New winches install ?

[BTC1984]

I am replacing lewmar 30s with lewmar 40s. Roughly speaking…How long will it take me to replace both of them on my Catalina 27? Also any tips ? Will I likely need to drill new holes ? Thanks

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Will I likely need to drill new holes ?

See Lewmar winch specs :

For everything else, do your homework.

 

[Tally Ho]

A lot depends on your access to the bottom of the winches.

When I upgraded the winches on my O’Day 322, one was easily accessible from the cockpit lazzerette. The other was not and was a bear to get to.

I filled the old holes with thickened epoxy first, then marked the new holes, over-drilled those holes and filled with thickened epoxy. Finally, drilled the bolt holes and using some butyl tape to seal the bolts, mounted the winches.

And I also had to make some new backing plates for the new winches.

It took some time to do it right.

Greg

 

[Ward H]

Also any tips ? Will I likely need to drill new holes ? Thanks

Yes, you will need to drill new holes.

@Tally Ho gives good advice in his post. I agree with him about filling the old holes and potting new holes. A backing plate is a good idea but you can also use double thickness extra large washers. They will most often be a large improvement over what the building used.

But I have to ask, what are you trying to achieve? If you need more torque for cranking in your sail, are you using a 10" winch handle or 8"? A 10" gives you more torque. The 2" longer handle makes a big difference in the ease of cranking the winch.

Are your 30's single or double speed? If they are single speed, consider upgrading to two speed winches #30s. If you stick with Lewmar the holes may even matchup saving you a lot of work.

Is the main reason for the upgrade to get self tailing winches? And while your doing so, you might as well go bigger?
Remember, bigger isn't always better.

And look at the mounting area. Will the 40s even fit?

My C30 foresail is 283 Sq Ft. It has two speed 40s.

With your C27 having a foresail of 194 Sq Ft, 40's may be a bit of overkill and if so, the added expense and work to install the larger winches may give little payback.

How long will it take me to replace both of them on my Catalina 27?

This a hard question to answer. How fast do you work? Will you have a helper? How is the access to reach the bottom of the winches?
How easy will the old winches come off? Do. you have the right tools? You may need a socket set with several size extensions and a swivel to get to the nuts off?
If I was doing a similar project I'd plan for two days and end up needing three.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Access is tight to the bottom of the winches on the C27's. I removed a couple with a friend from a boat that was about to be scrapped. It took 45-60 minutes. The first one we cut out. It was rather difficult. Turns out that Catalina did an excellent job in this area of the boat. 50 years later it was dry as a bone. If memory serves me correctly the wood was 1.25-1.5" thick. We removed the port side by unbolting. Probably best if you have two people. Access is tight here. I would have the person on the inside use an impact gun while the person inside holds the nuts still.
I've always been a fan of using Unistrut washers. They're very thick, reasonably priced and the regular steel ones are heavily galvanized or zinc coated. They are available in stainless but I have yet to see any corrosion in Southern Lake Michigan. They're a bit large so I've had to alternate between them and a stack of fender washers for some parts. Since access is going to be difficult, you may want to tape them in place and then put the nut on. Leaving the tape in place won't hurt anything

 

[jviss]

Wow, I think 40's are too big for a 27.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I have 40's on a 25' boat but even with them I have to use the lower gear sometimes