[TowerTalk] Using a drill to install (Lay over - Raise) US Tower HDX?

[Al Williams]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 8:14 AM
> I replaced the K2550 on my TRX-100HD with a W3000.  It decreased the
> cranking effort from extremely difficult to difficult.  (With the K2550,
> raising the tower was truly an athletic event.)  The drill has
> enough torque (rated 410 inch lbs) to lower the tower, but it cannot
> raise the tower from a horizontal position.  Of course, once the
> tower is tilted up a ways, then the drill can take over.
>
I replaced the k1550 winch with a k2550 winch but it was still pretty 
difficult to crank so I modified the raising (layover) pulley arrangement by 
adding two more pulleys to get the mechanical advantage.  Now it is much 
easier to crank but takes a lot of crank turns which means that I am lifing 
my arm weight much more.  I have been using a 1/2 drill that works fine 
(after I manually get the tower lifted up a bit) and of course it is easier 
to lower the tower.  I have never seen smoke from the brake pads or heard 
any squeal protest.

I am curious as to whether the pressure on the brakepads ( hence less squeal 
and smoke) is decreased if the weight that the winch is lifting is reduced. 
Perhaps a mechanical engineer can answer this (or other qualified person!)?

k7puc