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Wich winch handle?

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Category: Laser 28 General
Forum Name: General Forum
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URL: http://www.laser28.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=409
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Topic: Wich winch handle?

Posted By: Hoodoo
Subject: Wich winch handle?
Date Posted: 02 September 2010 at 5:12pm

Tried a Lewmar winch handle but it doesn't lock in all my Maxwell winches. Any advice?
Thanks, JF

Replies:

Posted By: lucgmix
Date Posted: 02 September 2010 at 10:43pm

This is my favorite handle for the Laser 28.

Harken 8 in. Lock-in / Aluminum Winch Handle

http://www.mauriprosailing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HARB8AL&Category_Code=WINCHHANDLE

Posted By: Winner
Date Posted: 30 June 2012 at 9:55pm

Is 8" preferred over 10" on the Laser 28?

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Chris
Eclipse #240
Thunder Bay, ON

Posted By: Bill Layton
Date Posted: 30 June 2012 at 10:30pm

I prefer the newer Lewmar one-touch 10" handle. It works well on maxwell, harken and lewmar winches

http://www.lewmar.com/product-listing.asp?action=search&type=25 - http://www.lewmar.com/product-listing.asp?action=search&type=25

The boat came with maxwell 10" handles NOT the 8" ones that some people think.

8" is less leverage and therefore slower to get the sail sheeted all the way in.

Posted By: Winner
Date Posted: 30 June 2012 at 10:43pm

I've had those winch handles in my hand at a West Marine store and they're very nice. The floating ones (Lewmar Titan) are much less expensive though (did I mention they float)? ;-)

I read that 8" is faster and 10" gives more power. A mid size boat like the L28 seems to be kind of stuck in the middle between the two. Guess it depends how strong you are.

The problem I have living in Thunder Bay is that we have no marine store. Everything I buy I do online and so purchase things sight unseen (or felt for that matter). I spend countless hours on the internet doing research for various products...

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Chris
Eclipse #240
Thunder Bay, ON

Posted By: frfletch
Date Posted: 09 July 2012 at 1:17pm

On Voila we remove all locking mechanisms from winch handles because the locking ring on the Maxwells is in the center of the splined female socket instead of at the bottom (as on all other modern winches) and many times the locking handles engage when only half-way into the socket which just makes a mess. Another issue with the Maxwells is that their splined socket is larger in diameter than the Lewmar, Anderson, or Harkens, so all standard winch handles have a sloppy fit in the Maxwells. The best handles then will be ones with the deepest (longest) male spline. We have Harken 8's on the coach top and still have the Maxwells as primaries, so for racing we use one type of handle for all. However I have built my own winch handles to custom fit the Maxwells and machined the male spline to fit them perfectly, however they will not fit into the Harkens, so I only use my custom handle when cruising and it is really nice to have at least one winch handle that fits snuggly and nicely into the Maxwells.

Posted By: Winner
Date Posted: 27 July 2012 at 9:15pm

I picked up my new West Marine 10" winch handles from the mail outlet today. Unfortunately they have the same issue on the Maxwell 22's as has been described above. They don't lock in (at all) and have a sloppy fit. I'm disappointed because otherwise they are a great winch handle for a reasonable price.

I'm also now debating if I should have bought a 8" handle for the cabin top winches. For some reason 10" for those guys now seems overkill.

I did a search for Maxwell winch handles and found nothing. Apparently these days they are as rare as a left-wing Albertan ;-)

I have read that you can take the Maxwell winch into a machine ship and have a groove machined at the bottom of the hole to accept the standard locking plate. However I'm not convinced this will be particularly effective since the hole is a bit too big and so the locking plate may not engage well due to it essentially being too small.

You'd think there would be some enterprising company out there who manufactured a replacement fitting for the winch that will accept standard winch handles.

On that note does anyone have a exploded diagram of the Maxwell 22? I can't find one anywhere online.

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Chris
Eclipse #240
Thunder Bay, ON