I think your criteria should be reliability, reliability, reliability
since a winch/hoist failure has dramatic consequences. For me that
rules out any Chinese made gearbox and I know from experience that most
of the Chinese electric motors in the discount store products (Harbor
Freight, Northern, etc.) are junk.
If you must have an electric winch then Warn and Ramsey are two
reputable US brands. I have a M12,000# Warn, 125' 3/8" cable on a
tractor and it is awesome. HOWEVER, these winches have a freewheeling
capability in addition to power in/out. I think this is a very
dangerous option for a tower winch, one OOPS with that lever or bumping
it or it jumps out of gear and disaster strikes.
I've used clutch type manual (see the Grainger catalog) winches for
hoisting barge spuds and loading ramps. They work fine but continual
water/weather exposure takes its toll, caused them to lock up in 5
years. Additionally, a clutch brake is not a good idea on a tower hoist
wire rope. I wouldn't depend on it for sustained holding in the up
position.
Here is an option for a worm gear driven manual winch, which might have
enough spool capacity for your tower
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DUTTONLAINSON-Manual-Winch-4Z183?Pid=search
and another that I found with a google search "worm gear hand winch"
http://www.thern.com/products/hw_worm.html
serious looking commercial quality, check out the manual for the small
one , it is built to connect to an electric drill. I have no experience
with this brand.
Worm gear drives can be designed to not free spool and these won't (I
used one to hoist a huge chandelier for relamping). I'd get a lift
rating for Dutton ones at least 2x of your maximum load since they are
rated for some mighty large biceps on the crank. Also, a 1/2" drill can
be adapted to the winch so that can make life a lot easier.
Another advantage of some worm drives is all the parts are in the open
and can be easily inspected, lubricated, and rust inhibited on a regular
basis.
Grant, KZ1W
On 11/11/2010 11:52 PM, Terry G. Glagowski wrote:
> I Have a Tristao 52 ft tower, very similar to the HG52SS...
> And I too am looking for a winch / hoist that is appropriate for this.
> The tower itself weighs 550 pounds and there are 3 sections, two of which are
> supported by the cable.
> Simple arithmetic puts the weight of the upper two sections somewhere under
> 400
> lbs then there is the weight of the mast and antennas. Perhaps around 500
> pounds is a good figure to start from for the minimum weight requirements.
>
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