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The ratcheting failed a let my mast fall . I hope no one has experienced this in the past. I am replacing the winch with a positive ratchet with lock like on my trailer.
Be Blessed
Ed

Can you give more info? What year is your boat? When the failure occurred, was your mast standing straight up or lower like at a 45 degree angle?

Did the brake on the winch fail or was it the ratcheting lock mechanism?

I can't figure out how this would happen with a brake winch. What part number is your winch?

I can't imagine what went wrong in there. Is it the Dutton-Lainson brake winch that was original equipment?

The problem with simple ratcheting winches is that when lowering, if the handle gets away from you, the whole thing comes crashing down, and if you try to catch it, you can end up with broken fingers or worse, which is why they use a brake winch in the first place. Not that I'd know anything about that, of course.

I have the M gin pole and used it only once as there was no effort to raise/lower the mast. Don't know what failed but the system is by far over rated for raising/lowering the mast.
Wonder if you had it in proper location and lines leading correctly.
We raise mast with girlfriend raising the mast as I pull on roller furler headstay. I just used it once to see if it worked and was to easy, no effort at all.
If I was single handed I would need the gin pole. The brake winch worked perfect.
Don't oil the brake pad, this will cause slippage.
Dave

Blowboater1 wrote:The ratcheting failed a let my mast fall . I hope no one has experienced this in the past. I am replacing the winch with a positive ratchet with lock like on my trailer.
Be Blessed
Ed

We have used a device with a brake winch on an almost daily basis for the last 15+ years to lift 95 lb rolls of polyester film. Without a single failure or slippage. A load must be maintained when winding down to maintain clutch engagement, but this is always the case when lowering. I assume it happened when the mast was being lowered?

Oil contamination on the friction surfaces was my first thought, too, Dave.

I would strongly advise against replacing the brake winch with anything other than another brake winch. Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!

-Brian.

Tanks for all of the information. The failure was to the braking of the winch that would not hold the mast after the weight of the roller &. the forstay attachment being released. The new winch will have a positive brake rather than the O.E.M. clutch type. We are still new at this trailer rigging thing ( first trailer-able sail boat in 40 years)but I am sure it will work out well.
Thanks again for all of your replies. Our Lord's Blessing & will see you in the Key's this January.
Ed
S/V SABBATH DAY''S

Hey Blowboater,
Like the name of your vessel. ours is "Storm Walker" Matt. 14:29

DO NOT USE A POSITIVE COG RATCHET WINCH. YOU WILL BREAK A BODY PART.

~Rich

Blowboater1 wrote:Tanks for all of the information. The failure was to the braking of the winch that would not hold the mast after the weight of the roller &. the forstay attachment being released. The new winch will have a positive brake rather than the O.E.M. clutch type. We are still new at this trailer rigging thing ( first trailer-able sail boat in 40 years)but I am sure it will work out well.
Thanks again for all of your replies. Our Lord's Blessing & will see you in the Key's this January.
Ed
S/V SABBATH DAY''S

Just pondering on this ! the brake winch has to be tightened in order to release the forestay so at that time there should be considerable force on the brake winch holding the mast forward ! , I know if u allow the line being cranked onto the winch to build up on one side of the drum then when lowering it will jump drop 6-8" as the line jumps off the large coil , so u need to make sure it winds up evenly on the drum , so basically before I can undo my forestays as I'm cutter rigged with two furlers & my forestays & shrouds r fairly tight the brake winch has to be alreadt holding the mast up !! , something just does not sound right , u r new to the boat r u sure u had it hooked up right , was the gin pole anchored !! , if the brake winch was not holding the mast up how were u able to undo the forestay !!

J

Highlander wrote:

Blowboater1 wrote:Tanks for all of the information. The failure was to the braking of the winch that would not hold the mast after the weight of the roller &. the forstay attachment being released. The new winch will have a positive brake rather than the O.E.M. clutch type. We are still new at this trailer rigging thing ( first trailer-able sail boat in 40 years)but I am sure it will work out well.
Thanks again for all of your replies. Our Lord's Blessing & will see you in the Key's this January.
Ed
S/V SABBATH DAY''S

Just pondering on this ! the brake winch has to be tightened in order to release the forestay so at that time there should be considerable force on the brake winch holding the mast forward ! , I know if u allow the line being cranked onto the winch to build up on one side of the drum then when lowering it will jump drop 6-8" as the line jumps off the large coil , so u need to make sure it winds up evenly on the drum , so basically before I can undo my forestays as I'm cutter rigged with two furlers & my forestays & shrouds r fairly tight the brake winch has to be alreadt holding the mast up !! , something just does not sound right , u r new to the boat r u sure u had it hooked up right , was the gin pole anchored !! , if the brake winch was not holding the mast up how were u able to undo the forestay !!

J

I dunno. The OP is a little ambiguous in all of his posts concerning the winch.

If someones in the Keys this Jan have a look and give us a report.

I think Highlander figured this one out - it sounds like the blowboater hooked up the mast system okay but never reeled it in and just released the forestay - that very well could create an issue.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUT. The Mac dealer replaced the entire device because the clutch system did actually fail at lowering!. My wife was at the winch when it let go and I tried to hold the roller but when the mast was going down I could not hold it. The consequences were I went flying over the side crashing to the pavement. Not a pretty picture (70 years young & 6'4 & 280 lbs the wife said I did a full 360 over the rail on the way down.Thank the Good LORD no broken bones just really sore for a couple of weeks.I think I will use the main halyard as a back up for lowering until my confidence is in the system. We really like our Mac and hope to be in the Keys mid January- February & March for a couple of weeks at a time. Our only major mod is a duel axle trailer ( Strictly for safety reasons),Standard height life lines 26" & our Yettie. We are looking forward to sailing the Great Lakes and the small lakes here in the S.E. 2014 Fair winds and
Our Lord's Blessing
Ed

Hope you are ok Blowboater.
In all the years on here and using our winch I have never heard of a problem like this, if it was and it appears that way I hope you are compensated for this failure.

Good to hear you are ok Blowboater! I am always mindful that the biggest danger when working on my Mac while she sits on the the hard is falling overboard. You could end up in a wheelchair, God forbid. I prefer to lower and raise the mast in calm waters.