Barlow Winch Bearing - Hutton/ARCO never responds!

[belanich]

I'm looking for bearings for a Barlow 18 two speed winch. HUTTON-ARCO is supposed to have these bearing but they have not responded to my multiple emails for almost a month. I would appreciate it if someone can answer the following questions:

1. Does anyone know of an alternate source for these bearings.
2. Is Hutton-ARCO still in business? They still have a website and advertise Barlow winch parts but they do not respond to email!!
3. Has anyone had similar experience with Hutton-ARCO.
Thanks,
MB

[tdw]

Hi,
When we overhauled all of the Raven's winches last year I had repeated phone and emailed conversations with Allan Hutton. Their service and response times were without fault. Why you are having these problems with them I cannot say but it certainly doesn't match my experience.
I'd never had any dealings with Arco-Hutton (officially the Australian Winch Company I think) before this and my total outlay for the parts and machining was less than AUD200.00 so it was not as if they were only in it for the money.

[Tartan34C]

Sorry, I don’t know of any other sources for the parts. But it’s strange you are having a problem getting in touch with them. They are in business as of a few weeks ago and they were very responsive when I contacted them. After we agreed on a list of parts they sent them out by air the next day and they arrived before I even knew they were shipped.

I wonder if you are using a bad address. I always used "winches@attglobal.net" and that was answered by Bruno. You might also try mail, fax or phone.

AUSTRALIAN YACHT WINCH PTY. LTD.
4 Narang Place, St Marys NSW 2760
Australia

Phone: +61 2 9623 2448 Fax: +61 2 9623 2265

Good luck and all the best,
Robert Gainer

[tenuki]

I'm seeing the same thing for my inquiry about 16s and 15s bearings. I've only had my email out for a week though, thinking of trying a phone call.

[Lecy]

I have had that experience before with the Australian Winch Company trying to buy Barient parts from US. Perhaps they aren't crazy about international shipping? As far as I know they are the only source of Bareint parts still available. Maybe it's time to switch to Lewmar.

[belanich]

Thanks for your responses,
I looked at the prices for new Lemar winches - I think I'll keep trying for a while. My main and halyard winches are all Lewmar. I'm in the process of leading lines coming off the mast to the cockpit. The Barlow winches were spares and I was hoping to place them on the cabintop even though they are a bit oversized. That would have allowed me to leave the mast winches in place. If Australian Winch Comp does not come through I will use the Lewmar 8 winches that are on the mast.

[tenuki]

I just rebuilt my 4 barlow winches (#15,#16) last weekend with parts shipped from Arco-Hutton. They never answered my email really until I called. I talked to a guy named Bruno and he was very helpful (just never answered email) He had me send him pictures of the winches taken apart so he could identify what model they were for sure and send me the right parts. I ordered new bearings all around, 2 per winch. Total cost was ~180 bucks with shipping, about the price of one new lewmar replacement.

Something of interest, Bruno mentioned that he could have new Arco-Hutton winch bases drilled with the old Barlow hole pattern so they could be drop in replacements. Something to think about if your aluminum drums have corroded or something. The new Arco-Hutton winches are priced very reasonably even after shipping, don't know if they would charge extra for the barlow hole pattern or not.

All said, very happy with their service, although I had to call them 3 times to make it all happen.