Chain for a 5/16 Lofrans Royal

Ron20324 · Apr 30, 2014

There is probably a part number on the chain gypsy. You should be able to reference that in some catalogs, but certainly on a Lofrans site? The gypsies CAN be of different capacities for the same model windlass.

Ron20324 · Apr 30, 2014

sully75 said:
It's definitely a 5/16" gypsy. I'm just not sure if all 5/16" BBB chain will fit.

And not all 5/16 chain is BBB. See my first post.

capta · Apr 30, 2014

We purchased a new Lofrans Falkon windlass and to make a very long story short; you must know exactly which gypsy you have on your windlass before purchasing chain. Even the dealers and retail outlets do not seem to understand Lofrans' system (3 gypsies later, international shipping, etc). I would pull the gypsy off your windlass, clean it up and take pictures of any numbers on it and have a measuring tape visible at the same time. Then contact Luca Rivolta" <luca.rivolta@lalizas.com> (Lofrans, Italy) explain your needs and send the pics to make absolutely sure what chain your gypsy takes.
Hope this helps.

capta · Apr 30, 2014

sully75 said:
It helps, but it's a bit depressing.

I didn't realize there were three 5/16" gypsies for the Royal. Bummer. I'll check mine tomorrow when I'm up at the boat.

In retrospect I'd rather have 1/4" chain I think, but it's a bit too late.

In that case, there should be a 1/4" gypsy available new or used, possibly even locally. Again (though I have no idea of the variety of 1/4" chain sizes) you must be absolutely certain which chain fits the gypsy.
As I said, even the dealers seem not to understand Lofrans' system of numbering.

Snotter · May 1, 2014

I called lofrans USA a few months back--they were very friendly, knowledgable, and helpful. Sorry I don't know their number; I found it via google.

charliegrau · May 1, 2014

I needed new chain for my boat, so I took the gypsy off the windlass and went to the local West Marine. Tried different chains in the gypsy until I found the perfect fit. You may also be able to buy gypsies of different sizes to fit your windlass if you need to accomodate and existing chain rode. It's really important to have the chain and gypsy match if you are going to run a lot of chain thru it.