hercules winch adjustment

[madmari]

I am having a problem pulling up a heavy load to the arch and having it "lock" when releasing the winch lever. Small hitches don't bother, but 3 or  4 hardwood trees pulled up off the ground will drop about 2 feet and then lock. I know there must be a brake adjustment, but how? This is a Hercules on a TJ 230D.

[MaineLogger]

The adjustment is on the brake piston,the tighter the brake band the quicker it will grab.If its too tight it will drag when your pulling it out.You might want to take the cover off check the band,make sure it's pretty even all around with the bottom of the band grabbing first.

[madmari]

Thanks Mainelogger.
I'll be over your way this weekend, at Rockland. I hear lobster is on the menu ;D

[MaineLogger]

I'm sure I'll be around there!Youngest son usually runs the crayes on Sunday.Good luck with the winch,when adjusted up right they are pretty smooth.

[smwwoody]

There should be a couple of pinch bolts around the outside of the band that you can run in against the outside of the band to keep it round.  make sure you run them in and get the band close to the drum with out touching when the winch is in free spool.  this will let you adjust it up to hold as tight as possible and still release good.  if this dont sound clear to you pm me for my phone number and I will talk you through it.  I havent worked on a hercules for about 15 years so this may sound a little fuzzy.

Woody