Bought a new windlass recently?

P

Pandion

New member
My Horizon 600 is giving up the ghost, and I have been looking at both the Lewmar Pro-Series H700 and the Lewmar Pro Fish 700FF. But each gets some fairly dismal reviews. Like this one:

A West Marine customer":q6suison said:
Not reliable. The case halves are not gasketed, they are just glued together with gobs of white caulking. Same with the power wires where they enter the bottom of the case. Just gobs of caulking inside the case to seal the holes that the power wires pass through.

This is not a design that can withstand the elements in my opinion. Mine has failed numerous times within the warranty period due to case leaks and gear failures. Even though I have been very gentle with it, it continues to disappoint.

I am now replacing it even though it is still under warranty.

I can't trust it and to me that's a safety issue.
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There doesn’t seem to be any way of telling when the negative reviews were written. Maybe--is this wishful thinking?--they are very old and the problems have been addressed.
 
Yes I just bought a Lewmar Pro Series 700 H from Hodges Marine for $744.

One or two negatives don't bother me if the overwhelming responses are positive.

Seems to be a pretty popular choice here. Do a search. Lots of posts.
 
Good price--much better than WM.

In my initial search, before I posted, I found the Lewmars got 2.5 stars out of 5 in 16 reviews on the WM site, and 1 star out of five in 6 reviews on Amazon. I'll grant you, that's not a very meaningful sample, but with more reviewers panning the windlass than liking it, it gives me pause. If you have found a site with more positive feedback, please point me to it.

I'm not trying to find fault with the Lewmar--just looking for useful data from people who have owned one for a while. Maybe my topic should have been, "How are you liking your Lewmar 700?"
 
I have owned 3 of the Lewmar 700, and no problem. Granted, I try and take care of them. When I was running a lot in Salt water, I kept a cover on the windlass, unless I was going to use it. But I did this with Maxwell and Ideal windlasses which I have had on larger boats also.

If you don't abuse the windlass, they will work fine for small boats. Too many people don't wash them off after each use in salt water, Use the windlass to pull the boat to the anchor and then use the windlass to break the anchor out. Also many use the windlass as a cleat to hold the weight of the rode. The windlass is not designed for this type of abuse.

You do have to service and grease the clutches of any windlass. You need to keep salt water off the motors (more of a problem in the vertical axis windlass).
 
Thanks Bob. Several of the negative reviews I read complained about the way the unit is sealed, e.g., "just glued together with gobs of white caulking." Do you think there could be any validity to that--or is their unhappiness more likely the result of poor maintenance?
 
I put the windlass on my current boat about 4 years ago, and the unit was well sealed.

I cannot comment on any windlass newer than that.
 
I have a Maxwell that the previous owner installed right before I took possession, works great. One of the reasons he may have chose it was that it mainly covered the hole from the last one installed,something to consider.
 
Nancy and Bud":9rx5jxvl said:
I just bought a Lewmar Pro Series 700 H from Hodges Marine for $744.
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I wonder if the $115 extra I would pay for the same unit at Fisheries Supply would be worth the peace of mind of buying local?
 
I've been wondering about the Maxwell. It's only a few more bucks at e-bay & Defender, but the reviews I've seen are more positive. A lot of teeth gnashing & fussing can we worth quite a few bucks, but we only seem to figure that in hind-sight. I recently made a mistake trying to order a tender & had to send it back. Shipping both ways wasted $250. Local sourcing sure looks good after that.
Chuck
 
I agree with Chuck, and I often will pay a reasonable amount more, to have a local, face/person to deal with. Admittedly, Seattle isn't exactly local from Sequim, but I went to Fisheries for my anchor last summer, and when I decided it would not work on my boat, I was able to take it back and exchange it with NO HASSLE escept for the trip across the water and through the traffic.

As to the windlass question. I did not buy one recently, but I was impressed with the response I had from Quick, when I was considering new rode and chain last spring. I would not count theme out, but have not looked at pricing. Could be purchased "local" (Seattle).

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

IMG_2044_sized_1.thumb.jpg
 
Well, I checked on both the Maxwell HRC-8 and Lewmar 700 windlasses. I have owned one Maxwell and 2 of the Lewmars.

