The Original ARCO #6 winch that came on my 1981 Catalina 22 is shown on the right. The new Lewmar winch that is replacing it is on the left. The first thing I noticed was that the Lewmar was less than half the weight of the ARCO.
With the tops off the winches, you can see the basic design differences.
Looking underneath you can see where the ARCO (right) broke. The spindle is made of molded phenolic and cracked where the flange joins the spindle. The Lewmar spindle is also plastic.
The ARCO, again on the right carries the pawls on the spindle while the Lewmar carries the pawls on the winch drum. The ARCO pawls are much more robust than the Lewmar but it doesn’t make any difference because the plastic spindle is the weak link.Replacement parts are offered by ARCO Australia. Current design is all metal.