A Lesson in Winch Maintenance

I was completing my first round of winch maintenance since I purchased Pachuca in 2005 and encountered a big problem with the last one. No matter what I tried, including some dangerous hammer blows, I could not get the cap of the 6Th winch to unscrew. Every time I had an unsuccessful attempt to unscrew the cap more of the edges of the slots for applying the turning pressure came off. It was time to get professional help.

When Lenny came to take the boarding ladder for some repairs I explained the problem and asked him to make a special tool. He produced a stainless steel bar 600mm in length with two tabs that fit snugly in the slots. Yesterday I put my full weight at the center of the tool to keep it from jumping out of the slots while Lenny turned with all of his might. It still wouldn't budge. He then produced a heavy hammer and slowly the cap started to turn. The thread that had freed was not the one that we had expected and I didn't no existed. We took the winch apart and Lenny took the spindle with the frozen bits at the top to his shop where he freed the thread using heat. The problem piece to our surprise was made of aluminum and had badly corroded to the point that there was little thread left. I am trying to get a replacement.

The obvious lesson learned is to service my winches at least once a year, not after more than 3 years as I had done. After this second round of winch servicing and wrestling with the problem winch I know them pretty well and am less likely to "leave well enough alone" because of lack of confidence.

The other lesson learned came from Lenny. Bostik produces a marine "no seize" lubricant that should prevent the problem in the future. The photo is of the corroded piece that should be replaced.