The Maxwell was set in a rode locker (semi-protected) and the Lewmars were out front on a C-Dory. The Maxwell lasted the 10 years we owned the boat and we used it a lot. It was free-fall The Lewmars were vertical and the first (a 600) lasted for 4-5 years and was replaced by a 700.

Based on that, there are 2 recommendations. First, the Maxwell HRC-8 is a free-fall winch which lets the anchor fall with gravity and only pulls the anchor up. I often wished for a 2-way (up and down) which the Lewmars have. Second, or longevity on a C-Dory, buy horizontal, which everyone is doing.

Boris
 
If you do get a Maxwell be sure that you have the correct chain gypsy for the c Dory size boat, which would be 1/4" chain, and 1/2" rope rode. There are 3 sizes 6,7 & 8 mm for the chain.

I have only used vertical axis Maxwell, with both the capstan and chain gypsy. As with any vertical, be sure that you have adequate "fall" for the rope and chain, as well as keeping the windlass motor dry. I used a Sunbrella cover over the windlass when not anchored or in the process of anchoring. I also have over 5 feet of fall in the chain locker, in much larger boats--but the windlass served me very well for many hundreds nights of anchoring...
 
Two Bears":iny1qp45 said:
I've been wondering about the Maxwell.
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Oh great. A new wrinkle. I had just about decided to bite on the Lewmar ... fortunately, I have three or four months to make this weighty purchasing decision.

The Maxwell HRC FF Rope Chain Horizontal Windlass is $1,046 at Fisheries Supply. Exactly the same price at Defender. $185 more than the price of the Lewmar 700 at Fisheries (which costs more at Defender).

I agree with Chuck and Harvey on the value of the teeth-gnashing prevention fee charged by local dealers. Now I have some due diligence to do on the Maxwell. It sounds somewhat promising, although -- even before reading Boris' remarks -- I had been shying away from the free-fall feature of the Lewmar Profish. It looks as though the Maxwell will accept a rode of BBB chain and 3-strand 1/2-inch line, which is what I have.

What will partially decide the issue for me is the ease of replacing the Horizon 600 with either unit. The Lewmar is a near match and requires drilling only one extra hole. Does anyone know what kind of jiggering replacing the Horizon with the Maxwell will require?
 
Never a peep of problems with a Lewmar Sprint 600 over 9 years on the Regal 26, or with current Lewmar 700 2009 model on the 255 now 7 years old.
Defender never has free shipping.
Happy Shopping!
John
 
The Lewmar 700 H on the C-Otter was not operating well at all when I first purchased the boat. After blowing the breaker a few times I decided to open it up. It was full of water and corrosion, the motor was slow and most bearings were shot. The previous owner (a genuine nice guy) had his boat professional cleaned and waxed every year and the boat showed it. Always professionally maintained. But who knows how they cleaned the windless? Presser washer? Don't know.

Anyway to make a long story short I rebuilt it with all new bearings, some gears, new motor and carefully resealed it. I'm also careful to wipe it down or lightly rinse it. Works great now.

If you read the Lewmar instruction book it says to inspect yearly! I will open it up next year to see how things look and hopefully only have to inspect and reseal. It's not a big job to do in the off season.

It's like a water pump on a outboard...better to check it out B4 it fails.

Much better than pulling up the anchor by hand! Tom
 
I can tell you my brother installed a brand new Lemar H700 on his 36' sailboat and the motor fried after only a couple of yrs. Due to the design, he had water intrusion which rusted the motor housing internals, causing it to die and early death. Of course this was right after his warranty expired. The design is flawed, IMO. There is no seal between the port cover and the main motor housing which allows water to leak in. He purchased a new motor, rebuilt it and sealed it up best he could. Now I'm waiting for ours to give up the ghost.
 
honestly, because I anchor in deep water, and have as much rode/chain as I can keep in my locker, I'm not too impressed with my windlass, or even having a windlass. I should have put that money toward the really nice line hauler I just bought. Since I started using that to pull the anchor things have been easier.

The buoy systems are pretty great too.

I do still use my windlass, but it's a lot more hassle for me to get the rode in than just holding down the button.

That said, my lewmar 700 has been rock solid reliable in its motor operation.
 
Kushtaka, I'm having trouble visualizing your system. Assuming that you run your line hauler from your cockpit, how are you getting your rode back into the locker?
 
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