Lofrans Windlasses: Opinions?

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JDCAVE

JDCAVE

Guru
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
2,932
Location
Canada
Vessel Name
Phoenix Hunter
Vessel Make
Kadey Krogen 42 (1985)
In 2020, my Plath Windlass gave up the ghost. The winch motor had died. A good friend, and retired machinist helped me take it apart, and in addition to the winch motor he determined there was wear on the bronze planetary gear as well as the gear on the winch motor. I talked with Plath and was able to obtain a rebuild kit, which included the planetary gear, the winch gear, two seals and two bearings. After everything (including the winch motor rebuild by Brighouse electric), I was into it for about $1,000. The windlass worked well, but leaked oil through one of the seals when I pulled the prawn pots with the capstan on the other side of the windlass.

It was a pain in the rear to rebuild and not something I wanted to go through again. However, last summer the same concerning noises arose again and I am concerned I may have to go through the rebuild again.

So, a colleague has a Lofrans and is pleased with it. They are on for a very good price right now. I am looking at the Lofrans Tigres, for 3/8 BBB. Has anyone any experience with these or any further thoughts? I'd rather not have to come up with this kind of money, but...

Jim
 
JDCAVE said:
In 2020, my Plath Windlass gave up the ghost. The winch motor had died. A good friend, and retired machinist helped me take it apart, and in addition to the winch motor he determined there was wear on the bronze planetary gear as well as the gear on the winch motor. I talked with Plath and was able to obtain a rebuild kit, which included the planetary gear, the winch gear, two seals and two bearings. After everything (including the winch motor rebuild by Brighouse electric), I was into it for about $1,000. The windlass worked well, but leaked oil through one of the seals when I pulled the prawn pots with the capstan on the other side of the windlass.

It was a pain in the rear to rebuild and not something I wanted to go through again. However, last summer the same concerning noises arose again and I am concerned I may have to go through the rebuild again.

So, a colleague has a Lofrans and is pleased with it. They are on for a very good price right now. I am looking at the Lofrans Tigres, for 3/8 BBB. Has anyone any experience with these or any further thoughts? I'd rather not have to come up with this kind of money, but...

Jim
Click to expand...

I had a Lofrans Tigres on the original Klee Wyck for ten years. With moderate use and no maintenance, I had zero issues with it during that time. It was fast and quiet. The external case was quite resistant to the ravages of the marine environment.
I would recommend without reservations.
 
To me with a working load (forget the max. load rating, the working load rating defines the point where the gear teeth don't fall off right away) of 195 kgs (430#) and a line speed of 33m (108') per minute, this unit is too small and too fast.

If you had a 70# anchor attacked, at the working load limit it would lift only about 270' of 3/8" BBB hanging off of the bow.

I can't spray the local mud off of the chain at my windlasses 33' per minute without stopping numerous times. At 108' per minute I would need a 2" firehose.
 
I replaced my old, tired Vetus with a Lofrans Tigress.

It seemed like it was superman compared to my old one, but it was old and tired.

The Tigress handled my 5/16 BBB and 60 pound Manson like an offshore reel brings in a 1oz sinker.

Loved it.
 
Our Tigres works like a charm. 22 years old, 5400 hours in the past 8 summers, anchoring along the Inside Passage 80+ percent of the nights.
 
The Lofrans on Old School is 33 years old and works just fine.
 
Yep, I agree with Lofran comments, we have two over the last 16 years, the first one came with the boat so no idea how old it was.

They are highly regarded and IMHO are worth the money.
 
Thanks All.

Jim
 
luna said:
To me with a working load (forget the max. load rating, the working load rating defines the point where the gear teeth don't fall off right away) of 195 kgs (430#) and a line speed of 33m (108') per minute, this unit is too small and too fast.

If you had a 70# anchor attacked, at the working load limit it would lift only about 270' of 3/8" BBB hanging off of the bow.

I can't spray the local mud off of the chain at my windlasses 33' per minute without stopping numerous times. At 108' per minute I would need a 2" firehose.
Click to expand...

