  I don't think a richter anchor would work, it needs to have the longer shaft to pull up into the unit unless you plan on pulling it into the boat each time.

Thank you LL’rs for your input on the Minnkota Deckhand; I will definitely be ordering one for sure.

It’s not too often that my better half accompanies me on a fishing trip, which she did last fall. Working the front anchor was a PITA for her; maybe now I’ll see her in the front of the boat more often!!!

The unit has an overload button that kicks out on an overload.    CARPIO 

Are there any particular styles that work best with these?  And what kind of load can they take?  Up on Leech Lake where we fish for perch, the bottom is covered in sandgrass and it takes a good deal of effort to pull up a richter anchor with the prongs dragging half the lake bed up. I'm guessing it would need some assistance or it would blow fuses, but maybe this is the answer to my prayers lol. 

You’ll love it but get a big enough anchor!

Ive had one on two different boats for about 4 years, would not be without one now, like you, pulling up a 20# anchor at my age can get hard.

Put it on the slide base, so you can take it off if you need.

It does come with a safety chain to hook to the anchor so you can travel with it and not worry about it coming undone.

I have mine wired to my trolling motor battery, since the use is a lot less than the trolling motor.

Love mine, agree putting anchor in the boat while underway.  I bought mine specifically for trips to lake of the woods. Usually let out quite a bit of rope. Very convenient for pulling it up. A couple problems would be the crap connection that minn Kota uses. I had them come loose in rough water. Pull the cover and replace the connections right off the bat.

I had one for a little bit but eventually just moved to using a trolling motor with spotlock.  I had it mounted to a trolling motor plate so that I could swap them out when I wanted one or the other.  They are made to fit the plates.

Make sure the anchor is proper size per the specs.  If not it may not deploy as nicely.  Not that it won't, but you might encounter it getting hung up a bit when trying to drop.  I noticed it more with an 18 lb coated anchor, the coating caused more friction.  I used a 30 lb later on and that was great.  I think my dad used a 20 lb non-coated anchor with no issues.

I had to keep the anchor in the boat when moving.  I think there is a switch that holds it tight and it must have been worn on mine because the anchor would start to come down if I hit any waves.  Granted mine was a used unit, new one might be fine.  Happened more with the heavier anchor for obvious reasons too.

You can get a switch to run to your driver's seat, so you can let it down right from where you are and not have to go to the front of the boat.

I had it wired to my starting battery since my trolling motor was a 24 volt system.  I never drew it down, I think that little bit of use was compensated by the alternator.  Or worst case maybe would have to charge it once or twice a year, but I would just monitor it.  Can just monitor voltage on the depth finder, assuming you have it hooked to the same battery.

Overall I liked it.  Was nice to drive up to a spot and drop the anchor while simultaneously controlling the boat.  I just got sick of swapping things so went with spotlock later.