How to successfully install a Harken winch?
Winches are standard fittings on our sailboats, and shipyards have often even provided for the possibility of adding more. Even if this equipment is designed to last, one day you will be faced with a winch installation : wear or damage to parts, move upmarket (electric, bigger, newer…), additional winch or even switch to self-tailing. Whether adding new ones or replacing existing ones, the procedure is not complicated but requires preparation and thoroughness.
Harken, a leading manufacturer, offers a wide range of manual winches, Power et self-tailing or not. Follow our Harken winch installation guide.
What material do you need to install a Harken winch?
To mount a winch, take the following equipment:
- a medium-sized flat screwdriver;
- un allen key set and a set of standard keys;
- a drill ;
- du sealant ;
- sandpaper and a small squeegee;
- de water resistant anti-seize and aluminum / stainless steel anti-corrosion paste if necessary ;
- 5 (6 for larger models) A4 or DIN 267-11 stainless steel bolts of adequate diameter and length with Nylstop nuts to lock washers ;
- un thread lock ;
- washers and possibly a reinforcing plate;
- the drilling template for your winch model available on the Harken website.
Fixing bolts are not supplied by Harken. Check your winch documentation for the number and diameter of bolts to use. Their length depends on your deck thickness and whether or not a backing plate is used.
If you can access both bolt heads and nuts at the same time, take hex socket head bolts. If this is not possible for you, choose hexagonal heads which will be self-locked in their location on the winch.
If your winch or the deck of your boat is made of aluminum, use an anti-corrosion paste to insulate the stainless steel bolts from the aluminum.
Make sure that the location chosen to install your winch will support the efforts. Otherwise reinforce the area or use a reinforcement plate on the inside.
The different stages of installing a Harken winch
Installation of a new Harken winch (or other) is usually fast: a few tens of minutes. In the case of a replacement, it all depends on the difficulty of dismantle the old winch.
If you are replacing a winch, clean the receiving surface to remove any remains of mastic (squeegee and sandpaper). Fill the old mounting holes with sealant.
Position the drilling jig on your deck so that the drive pinion is level with the end point of your sheet or halyard on the headstock. Drill the fixing holes. If you install an electric winch, cut out the corresponding central hole.
If you can reach both the top and the bottom of the deck simultaneously to tighten the bolts, do the following:
- unscrew the screw in the crank sleeve;
- remove the upper part of the winch and unscrew the self-tailing arm to extract it;
- take out the doll to gain access to the fixing holes;
- apply the sealant around and in the holes of the deck;
- coat your screws with anti-seize or if necessary with aluminum / stainless steel insulating paste;
- secure your winch to the deck with the hexagonal socket head bolts and washers (plus the backing plate if applicable) on the inner side;
- reassemble your winch by following the reverse procedure to dismantling, positioning the self-tailing arm so that the sheets or halyards are directed into the cockpit.
If you cannot reach both the screw head and the clamp bolt, follow these steps:
- turn the winch over and, with the flat screwdriver, carefully remove the protective bib at the base of the winch;
- position the hexagonal screws in the locations provided for this purpose;
- replace the protective bib and repeat the previous steps from the application of the sealant.
Once the Harken winch is installed, don't forget to attach a crank pocket if you haven't already. It must be within easy reach of the winch to easily store the handle after each use.
What should you watch out for when installing a Harken winch?
There are generally no problems installing a winch, apart from the difficulty of access for tightening. These are reduced with Harken winches which have two installation procedures.
Problems are more often encountered when dismantling old winches. If they have been in place for a long time, anticipate complications: seized bolts that are difficult to access, corrosion, screw that breaks, etc.
When you add a winch, make sure that the location is level and sufficiently reinforced: it must withstand at least twice the workload of your winch (contact a shipyard or provide a reinforcement plate).
If you notice that the nuts of your Harken winch tend to unscrew, this is due to the regular vibrations during navigation. If you have the possibility, choose specific nuts that do not unscrew in the event of vibrations. With this type of nut, use a thread lock for better fixation.
On the other hand, check that you have sufficient travel to the crank and that the entry angles of the lines are in the manufacturer's recommendations: the angle formed by the deck and the line on the winch must be between 6 ° and 10 °.
