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Re: [TowerTalk] Motorized Winch for US Tower

To: K8RI <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Motorized Winch for US Tower
From: Grant Saviers <grants2@pacbell.net>
Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:16:10 -0800
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>

I think the point to remember is that drill motors are not designed for continuous duty, not even the heavy duty ones. I burned up a brand new, heavy duty Dewalt hammer drill, drilling 3/4" holes in a guy anchor brace in under 5 minutes.
A tough gig, hard on the body and the drill.

If you look at the motor driven winches, they use a monstrous step down through spur gears which puts very little load on the motor just as in the ham series of rotators. The motor itself has so little torque you can stall it with the pressure from one finger. Drill motors OTOH provide considerable torque, but generally for a short period as the motor is small and is not very efficient at getting rid of heat. The larger rotators using a double worm gear have a motor capable of substantial torque although the double worm gear multiplies the torque substantially.
The "Hole Hawg" is geared way down and I think will handle long on time duty cycles. It's designed for drilling through lots of studs for piping.

Variable speed Drill motors develop substantial heat when operated at low speeds/RPM under load. they can not get rid of the heat efficiently at low RPM and cooling is critical for these small motors. Two speed drills use gears and run the motor at full speed so they have better cooling.
Here is my favorite, torque that can hurt, 2 speeds for metal or wood. I've drilled dozens of 9/16" holes in 3/8 steel plate non-stop using split point cobalt drills. It wasn't fun. A Mag-Drill would have made it easier but was too heavy to schlep to the remote site.

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/rotary-hammers-and-hammer-drills/hammer-drills-corded/1-2-inch-dual-speed-hammer-drill-kit/5387-22
$180 at HD.

It is also very fast as a hammer drill in concrete, but you need a top quality carbide drill bit and some luck in missing the rebar.

Grant KZ1W

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