[TowerTalk] Windlass suggestions needed

[Mike Murphy]

Tom,
I designed my own winch just for doing tower work. It’s a cable on drum
design, not capstan. My principal safety concern was the operator feedback
that an integrated motorized design lacks. When 3 or 4 experienced guys are
pulling a rope and the tension begins to mount, they know to stop while the
source of the bind is found and corrected. The first indication of a problem
with a conventional powered winch may be when something breaks. My solution
was to drive the winch with a hand drill. When the operator feels an
increase in the drill’s counter torque, he knows to stop while the source of
the bind is found and corrected. I’ve been using this design for nearly 10
years and have found it quite satisfactory. I usually have the winch about
the tower height away from the base of the tower and positioned to give the
operator a clear view of all the work.

73,
Mike, WA4BPJ

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tom Rauch
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 3:55 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Windlass suggestions needed


I always like the way a local tower installer's 120VAC
capstan winch worked, but always thought it was death or serious injury
waiting to happen because he bolted it right to the tower below the work
being done.

My plan is to weld up a plate to a steel tube that fits my trailer hitch and
pull the rope from the truck using a 12V marine style anchor, docking, or
fishing rope winch. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

1.) I plan on mounting it to my truck hitch. My truck is
big, and the hitch is good. I'll overkill the plate and mounting.

2.) I intend to fabricate a dual rope-guide out of de-burred and polished
pipe welded to the mounting plate to prevent the rope from slipping off the
capstan.

3.) It will have a safety type footswitch

4.) I sized  the winch so it will lift at about 85ft/min maximum and will
stall at just over 500 pounds. My thinking was the stall capacity of the
winch needs to be the weakest link so I can't break anything, including the
rope.

5.) I plan on welding a large clevis to the mounting plate
so the rope can be held in place if needed, without ever removing it from
the capstan.

This way any workers won't under the tower, the rope won't
slip off, and it won't be a shock hazard (12 volt).

Anyone ever do this? Anyone see a problem?

73 Tom


_______________________________________________

See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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