Timberjack valve bank issue

[sandersen]

Fellow members, Hope all is well out there.  Quick question:  I'm rebuilding my Hercules winch on the bench.  But I noticed, 

When my old 230 is idling, and the winch lever is in neutral, the two Winch hoses leak a fair amount of hydro fluid.  I suspect either an o-ring kit for the Cessna valve bank is in order ($50) or the PR valves ($350 each) need replacing.  

Hoping of course for the cheaper repair.  What do you guys think?  Thanks!

[bushmechanic]

Neither of those things will fix that problem. If there is oil coming out of the hoses while they are disconnected that would tell me that there is slippage between the spool and the body aka wore out valve section. I would hook it up when your done the rebuild of the winch and see if there's enough flow to develop an issue, if not use away. If the winch is trying to turn or release then you will need a new or good valve section. You should be close to having that old jack up and running now! 

[sandersen]

Thanks so much BM. That's a huge help.  And a relief. The winch is my last project and after almost 7 years of weekends it'll be woods ready.  Hopefully by then I won't be too old to pull out a cable.  Thanks again!  Take care.  

[tacks Y]

How simple is it to pull the clutch plates? Mine has sat for a couple years and it is hard to pull cable, it wants to rewind when pulling if the shaft is turning.

[dustyhat]

How simple is it to pull the clutch plates? Mine has sat for a couple years and it is hard to pull cable, it wants to rewind when pulling if the shaft is turning.

Not a real pain on most ,if the bearing comes freely, and get yourself some bent end screw drivers to work the clutches out of there grooves. try to keep the dirt and dust out of the grooves as you work them out .

[dustyhat]

Bushmechanic, are you meaning that these valve bodys get wore out beyond rebuilding ? , just curios , as we have rebuild one at lest three times and still gives us problems , just asking ,trying to learn more myself.   

[bushmechanic]

tacks Y are you sure you have a Hercules or Eaton winch? Sounds more like a Gearmatic to me. You can clean up a bit of rust by making the winch slip a bit too under load. On the Hercules winch there are small springs between the clutches and plates to aid in the release, they may be missing.
dustyhat yes, those valve bodies wear out beyond repair and they can crack internally also. They are machined with very fine tolerances because there are no internal oil seals so over time and dirt in the oil will wear it out. When you rebuild you are only replacing the outer seals and/or the relief valves usually. 

[tacks Y]

tacks Y are you sure you have a Hercules or Eaton winch? Sounds more like a Gearmatic to me. You can clean up a bit of rust by making the winch slip a bit too under load. On the Hercules winch there are small springs between the clutches and plates to aid in the release, they may be missing.
dustyhat yes, those valve bodies wear out beyond repair and they can crack internally also. They are machined with very fine tolerances because there are no internal oil seals so over time and dirt in the oil will wear it out. When you rebuild you are only replacing the outer seals and/or the relief valves usually.

Yes it is a Eaton winch. I thought the Eaton and Hercules where the same? Does the Eaton not run the small springs? I have the Gearmatic on my dozer and have been in there already.