How many have serviced your Winches
- Thread starter leo310
- Start date
Yes, and it depends. If you've done it before, and do it often enough, it's quick and easy. Should be done every other year, in my opinion, assuming a summer cruising season, and no racing. If you're racing, much more often. If you do it often, it's a lot easier to clean out the crud and re-grease and re-lube. If it's been 10 years, will take longer. It's amazing how many folks never service winches!
If it's hidden under the dodger, maybe even less so. Checked mine after the first five years and found it clean and still well greased inside. Didn't bother to add grease.
It has been a few years. Got pretty pricey having to get parts from Australia. I keep all of mine under covers to keep dirt out.
I try to clean & lube them every other year, but have gone three years a couple times without issue. Fresh water day sailing only; no racing, and the boat is under shrink wrap almost half the year. Cleaning is usually pretty easy and without much caked crud. Going light on the grease is key.
I do clean mine every year or two. The owners manual for the winches say to do it every year. That may be overkill but quite a bit of dirt does come out.
It depends a lot on conditions and usage. My boat is stored inside in the winter, but we had some severe wind storms that blew beach sand right through the gaps in the 100 year old barn-like boat shed walls and onto the boats. My boat was really sandy, and the winches weren't covered. 
I think it is prudent to service them, in case sand penetrated. That will dramatically accelerate wear.
I think it is prudent to service them, in case sand penetrated. That will dramatically accelerate wear.
Agree. I had nasty grit fall on us from several draw bridges during one spring delivery. It was the kind of black, sparkly stuff that’s sprinkled into bridge sidewalk paint or non-skid deck paint. It was very abrasive and blew around the deck like drifting snow. I cleaned and lubed the winches before the first sail that year.It depends a lot on conditions and usage. My boat is stored inside in the winter, but we had some severe wind storms that blew beach sand right through the gaps in the 100 year old barn-like boat shed walls and onto the boats. My boat was really sandy, and the winches weren't covered.
I think it is prudent to service them, in case sand penetrated. That will dramatically accelerate wear.
I think you can make a case for just lifting the drum and inspecting/lubing the pawls/springs. Easy to get to, fast, and the most critical, and I think, wear-prone parts (in part because they are only lubed with machine oil). Do that every year. Then do a full cleaning/lube when what you see suggests it.
Unfortunately our Harken 46.2 and 35.2 winches have two sets of pawls, both riding inside inner gears, so it takes pretty much complete disassembly to check them.
I service mine every couple of years or so. The pawls usualy tell me when it's time when one sticks and runs the drum backwards. That's why I never keep the winch handle in the winch when not in use.
Absolutely, quite common, similar 2-speeds on my last boat, and the two speeds on my current boat are similar. However, the condition of the top pawls is still an indicator. That was my point. Perhaps the most common serious winch failures result from either broken springs, sticky pawls, or worn pawl seats. Thus, I pull the tops every spring to decide if they need a complete service. It also seems to be the top pawls that go first. Greater weather exposure?
I have a 1975 Dufour 34.
I just dismantled the winches.
They are from 1975 and there was very little maintenance done.
Consequence is some pieces have become so corroded to other pieces you can't remove them.
In my case the TOP CAPS can't be removed on the single speeds
The Idler Gear Spindle can't be removed on the Dual Speed one
You can still do maintenance on them after this. It is just degraded as you can take them apart fully.
They still clean up and work.
So I'd say if you like things working and enjoy the labor.
Every 6 months. I'd remove the top and do the "monthly" procedure in the manual.
Every 2 years. I'd do the FULL procedure and replace the springs and disassemble and clean every part.
If you are not into labor.
Just roll into the boat.
Spin your winches and by the noise and feel you can tell if they need work.
I just dismantled the winches.
They are from 1975 and there was very little maintenance done.
Consequence is some pieces have become so corroded to other pieces you can't remove them.
In my case the TOP CAPS can't be removed on the single speeds
The Idler Gear Spindle can't be removed on the Dual Speed one
You can still do maintenance on them after this. It is just degraded as you can take them apart fully.
They still clean up and work.
So I'd say if you like things working and enjoy the labor.
Every 6 months. I'd remove the top and do the "monthly" procedure in the manual.
Every 2 years. I'd do the FULL procedure and replace the springs and disassemble and clean every part.
If you are not into labor.
Just roll into the boat.
Spin your winches and by the noise and feel you can tell if they need work.
I'd never serviced a winch before we bought our boat three years ago. The 40 year-old Barients were functioning fine, but concerned about lurking issues, I dove into the job over the winter. I was happy to find they'd been well maintained by previous owners; pawls were newer looking, and I only needed to replace the springs after cleaning and lubing. I sail throughout the year. I think servicing every two years is sufficient. A dock mate told me winch covers help keep the lube in place during the rainy months.