Replacing Maxwell 500 Windlass
- Thread starter buddybear
- Start date
If you'll post several pictures of your current setup, those of us who don't have Cats will tell you which windlass will fit.
Mark,
I was able to upgrade the windlass on my boat. Due to the shape of our chain locker it does not work well.
There just is not enough of a vertical drop for the chain. I tried installing rollers and guides to get the chain to not jump the gypsy when raising the last 50 to 100 feet of chain. Nothing worked until I used a piece of 2x4 between the gypsy and the bulkhead. Not optimum but it does work well. I have 150' of 5/16" chain, usually anchor in 30' of water.
Installation was not that hard, did have to enlarge the opening. It has been a few years since the install, don't remember any issue with the bolts. This is the Maxwell VW1000.
Hope that helps, let us know how your project goes.
Jeff
I was able to upgrade the windlass on my boat. Due to the shape of our chain locker it does not work well.
There just is not enough of a vertical drop for the chain. I tried installing rollers and guides to get the chain to not jump the gypsy when raising the last 50 to 100 feet of chain. Nothing worked until I used a piece of 2x4 between the gypsy and the bulkhead. Not optimum but it does work well. I have 150' of 5/16" chain, usually anchor in 30' of water.
Installation was not that hard, did have to enlarge the opening. It has been a few years since the install, don't remember any issue with the bolts. This is the Maxwell VW1000.
Hope that helps, let us know how your project goes.
Jeff
Thanks so much for the reply, I will look into the Maxwell VW1000. I only use 85' of chain my cruising is in the Bahamas max depth 15' in anchorages. Is this setup for only one direction pulling up the chain?
I am interested in this project also. Right now I use the original Maxwell 500 windlass to assist retrieval of 5/16" chain. I have 120 ft of chain and typically use between 60-80 feet while anchoring mostly in Florida. It works OK but a chain gypsy would be better just not sure if that is realistic with the limited vertical drop. Wonder if any 310 owners have solved this?
I use a scrap piece about 2' long and just slide one end between the gypsy and the bulkhead to keep the chain from jumping off the aft side of the gypsy and to keep fingers far away. Like I said not great but it does work.