Not sure I understand the above? The version I had, and I still see available for a boat the size of the OP, had a max pull of around 3000# similar to the WLL for 3/8 chain. And, with a 100# anchor and 250' of 3/8 chain combined weight of 475#, it might a real reasonable match for the WLL of the windlass listed as 195kg or just around 430# . Unless you anchor in more than 250' of water you will never need to lift this total.
Retrieval rate listed as around 40'/minute.

Seems like it should work......
 
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The unit I saw is as below, which could well be where the OP is getting it from as it is local.

https://www.stevestonmarine.com/win...apDI_y0KUQ3XezazXIYMvueO28GrpfwMaArsiEALw_wcB

The numbers shown on the attached differ from those shown on Lofrans website by a little, WLL of 190 vs 195 kgs. but put that aside.

Windlasses need to be robust, maybe this one is, but to me if I carry 400' of chain and anchor I would want my windlass to be able to pick up the whole thing without exceeding the WLL.

Futhermore, how do you clean your chain at a 100' per min retreival rate?
 
Yes indeed. Our 1988 Present had a Tigres when we bought it in 2018 - just had to clean the elec contacts and it continued to work great for six years til we sold that boat - still working great according to the new owners! I'm buying one now for our new (to us) boat.
 
Consider using 1/4 HT chain instead of 3/8 and you lower the weight of the chain with only 50lbs less working load of 3/8 BBB for almost 1/2 the weight.
 
I had a Lofrans Tigres on my Grand Banks years ago and it worked great I would get another. Under no circumstances would I get a Lewmar, based on other experience with Lewmar products.
 
I'll agree with everyone else here that the Lofrans windlasses are good. If you want alternatives, I've been happy with my Maxwell HRC10-8.
 
luna said:
The unit I saw is as below, which could well be where the OP is getting it from as it is local.

https://www.stevestonmarine.com/win...apDI_y0KUQ3XezazXIYMvueO28GrpfwMaArsiEALw_wcB

The numbers shown on the attached differ from those shown on Lofrans website by a little, WLL of 190 vs 195 kgs. but put that aside.

Windlasses need to be robust, maybe this one is, but to me if I carry 400' of chain and anchor I would want my windlass to be able to pick up the whole thing without exceeding the WLL.

Futhermore, how do you clean your chain at a 100' per min retreival rate?
Click to expand...

The challenge with that thought is that you will never lift 400' of chain.

It 4:1 you will be anchoring in 100' of water with your 400' of chain, so you are only lifting 100' the water depth.

I have a Lofrans Tigress on my boat, with a 85 pound anchor and 530' of 5/16 HT chain.

In Alaska I anchor'd over 100' often, and never had a challenge with that setup.
 
ksanders said:
The challenge with that thought is that you will never lift 400' of chain.

It 4:1 you will be anchoring in 100' of water with your 400' of chain, so you are only lifting 100' the water depth.

I have a Lofrans Tigress on my boat, with a 85 pound anchor and 530' of 5/16 HT chain.

In Alaska I anchor'd over 100' often, and never had a challenge with that setup.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I generally expect the windlass should be able to lift the whole set of ground tackle in a worst case scenario, but it doesn't need to happen without pausing for motor cooling. I've generally seen guidelines of 1/4 - 1/3 of max pull for max ground tackle weight, even if some manufacturers rate the working load more conservatively.

For the 1500W / 12V Tigres, Lofrans lists max pull as 2970 lbs. Working load is listed as 429 lbs. 1/4 of the max pull is 742 lbs, so I wouldn't be afraid to have 300 or 400 feet of 3/8 BBB chain (1.6 lbs/ft) and a 75 lb anchor with that windlass. Even with 400 feet of chain, that's a total ground tackle weight of 715 lbs. I wouldn't want to lift 700+ lbs regularly with that windlass, but it could do it in a worst-case scenario of ending up in deep water with all of the gear dangling.
 
