Windlass problem

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 3:20 am

mine went out this spring, had to replace the alum. tension pc inside, took about 3 hrs. Goode sent the the part for $21.00 and new drawings of it. the part rides on top of the rode and holds it down on the drum. it makes sense once you take it a part and see how it works. also if your rode is real old it could be part of your troubles to.

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:34 am

I hear ya Paul, mine is about 38 years old if its the original, and I think it is. Ill figure out a way to repair it if I have to. One thing I find strange on this type of line winch is that it will only pull the line up to the hoop, then you have the chain to deal with and have to wrqp the chain up around the cleat to keep the pulpit arm from not swinging down in front of the boat, I removed a small section of chain, to help it hold up while the line is all the way in, but the anchor of course now dosent work correctly, so ??? just seems weird.
If I can't resolve it on the boat, and I think I wont be able to, Ill remove it and bring it back to my home shop and do it here.
Im sure Good will have the parts etc, or I can make something up,
also does anybody know if a foot pedal can be added to my bow, its kinda a pain in the butt to always have two people to do this, lowering and raising. You really need two people to do it for some reason

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:54 am

Thats the one thing I don't like .Thats its a rope only windlass.

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:30 pm

I have a foot button on the bow so when I want to raise the anchor I step on the button.

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:16 am

well Ive been trying to call the good people on this issue, but its either busy or they dont answer the phone, been two days now, I keep getting a recording to leave a name, but of course no body returns my calls,
mmmm, recession?? seems strange.

jwrape · Post by **jwrape** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:44 am

Mine has a clutch on it that comes loose every now and then and I have to tighten it back up. It is the large bolt on the side of the pulley that adjust mine. Don't know if yours is similar to mine.

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:08 pm

well I fianlly heard back from the Good winch people, and apparently I have an early model 500 with power up and power down only, No free fall,
the guy on the phone really didnt feel optimistic about replacement parts, saying the newer windlass's uses significantly different parts , so Im going to do it myself, he was pushing me to send the windlass to his shop and he wanted to rebuild it, sounded a little fishy to me. Im gonna give it a shot myself, and see whats wrong, even if I have to make some parts, it may be worth it

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:58 pm

ok, update,, took the windlass off and brought it home for an evaluation. Amazingly it is a very simple mechanism, basically there is an electric motor which drives a screw gear pulley which the line sits in. What I think the problem was is that I found many wasp nests in the shoe that guides the line into the drum, and I believe it was causing the line not to grip the rotating pulley. The shoe should kinda flop down onto the line and start the pulley grabbing it,
well I cleaned it up, and oil/greased the trans assy, and topped off the oil , as it has an oil reservoir. Overall a very well made item for 38 years old. Repainted it nicely with Rustoleum hammered metal paint. and it looks and operates great. Will post some picts when I re install. Thanks to all for all your info