Winch Sprockets

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This is the goal:

T-rail and winch

T-rail and winch closeup


What i need the sprocket on, note it is made as a one piece casting, with 4 inch dia ends.

closeup of winch


This is the sprocket, note it's not 4 inch dia, so it cannot fit over the shaft ends?

sprocket with loop of bike chain on it


First, saw the tubing so when split, it fits the shaft. Note there is more than one device holding the tubing, there's an angle steel also in the oem vise's stationary jaw, coming up behind the tubing, to be a stop against the pull of the blade. There's another in the vise, on the moveable jaw, pushed up against the far side, to stop rocking in that direction. You can see the 1/2 inch thick slab to hold the near side square and to stop rocking in that direction. If i did this more often, i'd make a dedicated versatile jig, and i may do that anyhow, in the interest of safety.

splitting tubing with bandsaw


Then shim the sprocket on the split and realigned tubing. I used an equal number of bandsaw blade bits under each knob of the sprocket. Note the sprocket is resting on a 1/2 inch tick slab of steel in the background, there's another in the fore that you don't see. This sets the sprocket 1/2 inch from that end of the tubing.

split tube, shimmed sprocket in place


Weld the sprocket to the tubing parts, do not weld the tubing back together.

This is tricky, the sprocket is thin! Strike the arc on the 3/16 tubing, drag the metal to the sprocket.

I used some .050 thick steel as donor steel under the sprocket before i was finished. There's some large gaps need filling.

sprocket welded to tubing


Before the next step, this is a good time to wire brush the welds, removing scale, flux, etc., basically anything that can get the chain gritty and make it wear prematurely. Then, use a thin abrasive blade on the Dremel tool, cut between the teeth down to the tubing where it's been cut.

sprocket cut in two along tubing sections, shown separately as tubing clamshells


And here it is with chain on, on the shaft. I am merely holding it with chain tension. After a couple days of thought, i think i'll pin the clamshells to the winch axle, and tack weld the clamshells together. I can remove the winch for other uses which require a bicycle chain, saving money, and i already have a dedicated winch with wire rope on a mount. The clever among you, who would also be moving the winch around to different tasks, might put an idler/intermediate axle on the frame, in a fashion so you don't need to "break" the chain to get it on the closed winch axle, you'd just drop it over the idler axle.

tubing-sprocket assembly on winch shaft with chain, oblique view

tubing-sprocket assembly on winch shaft with chain, straight-on view

Fin