Strange wear on 8274 drum gear?

[Steve 90]

Just thought I'd post this as some other 8274 users might be suffering the same trouble and not know it yet, So you might want to check yours.

Had my 8274 apart for routine maintenance and noticed some strange wear on the large drum gear. It was worn heavily on one side and hardly touched on the other which made me think something was out of line. I was particularly worried as it was a new gear after I stripped one on the Tay and this one sided wear could have been a lot of the reason the old one stripped. The picture doesn't really show it that well but here it is.

So I bolted the lower case and end support back in the bumper, had a measure up and sure enough they were way out of line. It looked like the plate at the front of the bumper had a bow along the length of it that was kicking the lower casing and end support away from each other. It was kind of my fault as I originally made the bumper out of 6mm plate then realised it was flexing with any load so doubled up with another piece of 6mm plate on the front. This stopped any flex but looks like welding the two together made it bow. I cut the front out of the bumper and replaced it with a piece of 12mm plate. Sorted, Ran a straight edge along the front and its bang on. Fitted the lower housing and B**ger, It still sits out of line.

It doesn't look much but the gap at the back between the square and the casing is 3mm. I know thats only a cast edge but the difference on the machined surface around the drum bush/bearing is the same!

When I looked closer at the mountings of the lower case they are very poor. They look rounded and way off being square.

I'm sure this is the reason its wearing the gear one sided as it doesn't stand a chance of bolting down tidy with the mountings like that. It looks like thats the way it came from the factory as the original paint was still on it till I scrapped it off with a file.

I'll mount The casing on a face plate in the mill and machine the mountings flat and square tonight then do the same with the end support to line it all back up. Then hopefully it will all sit a bit better!

[ciderman]

I dont know they dont make them winches like they used too.

I have a pre86 winch and a 06 winch on my truck , the quality of the 86 winch is far better than the newer one , the brake shaft and cam were all in one and had a thicker end .

The mounting faces on the early one do look machined and the later one cast and not machined , Not sure if it originaly came like that but it looks a proper job.

I used 12mm on mine , I have seen too many flex on 6mm , resulting in buggering up the winch .

[Steve 90]

I dont know they dont make them winches like they used too.

Think you hit the nail on the head there Jase, Ive found the same thing. The one on the rear is an early winch. Not entirely sure of age but it had a 2.5hp motor with tapered shaft and motor gear so its pretty early and from what I can see it has much better, machined mounting points. The one on the front (which is the poor one) is an 8274-50, again not sure of age but much newer.

[will_warne]

I'd agree too - if you go back even further to an 8074 the quality's even better although parts are a PITA.