traveler winch?

[cal40john]

No pawls, bidirectional, sounds like you're describing the line tender I postulated earlier. The Barient winch has more gain than this and you need two of them. This is just like my spinnaker pole raise lower mechanism, except that mine has a cog for a chain instead of something to grab a line.

The winch handle plugs straight into the wheel that grips the line, the only gain is the ratio of the length of the handle divided by the radius of the wheel. The line is never supposed slip on the wheel. Both ends of the line end on the traveler car. The wheel is free to spin in either direction. There is a lock that freezes the wheel when engaged.

I do agree, just take it apart, there are probably no bearings, no gears, no pawls. There might be something simple that holds the lock bar in the locked or unlocked position that needs to be freed up.

[roverhi]

From your picture, looks like that's an old NicroFico traveler. They have been out of business for a long time. Surprised that corrosion hasn't eaten up the track and car long ago. Might be time to talk to Garhauer about a new traveller: Garhauer Marine Hardware -7074284
There was a lot friction in the car wheels which made the NicroFico traveller hard to adjust under load when they were in the best of condition. Replacing it with a traveller system that uses multiple purchase blocks might be the easiest, though not cheapest, way to get a functioning traveller.

Yes that's a line handler winch. They had a brief run of popularity several decades ago. Haven't seen any around lately, know there aren't any in the Lewmar Catalogue. Taking it apart and trying to figure out the problem as Cal40john said might work wonders. If it's a simple mechanism with a broken part, a machinist may be able to fabricate a replacement piece. That could expensive if it's at all complicated, however.

[scoobert]

the track is wood. the car is alloy, and works great.

[roverhi]

The track is not wood unless you're sailing one of Nelson's cast offs. May be a wood base but the traveler track would most likely be aluminum. The boats previous life in fresh water may be the reason for it's longevity.

You need to rig a Cunningham on that mainsail, btw. That's what that cringe and patch just up from the foot of the sail is for.

[ThomasShaw]

It looks like a Proctor Sidewinder. little chance of getting parts as Proctor is out of business. Bought by Selden?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ThomasShaw.