Upgrading Lewmar 30 2-speed winches to self tailing

[n0w0rries]

I've got two Lewmar 30 2-speed winches on my 27 Cat. Is it possible to upgrade them to self tailing? Or is the only option to replace them?

The finish is pretty bad on them--has anybody had them powder coated before? Would like to make them look nicer if it wouldn't cost too much.

[sailingdog]

No, but you could get winchers for them and get some of the functionality of self-tailing winches for a fraction of the cost.

[blt2ski]

You should be able to locally get a new finish on them, be it a chronme or bronze finish if you like that style, or re paint/powedercoat depending upon the finish.

As far as changing over, from a lewmar rep I took a "serving you winches" class, you need to change the whole thing as, IIRC the shaft in the middle that the winches sit on is longer for a ST. Bolt holes will be the same for either an ST or non ST.

WHile you are at it, if the winches you have seem a bit short, maybe go to a 40 or a 32.......

Marty

[sck5]

get new ones. i researched this when i got my sailboat since the cabin top winches werent ST. The various aftermarket products sold to make a winch into a ST really dont do what you need. that is, you cant leave a line on the winch and expect it to hold. i got new ST's and was happy I did. on your size boat the cost wont be too bad - but you will almost certainly need to do some glass work because the holes are unlikely to line up with the old ones except by pure dumb luck.

[swadiver]

wories,

I have 4 1986 Lewmar 30 ST's on my boat and I lost the top caps for two of them the last time I refurbished. I called Svendsen's Boatworks in the Bay area and they were able to help me. They might have the answer to your question. The chandlery is 510.521.8454.

[n0w0rries]

Thanks for the feedback. Kind of what I expected to hear. Unless I can find a smoking deal on some used winches I think I'll just be putting that money towards my next (bigger) boat...

Here's a pic that shows the state of the finish.