Lewmar winch refurbishing

[bliss]

hi - i have a pair of old but strong Lewmar winches on my boat - they are 43s - the jaws on them are very wide and this mostly means that they don't work as self tailing winches which is a bit of a drag.

Is there any modification eg fitting different jaws - that I could do to them to avoid the significant expense of replacing them ?

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apologies the crucial image is upside down !

[pcmm]

Why would they not work as self-tailing winches? That's exactly what they are. I have a pair of those exact ones on my boat and they work fine. Just don't use them with 1/4" line They are meant for 1/2-5/8 line. work fine. no mods needed. just service them annually like any winch and you're good to go!

[bliss]

thanks for that - but that wasn't the question i asked

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by bliss

thanks for that - but that wasn't the question i asked

Short answer is no there is no mod kit for these 40 year old winches. They work correctly as designed! User issues aside.

[Jim Cate]

So, what size line are you using in them?

Jim

[bliss]

10 mm - hence the question to this friendly forum - i can go larger but of course it gets heavier so was just wondering if anybody was aware of any modification ... just asking - not really looking for a fight - the jaws are very generously proportioned so i can even imagine 12 mm rope slipping but i haven't tried that yet

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by bliss

10 mm - hence the question to this friendly forum - i can go larger but of course it gets heavier so was just wondering if anybody was aware of any modification ... just asking - not really looking for a fight - the jaws are very generously proportioned so i can even imagine 12 mm rope slipping but i haven't tried that yet

43’s work well with 1/2” and 5/8” rope as previously mentioned. They’re not really meant for 3/8”. For 3/8 you’d really be looking at some Lexmark 30’s or 16’s of that vintage.

[Jim Cate]

Bliss, quite some years ago I had Lewmar 43s just like yours on a previous boat. I vaguely recall that the jaws are in two parts, one integral with the drum and the upper one separate. IIRC we were having the same issue as you report, and solved it by removing the upper jaw and machining a bit off the mating surface, thus narrowing the gap between the jaws. My memory isn't adequate to recover the details, but the approach did help with the problem.

Jim

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Bliss, quite some years ago I had Lewmar 43s just like yours on a previous boat. I vaguely recall that the jaws are in two parts, one integral with the drum and the upper one separate. IIRC we were having the same issue as you report, and solved it by removing the upper jaw and machining a bit off the mating surface, thus narrowing the gap between the jaws. My memory isn't adequate to recover the details, but the approach did help with the problem.

Jim

To do that you would need to machine down the upper jaw and/or the stripper plate, BUT you have to add a spare between the top of the upper jaw and the cap other wise the cap will just pull the upper jaw up as the 4 screws that hold the cap on screw into the upper plate.

[dfelsent]

I have had the same issues with that series winch and chose to get line that fit. I did consider machining them down.
They just are not set up for today’s smaller high tech lines.
They are bulletproof though.
As an aside the screws are pozidriv, not Phillips head. A Phillips screwdriver will work, but not nearly as well. You can buy the driver or just a bit. The 4 little hash marks between the slots are the clue. Pozidriv does not cam out as easily as Phillips.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by bliss

thanks for that - but that wasn't the question i asked

FYI the question you asked was...They don't work as self tailing winches is there a mod to "fix" them... The question was answered.. They are and do work as self tailing winches as long as you don't use undersized line (which is going to be a problem for any of the generation of ST's that don't have adjustable jaws)... Sorry if my reply sounded "snippy" to many OP's here ask questions like yours, get valid answers and reply like above. which to some of us reads as "I don't know about this topic but I'm not getting the response I want..please keep feeding me options"

[jamhass]

Another option is to add a cover to the line to increase its diameter without adding much additional weight.

[JC Reefer]

Valid topic. Adding cover to lines would work. I bet something could be 3D printed.

[dfelsent]

Adding a core to the line where it is in the winch would work as well.
Bulk it up a bit.