[TowerTalk] US Tower Raising Fixture Question

[Pat Chiles]

I took delivery of my new tower yesterday and with the help of Pete, N4ZR, and a neighbor who owns a front loader I now have it standing on the pad and plumbed up. 

Cranking this tower (HDX 555) from horizontal to vertical was unexpectedly very hard.  The only additional weight was a 140 lb mast snuggled inside the tower.  I could only do about 10 complete rotations and then had to take a break and I am a fairly big boy and in fair shape.

My question is what have others done to lessen this burden?  Is there a better winch or rigging scheme to gain mechanical advantage?  My tower has two side-by-side pulleys on the tower, but only one is used.  The raising fixture only has one pulley.  The cable goes over the pulley at the raising fixture, around one of the pulleys at the tower, and back to the raising fixture where it is terminated on a bolt.  We have it rigged per the instructions.

Pat, K8PC