I installed a Lofrans Tigres also about 2018 when the much older and lighter duty windlass rusted the motor out. I rebuilt that motor but never trusted it.

Any ways my Tigress has done me well since then.
 
rslifkin said:
Agreed. I generally expect the windlass should be able to lift the whole set of ground tackle in a worst case scenario, but it doesn't need to happen without pausing for motor cooling. I've generally seen guidelines of 1/4 - 1/3 of max pull for max ground tackle weight, even if some manufacturers rate the working load more conservatively.

For the 1500W / 12V Tigres, Lofrans lists max pull as 2970 lbs. Working load is listed as 429 lbs. 1/4 of the max pull is 742 lbs, so I wouldn't be afraid to have 300 or 400 feet of 3/8 BBB chain (1.6 lbs/ft) and a 75 lb anchor with that windlass. Even with 400 feet of chain, that's a total ground tackle weight of 715 lbs. I wouldn't want to lift 700+ lbs regularly with that windlass, but it could do it in a worst-case scenario of ending up in deep water with all of the gear dangling.
Click to expand...

Exactly!

You will never be in water with all your rode hanging.

But... I have used mine a bunch of time where I dropped the hook in 300' of water to hold me steady while fishing. It did just fine.
 
I’ve got a vetus condor, it’s a Lofrans falkon with a different name. 400 feet of 1/2 chain and a 65 pound Bruce. Been very dependable.
 
Another 2 thumbs up for the Lofrans Tigres. We had a 42 GB, 2 46 GB's, and a 50' Fleming, all with Lofrans Tigres windlasses. About 14 years total and never an issue. Anchors varied from 44 # to 105#, all with 3/8" HT chain. Good luck!
Regards,
Scott
 
Thanks all!

Jim
 
I have an old Tigres on my 1977 GB42. It has lived a hard life of neglect and is mostly forgotten about until needed. It works great and has never failed.

Chuck
 
LoFrans windlass

We purchased our boat in '10 with a 10# lunch hook. OK for a short stop with ideal conditions and light enough to retrieve by hand.

Around '12 or '13 we bought a Rocna 25 (44#) anchor. The anchor alone was too heavy to retrieve by hand and especially with mud or anything on it. I looked for a windlass.

The several things I liked about the Tigres was that it had both a drum & a gypsy. Our rode is ~150 or chain backed by 250' of 8 plait (we have yet to hit the 8 plait when anchoring). I felt in the event we got to the plait it would be nice to have a drum.

I also like the large cleat built into the top of the windlass. This provides a great place to tie off our snubber which is a 25' dock line with a big box hook on the end.

We also have a nice bridle, fashioned after a well known anchor manufacturer which we are able to connect to 2 big samson post on our bow.

Now, an anchor is only as good as it holds and a windlass only as good as it can retrieve. Our best experience for that was on the Mississippi River in Action stage. Current running 8mph.

We spent a night in a cutover. The anchor held. Next morning when we retrieved the anchor the Tigres pulled the bow down about 6" before the anchor broke loose. The anchor came up with quite a clump of mud on the end. The wash down wasn't making much progress, so we had to move with the anchor just below the surface then use the wash down.

Quite an experience and the best example of the Rocna & Tigres as a combination.

Good luck.
 
I purchased a used Cayman (Tigres with 1000W motor instead of 1500W). It was an older model with powder coated body whose coating was flaking off. I completely disassembled the winch in order to blast the body and repaint it.

As will as being a DIY mechanic, I am actually a mechanical engineer and I am most impressed with the robust mechanical design of this winch. In spite of the poor outward appearance when purchased, the internals were in perfect condition.

The only parts that I replaced were shaft seals, O-rings and a couple of ball bearings. These were all in good condition, but are standard parts and can be sourced locally (if you know what you are lookiing for) at minimal cost. I only replaced them because the winch was in pieces.

The only OEM part that I bought (available from P2Marine) was the little oil level viewing port which goes opaque with time.
 
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