Grand experiment failed, going back to Lewmar or ???

D

Doryman

New member
Those of you who are familiar with my Tom Cat know that a couple of seasons ago I took out the factory windlass and replaced it with an EZ Anchor Puller. I originally filled the drum with 1/2" Brait and 50' of chain, but found that I could only put a portion of the calculated capacity on the drum. Replaced the backing part of the Brait with twice as much 1/4" high-tech Kevlar-like Plasma from Puget Sound Rope here in Anacortes. After a lot of fiddling I ended up with 30' of chain, 75' of Brait and 125' of Plasma. But in order to get even that much to fit on the drum, I have to lay the rode on the drum as it winds in, otherwise it bunches up in the middle and jams against the windlass housing and/or the deck. Having to manually lay the rode is not only inconvenient it can be dangerous if you get your fingers caught.

Tonight the Admiral gave the order that the EZ Anchor Puller must go and that we should revert to the original factory windlass. If I am not mistaken, that windlass is the Lewmar Pro Series 700H -- would some other Tom Cat owner please verify that? Unfortunately, I sold my original windlass to Roger on the Sensei so I need to buy a new windlass. I did not hear anything bad about the Lewmar or have any problems with it, but I welcome suggestions as to alternative windlasses to consider. And if you have a 700H for sale, let me know.

Finally, anyone looking for a good deal on an EZ Anchor Puller? I still like this windlass and think it would be awesome on the right boat.

Warren
 
Warren,

Mine had a vertical Lewmar windlass originally. It lasted about 2 years and I upgraded to a horizontal like you referenced. I got the Pro-Fish version and don't use the free fall feature. If yours had a vertical, see my album for the conversion details.

P1010083.sized.jpg
 
Dreamer":1ntfj7y3 said:
If yours had a vertical, see my album for the conversion details.
Click to expand...

I am a bit confused here -- don't you mean to say, if my original windlass was a horizontal? FTR, my original windlass did not look like the windlass in your album. It looked like the windlass from Fisheries, so hopefully it will just bolt right in place.

Warren
 
Doryman":12vqba11 said:
... If I am not mistaken, that windlass is the Lewmar Pro Series 700H -- would some other Tom Cat owner please verify that? ...
Click to expand...

That's what I have on my Tomcat.

I too would opt for something that bolts into the existing footprint.

The free fall model appeals to me, but I never let the windlass take the anchoring load so I always go to the bow anyway. Since I'm going to the bow to secure the anchor line to a cleat the free fall would not offer as much advantage as it could. If dropping in a high current area where the time to walk forward and release the gypsy manually could be problematic the free fall version would have value.
 
I have the H on the Tom Cat and put the free fall on the C Dory 25. I didn't use the free fall feature much. I probably would not get it again (actually I had not ordered the feature--but accepted it when it came. (internet purchase),
 
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