DSK wrote:

Considering price, last fall we bought a 1000W 'Quick' windlass, made in
Italy, and installed it. Only used it about a dozen times, and under
benign circumstances, but at this point I have no apprehension about
it's service.

I've looked at the Quick brand due to the low prices
especially on Ebay through their importer. Some of the
models use a mixture of bronze/aluminum and stainless steel
in the big castings. A bit of a battery & corrosion problem
waiting to happen I think. Some of their models only use
bronze & s.s. in the base castings/drum/wildcat and I think
these are less likely to give trouble.

Evan Gatehouse