[TowerTalk] Fulton KW3000 Winch

[W0TMM]

I have been raising and lowering by  65' Rohn 25 tilt over tower for the last 1-1/2 years with a ratchet-type boat winch. It has aproximately a 15 to 1 gear ratio. It is quite a job to crank it up by hand. On Friday I ordered a Fulton KW3000 worm gear winch to replace the old winch with. I raised and lowered the tower twice on Saturday with out a problem. I was adjusting the tap point for my shunt feed. This morning I lower the tower again. When I raised it this time, the bushing that holds the worm gear in place, broke. The tower was about half-way up when it happened. I was able to lower the tower without a disaster. 

I replaced the worm gear winch with the old winch and raised the tower back up with no problem.

I would have thought that a worm gear winch designed for 3000 pounds of weight would have handled the load with no problem. The tower has a 5 band hexbeam, an 8 element 2 meter quad, and a 6 element 6 meter Hy-Gain Yagi on it. The 18' aluminum mast is  2" o.d., 1/4" wall,  with 6' inside the tower.

Anyone else had any similar problems with the KW3000 winch?

John