Time for a new windless

[grahamdouglass]

After 40 years of faithful service. The last two years in which it leaked oil. My windless stopped working. I don't know the make since the paint has pealed off and I can't find any label or stamp indicating the make. I'm not going to repair it I am going to buy new.

For a Marine Trader 41. 42' LOA, 15 tons displacement. Full flybridge bimini for added windage. 20 kg Bruce. I was thinking of a Lofrans Tigres, 1500 watt. Horizontal windless.

What do you guys think of the Lofrans Tigres? I've seen them on similar sized boats, they have been around for a long time and I haven't heard a lot of bad things about them. And with respect to the wireing I have in place and the placement of the chain fall it seems to be a straight re & re.

 

[Jeff F]

My boat came with one, and it seems to be a robust and capable unit. I'm comforted with having the warping drum, even though I haven't yet found a use for it

I'm handling a 33 kg Rocna on 3/8 chain. No complaints.

 

[STB]

I just installed exactly that windlass. It seems to be solid.

But I'd download and print the deck templates first and really make sure it lines up with your deck and pulpit. Because of its size, it needs to be mounted far left for the chain gypsy to be center of a bow pulpit, which was a pain to deal with for my 12" wide pulpit (far right for rope drum).

Also, check your existing wiring. For the current it can draw, you may need to upgrade the supply cables to a larger gauge and get a new breaker (or have a breaker consistent with the wire not the windlass, which could be a usability problem). It seems to me like a lot of boats of that era had lower draw windlasses.

 

[psneeld]

I installed a Tigres 2 years ago and couldn't be happier.

While I am sure I didn't notice the slow deterioration of my old Vetus as much as I thought, the performance in retrieval speed and pull strength of the Tigres is impressive

 

[FF]

The IDEAL is still being made.

https://www.schaefermarine.com/our-products/ideal-windlass/

 

[grahamdouglass]

Wire size and cable run

The tigress has a real tight cable run through its housing. The wire I was using is 1/0 gauge CAROLPRENE welding cable but it is too thick. Do three 1/0 gauge boat cables fit through that housing. Looks like a real workout to get it through.

Have any of you ground the opening of the cable access in the windless housing?

 

[psneeld]

I had the same problem. I used the heavy cables from the batteries to the solenoid that I positioned a few feet away from the windlass then dropped down in cable size. Still a very tight fit and spacing the wires while putting the back cover on is a challenge but done.

 

[rslifkin]

The Tigres is a good windlass. Personally, I'm running a Maxwell HRC10-8. Mine is lifting 90 feet of 5/16" G43 chain and a 33kg / 73lb Vulcan. Deepest water I've used it in is about 55 feet, so the total lift coming off the bottom would have been about 135 lbs.

I've never felt like the windlass had anything less than plenty of power. And it's fairly fast. Plus it pulls line on the gypsy and feeds the splice through pretty easily.

 

[HiDHo]

The IDEAL is still being made.

https://www.schaefermarine.com/our-products/ideal-windlass/

My choice if your needing one that will outlast the boat most likely.

 

[grahamdouglass]

lateral angle of chain

The tigress windless sits on pulpit 15" above the deck.
Both the windless and anchor roller sit on the center line of the pulpit
The gypsy is 3 3/4 " to starboard of the center line of the windless
The bow roller for the anchor is four feet from the center point of the gypsy

Because the gypsy is starboard of the center line of the windless there is an angle caused by offset of the gypsy of 3 3/4" over 4' of distance. I haven't calculated the angle but is is not a straight pull as indicated by the installation instructions.

The previous windless had a similar angle for 41years and pulled the anchor with no problem.

The windless had to be put on the centerline because of the location of the chain fall.

I can move the bow roller to starboard 2 1/2 inches fairly easily or with a lot more work and a reconfiguration of the pulpit stanchions I can move the bow roller over the full 3 3/4"

Have any of you had a windless that pulls at an angle? I thought I would try a couple of anchorings and see what the result is like. More than likely I will move it over the 2 1/2 inches.

 

[psneeld]

Previous owner ( then the old Vetus which had similar footprint) added a piece of teak about 6" wide and glued/through bolted to the original pulpit.

Thus straight pull on the wildcat, but a bit more on the drum. But the chain hangs up more on the pulpit hoop than line will.

Zoom on pulpit.

 

[grahamdouglass]

The final story on my install

I realized I hadn't given a report on my install. I used it and it was fast and wonderful. I recommend it to anyone that wants a good windless.