TREWHELLA WINCHES

[neilalex]

Hi, that's the Monkey winch. The Wallaby winch is more compact but will do the same thing. As I said earlier mine has a plate on it stating that it has been tested to 7.5t and from memory they were usually stated as having a 5t pull. Interestingly someone in a India seems to be making a copy;

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/monkey-winch-7916937062.html

The advert is informative insofar as it shows you what it looks like but also points out the major design advantage of the Wallaby winch over the Monkey winch with regard to the brake mechanism. People who have nearly had their heads taken off by the bar on a monkey winch understand the advantage!

 

[REME 245]

I have the 'Manual of Recovery' Part IV which covers Winches Portable.   It lists 4 types in use namely the No. 1 Mks. 1 & 2,  No. 2 Mks. 1 & 2,  the 5 ton two speed and the and the single speed 3 ton.

[neilalex]

That's interesting I didn't know they made a 3 ton single speed. Mine has the slower speed smaller drum on the opposing side of the machine to the main drum. I wouldn't know if it was Mk1 or MK2 but I'll check the machine plates. I think the army used to ship them out with tank transporters, that kind of thing?

Just checked. Nothing to say Mk1 or Mk2, just swl 5 tons tested to 7.5t and the year 1954. A mere youngster then.

[REME 245]

I will scan the drawings in next week.

 

[flatpack]

Hi

Hope you don't mind me dropping onto the end of this old thread, as my first post, but I've just acquired a Trewhella Wallaby. All appears complete and operates OK although I've not tested it under load yet.

It is dated 1954 and the handle appears to be a two piece, although its not coming apart at the moment. Applied some plusgas and will leave it for a while.

I read the post from N.O.S. about them being used on the gliders during WW2 but I am unsure whether the British Army continued with that into the 1950s as nothing after an initial cursery glance comes up about towed gliders post war so uncertain about where it originated from. Doesn't appear to have been used that much and the wire rope isn't damaged and is pretty much kink free.

Any additional information, and if there's a chance of any pictures or scans about any of the Trewhella winches from army recovery manuals or other sources would be nice to look at. My acquired copy of the REME recovery manual shows Tirfors as the hand winches.

I added the shackles as there was nothing at the frame end and only a small shackle parked in the eye splice.

I've attached a couple of pictures below.

Edited September 17, 2023 by flatpack

[utt61]

There's no need to apologise for instilling new life in an old thread!

One of my Wallabys has an identical two-piece handle, and it is interesting to see another as previously I had though perhaps this was a backyard modification. Mine took some effort to separate too, penetration fluid and I seem to remember the application of heat, but once apart I polished the outside of the lower handle with a flap disc and the inside of the upper handle with a suitably sized flap wheel and applied a smear of grease to stop them rusting, since when I have had no trouble.

The first Wallaby I bought was missing its handle and I bought what was probably the last ever handle sold by Trewhella Bros in Birmingham. At that time they could supply spares for both Monkey and Wallaby winches, and had I know then that they would disappear without trace a few years later I would have bought a quantity of sets of spare springs for both types - the Monkey in particular always seems to need new springs. I have now resorted to making my own springs. 

The wallaby is an outstanding winch, lighter and more portable that its bigger older brother, the Monkey Winch, and yours looks to be in excellent condition.

[flatpack]

Thanks for the information on the handle.

I realise it must turn, I guess counterclockwise, a certain amount to allow the two halves to separate but that is the actual mechanism of the join? Is there a bayonet type fitting inside or just a very short course thread? Just makes it easier to understand what I'm working with.

Thanks again

[MatchFuzee]

Are these 2 pages of any help? 

From:-

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/20495-trewhella-winch/page/6/#comments

[flatpack]

40 minutes ago, MatchFuzee said:

Are these 2 pages of any help? 

From:-

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/20495-trewhella-winch/page/6/#comments

Thanks but that's for the monkey winch, rather than the wallaby.

