The great LOFRANS TIGRES bait and switch

[GreenHeaven]

Sorry to have to report that the great LOFRANS Tigres that so many have had great experience with, is being made in two flavors without any distinguishing designation for the buyer.
The new version being sold for a great price by your favorite online stores does not have the same motor, shaft size or power as the tried and trusted version that established this brand.
The motor has a label with the same number on it (1500w) but it has a different part number, sells for half the price, anecdotally, burns out with in days and is probably made in China.

No discussion of LOFRANS products would be complete without a mention of the "tech support" person in Italy who annually wins the award for the most combative, hostile and inflammatory personality of the year.
Even vendors complain about this chump, and my experience certainly supports that.

In short, buyer beware. A LOFRANS TIGRES is not always a LOFRANS TIRGRES.

[John Marine]

I am a big fan of the Lofrans' Tigres windlass and have run maintenance on several boats of charter companies, who call it “the unbreakable” windlass.

What better proof than the fact that it has zero plastic parts on it?

As far as I know, there is indeed a change in shaft diameter made in 2006 by Lofrans', since the motors in the market with the previous (bigger) shaft size are motors over 2500W!

Despite this change, I have never seen a broken gear.

Regarding the motor change I assume Lofrans' had to find alternative suppliers due to supply chain problems during the COVID period to support their high availability and service.

There are 2 different EUROPEAN manufacturers of the same quality supplying the 1500W motors. I have serviced both versions and they look perfect to me and not at all Chinese.

Regarding the technical support, it is obvious that you have not contacted Lofrans' directly but a local service station, since Lofrans' has established a ticketing system where I register my warranties, and everything has been resolved in less than 2 days!