Guys, I own a TX-455, too. Mine, as have all with whom I've corresponded,
came from the factory equipped with a Fulton K-1550. Mine has two. One of
'em is used to telescope the tower vertically, the other is attached to the
'tilt-over fixture' to allow the tower to be lowered to the ground. The
problem with replacing the K-1550 mounted on the tower with a (relatively)
inexpensive electric winch is that the tower is held in suspension by the
winch brake. In other words, the only thing that holds the tower in the
extended position (fully or partially) is whatever brake mechanism the winch
has. I'm not that familiar with the several-hundred-dollar 12VDC winch
units, but, the cheap ones I've seen I wouldn't trust to keep my tower in
the air 'round-the-clock. And, if the only other options are the realm of
the $800 truck/Jeep/4WD winches, it occurs to me that a guy would be as well
or better off to spring for the other $200 and buy the real thing from US
Tower.
As for using a 1/2" electric drill to drive the tower's K-1550, I've tried
it - and, it won't work, or, at least it won't work on mine. My tower is
not overloaded. I have a 20' reinforced mast, a Ham IV, 2 ele quad, and, a
17 ele 2M yagi hanging from it. The winch does not supply enough mechanical
advantage to allow the drill to do the job. Shoot, as I grow older, my arms
and shoulders are nearly inadequate for the job! Incidentally, N6RK's
excellent website, referred to in an earlier post, notes that his tower is
equipped with a Fulton worm-gear drive winch, not the spur gear
reduction/brake unit, a most important difference.
Folks have reported replacing the K-1550's on their TX-455's with Fulton
K-2550's. The additional mechanical advantage that unit delivers allows one
to, then, cobble together and successfully utilize a drill-drive adaptor,
I'm told.
Finally, Thern makes a fine line of industrial winches. I recently
purchased one of those, used. It's a worm-gear drive unit with the gearing
enclosed in an oil bath. The winch came with a drill-drive adaptor. It's
construction is such that I'd guess that this winch will outlast me by a few
dozens of decades. The Thern will soon grace my TX-455 and will allow me to
crank my TX-455 up and down with a 1/2", right angle drive, slow speed,
electric drill.
Were I in the market for a replacement winch, new, however, my first stop
would to pick up a Fulton K-2550. Grainger has 'em as do several other
industrial suppliers. They aren't cheap at ~$240, but, are still less than
25% the cost of the (new) $1K U.S. Tower electric winch.
73, Brad, W9FX
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