Winches

[burnswelds]

Hello, I am having a real challenge locating used self tailing cabin top winches for my 1980 Tallrig (30). Can the stock mast mounted winches be converted into self tailors?.

 

[Bruce Adams]

There has always been a fairly crummy "Imitation self-tailer" set up on the market. They are blue discs that slide on the top of the winch and will hold the sheet to a degree when slid into the notches on these items. I have Lewmar 40s as my primary winches and have dreamed about Lewmar 43 ST's for thirty years. I HAVE tried those blue things and they are sort of adequate in a pinch.

 

[centerline]

a non self tailer cannot be converted to an actual self tailing winch... too many of the parts are different so that to convert would be more expensive than purchasing an actual self tailer...

by you saing that you are having a "challenge locating" a used self tailer, i would assume this to mean you are having a challenge locating one at an affordable price. you arent alone in that.
there are a lot of good used self tailers around... you can go into almost any marine exchange (used boat parts) and see them setting on the shelf.. and some places have new ones that have been setting there for so long that they are willing to sell them at nearly the same price as the good used ones...

another place to check is boat repair yards... sometimes they have something that may work, or know of an old boat that is being stripped/parted out.

 

[pateco]

There has always been a fairly crummy "Imitation self-tailer" set up on the market. They are blue discs that slide on the top of the winch and will hold the sheet to a degree when slid into the notches on these items. I have Lewmar 40s as my primary winches and have dreamed about Lewmar 43 ST's for thirty years. I HAVE tried those blue things and they are sort of adequate in a pinch.

I have the blue things on my Barlow primaries on my 1983 Hunter 31 Have not found them to be of much use.