Chain tensioner & winch questions

[8footedFloatGoat]

Hi guys. I've got two questions.

1.) I’ve noticed when applying the brake to turn I hear and feel a pronounced knock coming from under the floor by my left or right foot depending on which direction I’m turning. I think this sound is the chain tensing up, and sending the plastic tensioner up into the floor pan. Is this normal? If this is NOT supposed to be happening is it a symptom of a weak tensioner or a loose chain? Could it be both?

2.) The winch on the old girl looks like it's OEM. It's got a lot of power and speed, but it's **REALLY** noisey. It sounds like it's filled with tar and rocks rather than grease. Do they all sound like this? The decal is too faded to read and I don't see any other ID markings on it so I can't research it online. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mike]

How tight are your chains to start with? If they are really loose you may be hearing the chains slap the tub or floorboard. Make sure they are tensioned properly and test it again.

Most winches are pretty noisy especially when under load. It's hard to guess at how loud yours is in comparison to others but as long as it seems to work properly you could continue to run it. Typically the winches we use require no maintenance for the life of the winch. You could pull it apart and see if there is a problem.

[8footedFloatGoat]

Thanks Mike. I didn't get a chance to check it today but will tomorrow. My winch soes appear to be a no maintenance type, so that makes sense.

[Paquette]

The clunking sounds too me like your chains are stretched and jumping a tooth on the gears. If tensioning doesn't eliminate it then you can try shortening them either half a link or a whole link. If that doesn't fix it then it's time for a chain replacement. In that case, just replace the the longest ones and then use the old long ones to replace the shorter ones.

Inspect your sprockets for tooth wear as well.

[Mike]

That is also a good possibility. The only thing I would point out is that you typically don't want to shorten your chains simply because that can deform your sprockets. While it is a short term fix, down the road you may end up replacing sprockets and chain instead of just chain. If they have stretched that much just replace the chain.