Barlow 24 Winch Speeds

Up until recently, I thought that the Barlow 24 winches on my 1977 E-32 were only single speed because they only operate that way. Now I've been reading various web sites and other literature and it all says that Barlow 24s are two speed.

I thought that I knew how to operate two-speed winches based on having had them (not Barlows) on my two previous boats - turn them one direction for low speed and the other for high speed. When I try to turn the Barlows in the high speed direction, they won't move.

Am I doing something wrong, could there be a problem with my winches, or are the Barlow 24s really single speed?

Thanks,
Charles Taylor

Hi,
I have Barlow single-speed winches on my 1973 E-27. I think they went out of business before two-speeds came into being, but that is just a guess.
Morgan Stinemetz

Here's one of the docs I read about Barlow 2 speed winches:
http://maximalt.dk/Manualer/Andet/barlow-barient winch.pdf

Barlow

I have Barlow 25 2-speed winches on my E-29. They were locked up when I bought the boat and acted like 1-speed winches, I had to rebuild them and now they work like a charm. I like to use 3-1 oil on the pawls.

There is a lot of good info. on this board about this topic.

Good Luck,

Wes,

Where did you find the parts to rebuild your Barlows?

Thanks,
Charles

Rebuild parts for a Barlow.

Charles, Let me jump in here to say that years before many of our Ericson's were even built (I don't know the exact date), the winch industry got together to agree on a size and shape standard for all pawls and pawl springs regardless of brand. Kind of like what happened a century or so ago in the US regarding train track standards or with modern automotive rim diameteres today. So far as that goes, all larger West Marine stores or most chandlers have stocks of these parts on hand or at worst, can order them for you. I have a pair of S/T, 2-speed Barlow 23's on our boat as the primaries. Although not new at the time, I used them to replace my S/T, 1-speed Barlow 23's, one of which had stripped the center threads off. All that was required of these new ones was to simply clean them in a kerosene bath, dry them and regrease them and oil the pawls. Glyn Judson E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Glyn,

Thanks for the tip. It is easier, quicker, and cheaper to get the pawls and springs from WM rather than ordering from Australia. I'll probably try to service the winches next weekend. Maybe with a little cleaning and lube they will turn out to be 2 speed after all.

Charles

Uploaded Doc

chtaylor said:

Here's one of the docs I read about Barlow 2 speed winches:
http://maximalt.dk/Manualer/Andet/barlow-barient winch.pdf

Click to expand...

As an FYI - that document has been uploaded into the new downloads section of the new website:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/local_links.php?catid=4

//sse

Glyn Judson said:

the winch industry got together to agree on a size and shape standard for all pawls and pawl springs regardless of brand. Kind of like what happened a century or so ago in the US regarding train track standards or with modern automotive rim diameteres today. So far as that goes, all larger West Marine stores or most chandlers have stocks of these parts on hand or at worst, can order them for you. I have a pair of S/T, 2-speed Barlow 23's on our boat as the primaries. Although not new at the time, I used them to replace my S/T, 1-speed Barlow 23's, one of which had stripped the center threads off. All that was required of these new ones was to simply clean them in a kerosene bath, dry them and regrease them and oil the pawls. Glyn Judson E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Click to expand...

Sadly I don't think this applies for the pawls in the Barlow 16s or 24s that are installed on my 1969 E32.

I ordered a set of large and small Lewmar pawls from Defender and they are materially different from the Barlow pawls (which are the same in the 16 and 24 models). The large Lewmar pawls are quite a bit larger, and are tapered to the base, while the small Lewmar pawls are somewhat shorter. The small springs might be equivalent, but I didn't open the package to find out for sure.

So I ordered a bunch of pawls and springs from ARCO in Australia, which bought the Barlow machining. Apparently they are very proud of their packing abilities because the S&H was outrageous and the delivery time was ridiculous.

Left photo: Barlow pawl and spring shown against large Lewmar pawls. Right photo: Barlow pawl shown against small Lewmar pawls.

Barlow winches

How can you tell if your winches are 2 speed,or one speed?

A one speed winch handle turns in only one direction. A two-speed handle turns in both directions and there is a different gear ratio that turns the drum at a different speed (but same rotation direction) when going the opposite way. A slower drum speed gives the wincher more power but less inches of line per turn.

To be slightly more precise, all winch handles turn in two directions. The handle on a two-speed winch engages and turns the winch in two directions, a "fast" clockwise direction and a "slow" counterclockwise direction. The handle on a one-speed winch engages in the clockwise direction and slips in counterclockwise direction, like the pedals of a ten-speed bicycle.

If you have a two-speed winch behaving like a one-speed, it's probably because the pawls are caked with dirty grease and are preventing the gearing from grabbing when the winch is being turned in that direction. Winches aren't too hard to clean but you should cut a hole in the bottom of a box to put the winch through before you disassemble it, because pawls and springs can pop out of the winch and go straight overboard as you take it apart.

There are three-speed winches too: you press a button and grind clockwise for the fastest speed, spin the handle a little counterclockwise making the button pop out, then go clockwise again for middle gear and counterclockwise for the final, slowest gear. I have not been on a boat that had three speed winches for a long time!