Windlass Problem

[dduflo]

I have a Lewmar Pro Fish 700 that will not free drop. The clutch is locked up. I have tried penatrating oil and used a 3' bar to try to break it loose. Won't budge. It will power up and down. It appears that to dismantle it I need to back off the clutch and of course that will not work. Any other suggestions?

 

['84Offshore]

From what I understand the windlass needs yearly maintainance,
the gypsy needs to be removed/cleaned/greased........

I believe it's in the manual.

 

[gulfcart]

I had same thing happen.. Only way I could free it was to take it apart put in a chain vise and use a 4' pipe wrench.. Needless to say it had some grooves in it. Cleaned it up and smoothed it out. Use it for spare parts. The parts can be bought on line pretty reasonable. Now I service every year.

 

[ahill]

The 2 way bearing in the clutch is the problem.
I learned the hard way.
Never use the windlass to hold the boat at anchor or in the pulpit.
You have to disassemble the winch down to the clutch plate and use 2 vise grips to free the bearing.
If it won't free up the new one costs about $400.00
I was able to free mine.