Mr Fix It

Some of you will know what to do, but for any that don’t, here’s a little checklist of the bits you will need to revitalise your winches and save yourself a few shekels – the way I do it.

You need: A bottle of kerosene, a plastic container large enough to get the drum of your winch in (but no larger or you will use too much kero, I use a 2L ice cream container), a few rags for cleaning and wiping away mess, a stiff one inch paint brush, a stiff toothbrush, a set of Allen keys, a small flat screwdriver (for scrapping corrosion off things and getting pawl springs out)), a flat fine file (for taking the burrs off items like the round back end of your pawls, filing dried corrosion off), a small square of 180 sandpaper (I use this around an Allen Key to clean out the circular Pawl housing if they are dirty, but use in a circular motion not vertically), tube of winch grease, a small bottle of light oil (for the pawls), clothing you don’t mind getting dirty, nitrile disposable gloves (unless you are happy to get your hands messy), barrier cream if you aren’t using gloves and don’t want to smell of kero for the next few days (you can get this at the chemist for about $5), a hat and sunscreen (a good brand is Sailor), phone and a couple of cold drinks of a preferred variety.

Once everything is clean you can start putting it all back together, use a small amount of grease on bearings, bearing surfaces and cogs, use the light oil in your pawls (not grease) – there that wasn’t too hard was it.