’62 Willys Koenig winch Model 100 and “other”

Good morning y’all! dne’ here with the story about a winch;) Not me! As my followers may know, I’ve been working on a ’62 Willys jeep which just happens to have a Koenig Model 100 winch on it.

The winches of those days and prior where an incredible invention. I guess they didn’t have electric winches back then, instead they had a system which the power came from the engine, through the transmission into the PTO, or power take off which would be enabled by a small lever next to the driver.

 

 

 

 

Obviously the next 3 pictures are NOT “our” jeep, but I’m just overwhelmed and have a much better appreciation for these work horses and the imagination of what they could employee on them.

 

These next 3 pics, utilize a rear PTO as it’s more powerful as it comes directly off of the transmission. The front PTO uses a redirection of power via a chain to run a driveshaft to run the front winch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really thought we weren’t going to use this beast of a winch, but with effort, “restore” it and it would be a nice novelty at car shows.

Well, let’s move onto what drives this thing!!!;)

 

 

 

We have the model 51, a one lever when pulled back would engage a gear into the transmission, thus turning the long funny driveshaft, thus turning the winch, thus pulling you out of the mud, or someone else out of the mud! 😉

 

 

 

This driveshaft which goes from the PTO to the winch is a perfect fit, no slip joint. This system must have been used sometime in its life as the U-joints were worn out:(  Meaning more work for yours truly:(

 

 

To my amazement, these u-joints have no needle bearings, more like bushing.  I tried using my 12 ton press to remove them, but wound up using my 4.5″ angle grinder with a cut-off wheel and zipped right through the cast material, then just knocked them out.

 

I could have tried harder in finding the correct u-joints, but these aren’t just in your local auto-parts store! or try going into an NAPA part store, and say” I’d like these u-joints for the PTO in my ’62 Willys jeep?” haha

 

 

 

The new u-joints which have needle bearings didn’t quite fit and I had to grind off the insides of the yokes to get the retainers to fit, which they did;) Of course

 

 

 

The carrier to the left in this lower pics, is a brass/bronze bushing relying totally on someone greasing it! it’s worn, but functional for our uses, which it will probably never be used anyway.

 

 

The finished product and ready for installation;)

 

 

 

 

 

The PTO*************************************************************************************************************

The pretty diagonal looking thing is the housing for the two gears, chain which drive the front driveshaft, therefore driving the winch. The 5 plugs are access to the Allen bolts which holds it on. They’re a little touchy to remove as they could easily fall into the casing when taking them out!

below: Shaft which connects to the driveshaft.

 

 

 

All the bearings were shot, the seal was shot(of course). Hermtheoverdriveguy.com carries the overhaul kit, thank goodness!! Was it a pain to install? of course

http://hermtheoverdriveguy.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: These things were meant to last forever, that’s why there are grease fittings everywhere! But noooooo, grease fittings, out of sight out of mind?

 

 

Geez y’all, sorry for such a long blog!!:( Hey, but you’re learning about something really cool!!!;)

 

 

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The Koenig Winch Model 100:

Here I was figuring how to re-make a plate for this behemoth winch! Robo had already removed the 200′ of steel cable at least making it a little lighter.

 

 

 

Below: This Winch was all locked up, rusted, NO GREASE! Luckily with my superior intellect and great assortment of tools(including a very large hammer), I was able to get it apart and free it up (and a few select cuss words, like~ darn, heckfire, and shazam)! 😉

https://www.harborfreight.com/gear-puller-set-15-pc-62958.html

 

 

 

After a good clean up and splash of flat black, A LOT OF GREASE!! it’s a good as new!!;)

https://cj3b.info/Tech/KoenigWinch.html

 

This winch only pulls, It does not allow to release in a controlled way. To release the pulling mechanism, one pushes the lever down disengaging the prongs from the driver(just made that up;), then that allows the barrel/drum/thing that holds the cable/rope to be pulled easily to a stable object or the person stuck in the mud, or hanging by a twig off the side of a mountain ready to be rescued!! 😉

 

OK OK, I’ve probably lost your attention by now:(  I have yet to test the winch, or pto system as the new fuel pump died! go figure, there’s quite a lot left to do, like drive it? 😉

 

I sure hope you guys got something out of this. I have a new appreciation for the early jeeps, Willys, etc. They are magnificent machines and capable of plowing a field! I’ve enjoyed this project so much as I may look for another one and take my time and make the experience last!!

Your friend, dne’ of Classic cars and tools!