Horizontal Windlass Recommendations

[steve marcus]

I agree with Bruce but it will depend on how handy, willful and stubborn you are. I have a Muir cheetah and smoked the motor, probably froms a losse connection causing voltage drop and therefore amps up and it was the old model motor and the new one is larger and wont fit the old cast alloy housing so I got a new motor, generic from an auto electrician and had the facing machined to bolt onto the Bonfiglioli gear box that Muir use (these are also available from drive equipment specialists at about half the price of Muir spare parts )

I then had a new housing fabricated out of sheet stainless steel after giving the welder cardboard templates for the box and also gave them the drive axle and bushes which they put through the gear box in situ and then welde a collar each side of the new housing to hold the original bushes off the old winch, total cost of fabrication $350 AUS and new motor was about the same and it works better than before as the new motor has a lot more power

 

[steve marcus]

Re previous, this is the finished product

 

[BruceK]

Steve, your Cheetah is like the sentimentally valued axe held in a family for generations, just 3 new heads and 4 new handles, over the years.
Your new ss case fixed both the unsightly corrosion and the new motor protruding below the old case. I have the same Italian gearbox, which continues to purr away.

 

[Okydowky]

I replaced my old Maxwell/Nillson a few years ago with another Maxwell, but mine was a vertical version.

Vertical Windlass and Capstan Range

I am in the process of replacing my Nillson also. I was favouring a Maxwell because ours lasted 33 yrs, and was hoping to keep making new holes to a minimum.

I believe I read another post you had to make the centre vertical shaft hole up sized to 5 1/8”, was this the only hole you had to alter. Was chain hole ok in the same location and did fair lead line up with the bow roller?

 

[Comodave]

I am in the process of replacing my Nillson also. I was favouring a Maxwell because ours lasted 33 yrs, and was hoping to keep making new holes to a minimum.

I believe I read another post you had to make the centre vertical shaft hole up sized to 5 1/8”, was this the only hole you had to alter. Was chain hole ok in the same location and did fair lead line up with the bow roller?

Nothing wrong with drilling new holes, keeps your fiberglassing skills up to date fixing the old holes...

 

[Okydowky]

If it wasn’t damn near 6” thick up there it wouldn’t be so bad. But really the decks and pulpit are pretty minty.
I could just imagine trying to use a 5” hole saw over top of an existing 4” hole! I am pretty good on the tools, but sh@t is gonna happen it’s gonna happen to me!!

 

[steve marcus]

hole saw trick

It can be tricky going from a 4" hole to a 5" hole but just cut a disk out of some scrap timber with your 4" hole saw and glue it in the 4" hole with some liquid nails /wallboard type glue and when it's dry use the hole made by the arbor(it should be in the center) and start cutting with the 5" blade. The center hole will flog out a bit by that time the hole saw blade will have cut a trench and stay centered.

 

[Comodave]

An easy way to enlarge an existing hole with a larger hole saw is to get a piece of 3/4” plywood and cut a 5” hole with the hole saw. Then either clamp the piece of plywood to the deck where you want the new hole and drill it using the plywood as a guide for the hole saw. No mandrel needed in this case. Or if you aren’t able to clamp the plywood to the deck use a hot glue gun to temporarily glue the plywood to the deck and drill the hole. It only needs to stick for a bit until you get the hole saw started. Then remove the plywood and finish drilling the hole. It should be fairly easy to get the hot glue off the deck afterwards.