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The Price Of Old Windlasses


cheshire~rose

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I know there are folks out there who collect old windlasses but I have never really had any great desire to own one, until now!

I am now in a situation where I have seen a rather nice old windlass that is going to be auctioned off later tonight and I NEED am considering bidding on it! 

Veruca-Salt.jpg

The think is how much do old windlasses cost? This is a steel one that is heavily pitted, probably from spending a couple of decades in the cut. 

I know it is a bit like how long is a piece of string and the price it will go for is the price that it reaches if a few of us want it and it will depend on who has the deepest pockets - but can somebody talk some sense to me and share photos of what you have bought and how much you paid so I don't get too carried away please? 

 

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More clues needed, really Jan.

Cast/welded/forged?

One eye/two eyes?

Approximate age?

The main problem with anything old, (say 1970s or earlier), is that the spindle sizes may not match those currently in use.

I have a collection of 1970s windlasses, but most are not really usable now without modification.

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It also depends on the condition, If it's very heavily pitted I wouldn't think there would be much value in it. Isn't there someone on the forum who occasionally lists them on eBay? I seem to remember that he sold a job lot of around a dozen that went for just over  £100.

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My Harry Neal No 2 windlass is heavily pitted, I acquired it in the late 60s, swapping a gas bottle for it, still use it at times .... cost.....priceless for me, where would I find another?? Follow your instincts, a lot of old stuff changes hands for prices that would have been eye stretching years ago.

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2 hours ago, BWM said:

It also depends on the condition, If it's very heavily pitted I wouldn't think there would be much value in it. Isn't there someone on the forum who occasionally lists them on eBay? I seem to remember that he sold a job lot of around a dozen that went for just over  £100.

I am not sure I agree with that assessment, it really depends upon the windlass. If it is a G H COOKE it will be worth up to a £100 pitted or not, and if it is a Harry Neal, probably more. Equally any old forged windlass stamped with a canal company's name will fetch serious money. These old windlasses are rare and most are now in the possession of people who will not let them go, so they come up for sale very infrequently.

To answer Jan's question, here are two G.H. COOKE windlasses I bought off a Willow re Captain in the 1960's for five shillings

Cooke No1a.JPG

Cooke No2a.JPG

Edited by David Schweizer
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13 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

I am not sure I agree with that assessment, it really depends upon the windlass. If it is a G H COOKE it will be worth up to a £100 pitted or not, and if it is a Harry Neal, probably more. Equally any old forged windlass stamped with a canal company's name will fetch serious money. These old windlasses are rare and most are now in the possession of people who will not let them go, so they come up for sale very infrequently.

To answer Jan's question, here are two G.H. COOKE windlasses I bought off a Wllow re Captain in the 1960's for five shillings

Cooke No1a.JPG

Cooke No2a.JPG

Fair comment, i'd just assumed that because no name, etc had been stated by the op that it would be a standard forged windlass. I must check some I found on a vacant mooring on our site, as the handles furthest away from square end were very rusty I didn't bother checking for names! 

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Insane price, particularly if someone planned to use it.

Almost certainly the eye will be too small to use on many modern sized spindles.

 

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4 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Insane price, particularly if someone planned to use it.

Almost certainly the eye will be too small to use on many modern sized spindles.

 

It looks very similar to my bronze windlass, which is one of Lawrence Hogg's "Boatman's Cabin" copies of a  Harry Neal Windlass. I can confirm that whilst it will not fit the modern straight shank GU spindles, it does fit many current tapered spindles found on other canals, (plus some on the GU which have escaped the torch)

I agree on the proce though, I paid something like £25 for mine only a few years ago.

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Well it's now mine. 

I seriously doubt it it is worth a serious amount of money but I don't care. I wanted it and got it and I love it. 

It's an original Chesterfield Canal windlass. I am told it's wrought iron 

I also bought a haggis!

I am trying to work out how to share a picture of it when I am only on my phone

  • Greenie 2
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9 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

How odd. Just as vintage diesels leave boaters with no soul cold (e.g. nicknorman), rusty windlasses do nothing for me. Unlike the vintage diesels!

You missed the important word for Jan - Chesterfield

also 'cheap'

Richard

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