Interesting parts breakdown and also I've bookmarked the web pages for future reference.

[utt61]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:30 PM, flatpack said:

Thanks for the information on the handle.

I realise it must turn, I guess counterclockwise, a certain amount to allow the two halves to separate but that is the actual mechanism of the join? Is there a bayonet type fitting inside or just a very short course thread? Just makes it easier to understand what I'm working with.

Thanks again

There's nothing clever at all, the two parts just have a slight taper (no thread, no bayonet, nothing at all). It will either be corrosion holding yours together or possibly someone has driven them together really hard, e.g., with a sledgehammer.

[flatpack]

15 hours ago, utt61 said:

There's nothing clever at all, the two parts just have a slight taper (no thread, no bayonet, nothing at all). It will either be corrosion holding yours together or possibly someone has driven them together really hard, e.g., with a sledgehammer.

Thanks for the info.

Looks like someone has had a go at separating them as there's hammer marks around the edge of the sleeve. Probably made it tighter as will collapse the tube onto the inner handle.

Anyway it works OK at the moment and I'll keep adding plusgas and when I get time I'll get some heat on the outer and see if it will move.

Thanks again for your help.

[flatpack]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:08 PM, REME 245 said:

I will scan the drawings in next week.

 

Please can you point me to where I can find these as I'd be interested in any information on these including other models.

Thanks

[Niels v]

This was just dropped off by the postman.

now a bit of cleaning and painting 

[utt61]

I always wonder where all the handles have gone! All these winches were supplied with a handle, and almost none now seem still to have them. I can only assume that as the original handles are five feet long and rather heavy and unwieldy they tended to be discarded in favour of improvised shorter handle.

[Niels v]

On 12/7/2024 at 7:59 PM, utt61 said:

I always wonder where all the handles have gone! All these winches were supplied with a handle, and almost none now seem still to have them. I can only assume that as the original handles are five feet long and rather heavy and unwieldy they tended to be discarded in favour of improvised shorter handle.

Yes I think it has a lot to do with the size of the handle. Yes once I got mine welds back together it measured 5’ in length and is as you say quite unwieldy.  Without a load on the rope it significantly easier just to use a spanner for pulling it back in.

 

[Niels v]

On 11/14/2017 at 11:58 PM, utt61 said:

I've just had a quick tally-up round the barn and found the rather startling total of four Monkey winches and three of the scarcer Wallaby winches!

Does this make me a bad person or just a weirdo? 

I may have to investigate remanufacturing the various springs used on these winches. Most other parts are easy enough to refurbish but the springs tend to fail and are all oddballs.

Did you ever look further in to making the springs, I could use one for the Long pawl and the fast motion spring. 
my fast motion lever has taken a beating at some point with an interesting repair, that didn't hold op to the strain, so I will either make a new or see if I can find a replacement. 
I also need to dig out the remains of a bolt in the tumbler. 

 

[utt61]

For the last one I've just refurbished I made a new spring for the fast motion pawl, it's a very easy one to make and works a dream. The slow motion pawl springs I was able to recover by unwinding one turn. I built up the worn tips of the slow motion pawls with weld and reprofiled them, and everything works really well.

That's an impressive old school repair on yours, but clearly not up to the job.

[Niels v]

6 hours ago, utt61 said:

For the last one I've just refurbished I made a new spring for the fast motion pawl, it's a very easy one to make and works a dream. The slow motion pawl springs I was able to recover by unwinding one turn. I built up the worn tips of the slow motion pawls with weld and reprofiled them, and everything works really well.

That's an impressive old school repair on yours, but clearly not up to the job.

Do you have a picture of how the fast motion spring is supposed to look ? 
Thanks for the advice with unwinding the other spring. It worked like a charm. 
I am debating now with myself on how to make the best fast motion lever, 

 

[utt61]

No, but I should be able to take one for you. The hardest part of the task was finding a good one to copy!