Need info cool brass winch,

ok, i am pretty sure i hit the flea market jackpot.....i got this old winch yesterday...it is about 90 percent brass....this winch has what looks like a pto shaft to me on the side..it is much smaller than im used to seeing...you can see it in the pics i will post..it looks like a few socket wobbler attatchments hooked together...it has a round female end on it with a place for a pin to go through it
the winch has a plate on each side that is 1/4 inch thick and about 14 in by 14 in....the mounting plate on the bottom is cast iron and is marked 5811-a the only other marking on the winch is LH...i think that means left handed not sure....all the gears are brass, along with the bolts and nuts the spool,mounting plate and a small eyelet on top are cast and everything else is brass...
there is a large spool in the center of the winch along with some smaller brass gears...there is a shaft that runs through the spool and out each side..i believe it is for a hand crank...this crank would only roll the spool, so it would not be operating the winch at all, just moving the spool.....please any info is very much appreciated....ive searched and searched i think it is nautical but may be wrong.......please help