Self-Tailing Winch

[sailing320]

How often should I clean and service my self-tailing winches? What is the best product to use for lubricantion / grease? I have Lewmar's on my boat.

[svHyLyte]

In Florida, and if you sail very often, at least annually. We have 12 very large winches and it is a PITA but I do one a month which takes about 45 minutes each with Mineral Spirits or Kerosene followed by Lewmar Winch Grease for the bearings and shafts and 3-in-1 oil for the pawls and springs. Not such a big deal...

FWIW...

[Gary M]

It depends on how much and for what purpose you use your winches. An active racing boat will do them at least once a year. Some winches however have likely never been done.
You can buy Lewmar grease at any marine store and you will also need a light oil for the pawls. You should also buy a package of pawls and springs before hand as you will need some.
I would suggest getting a copy of the Lewmar manual on overhauling their winches. Likely available for free on line.

It is not difficult to do them, self tailers take about twice as long as non self tailers which take me about 15 minutes to do once set up for it.

Have fun

[rugosa]

Is there a source for Barient small parts like pawls and springs?

[transmitterdan]

I think WM has them still. Check West Marine Boat Parts, Boat Accessories, Sailing Gear and Boating Apparel and search for barient.

Regards,
Dan

[dacap06]

Originally Posted by rugosa

Is there a source for Barient small parts like pawls and springs?

I have Barient 22s on T.B. It turns out Lewmar pawls and springs fit Barient winches. Take an example in to your local marine store for comparison. Other parts have no equivalent. I needed to replace a bearing in 2009 and, after doing my homework, ordered them from Australian Yacht Winch. The have a huge stash of Barient parts. In fact, they were the only source I could find. Shipping to the USA was expensive and took a while.

It looks like they have survived the great global recession. You can write them at "Australian Yacht Winch Co." . They graciously answered several rounds of questions before I bought from them, which was encouraging. The address and phone info I have in my old e-mails are below.

AUSTRALIAN YACHT WINCH
4 Narang Place, St Marys NSW 2760 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9623 2448 Fax: +61 2 9623 2265

Regards,

Tom

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by dacap06

I have Barient 22s on T.B. It turns out Lewmar pawls and springs fit Barient winches.

My experience is that they fit but are not identical so you must change ALL of them to Lewmar. I found the pawls to be a hair shorter - just enough that only one pawl would bear the whole load.

Check the thread "winch trouble" - it's 2 or 3 pages in on this forum. Lots of good info.

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by Gary M

self tailers take about twice as long as non self tailers which take me about 15 minutes to do once set up for it.

Gary, why do ST's take you twice as long? Once the barrel is off I find them to be just the same as standard winches.

[puddinlegs]

Barient pawls and pawl springs are not identical to lewmar. Lewmar now markets Barient specific spring/pawl repair kits. Barient parts proper can be found here:

HUTTON-ARCO Yacht Winches

To the OP, once a year usually works. If you're somewhere that is exceptionally wet, perhaps twice.

[dacap06]

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

My experience is that they fit but are not identical so you must change ALL of them to Lewmar. I found the pawls to be a hair shorter - just enough that only one pawl would bear the whole load.

Thanks for that insight, SJB. I change sets of things rather than individual pieces so I didn't notice the difference. I always figure if one is worn or damaged, the rest aren't that far behind and I'd rather do the maintenance once.

I looked up Hutton Arco Yacht Winches after PuddinLegs' recommendation. They use the same address and telephone number as Australian Yacht Winch gave me a couple of years ago. I presume they reorganized and changed their name. I hope they are thriving since they still seem to be the sole source left for many Barient parts.

Tom