On Sep 20, 11:11*am, wrote:
....
Anybody here owned/used Andersen self-tailing winches? They are
supposed to be far superior,...

They are very nice winches. When I was in Opua, NZ in '01 there was a
guy manufacturing plastic spacer rings in his garage to replace the
ones on the top of some smaller Andersen winches. I don't know if
they still make any winches with the plastic ring but if you get some
you should probably make sure you keep them covered when not in use.
I have Lewmar winches and they have two paws ratchets even in fairly
large sizes. Andersen and Harkens of the same size have four paws
which make them less likely to all stick and a touch smoother. Clean
and well lubed they are all going to work about the same. If you buy
any of the the majors now they should last decades. The Andersens
will probably outlast your grand-kids but the drums on your Harken or
Lewmars will might wear smooth before those kids retire. Despite
being a Harken fan I went with the Lewmars based on price. They work,
but need more care.

-- Tom.