Braden Winch

[uppercanada]

Can anyone tell if this winch looks good for $200 ? Missing the cable. Any comments about it? I need one of these but never seen one up close before. Terrible weld on the control handle......

[roadbuilder]

I have a winch just like it mounted on an MC. Things to check:
Winch drum should free-spool with brake released, unless brake band is sticking to drum.
If drum free-spools by hand, then pull friction lever to push pressure plate against “toothed” friction discs.
Turning drive shaft chain sprocket by hand should turn drum.
The residue in the picture might be grease from carrier bearing or oil from chain. Try to wiggle drive shaft for play in gearbox.
I would pay $200 in a heartbeat if everything seems to turn. Mine is an awesome little winch. I don’t know about part availability but I put new friction discs in when I was in high school 30 years ago and their still fine. Pretty simple, durable winch. Never pulled lever so hard it broke because the winch will pull the back of the MC clear to the ground, (have to let friction off slow when this happens) My bet is “your” friction lever got caught on something and was broken off.
If you need more information on adjusting friction or what the levers are supposed to do, let me know. This was the condensed version.
Good luck

[uppercanada]

Thanks for that excellent reply. I will be checking all of those things out. Does your winch have the same mount as the one in the picture?

[roadbuilder]

Looks really similar. The only difference I see is your carrier bearing is on the winch shaft and I have a carrier bearing at the end of the pto,with none at the end of the winch shaft. Looking at your pic again, the pto carrier bearing might be what I see in the grass under the middle front area of the winch.