[TowerTalk] Motorized Winch for US Tower

[Rick Karlquist]

Rob Santello wrote:

> winch. I tried replacing it with a Fulton 3000 worm gear winch but as
> Rick points out, it over heats and then start spinning one of the worm
> gear bushings. I went back to the 2550. Don't know what a used

Yikes!  That's what that squeeking sound is.

I have been studying the www.w4abc.com/drive.html site and
I see where they have boat hoist winches with 12 inch ring gears
with 96 teeth.  They mention "no steel to steel contact".
These things make the W3000 look like a toy.  I think it should
be possible to drive one of these winches with a drill since
the gearing is 96:1 instead of 50:1 as with the W3000.  Certainly,
these boat hoist winches will NOT overheat.  Also, I always have the
option to buy the bolt on motor if I don't want to use a drill.
Another nice thing is that I can get a weather cover for the whole
gadget for a small amount additional.

The old 2550 actually worked fine going up; the problem was the
braking on the way down.

Rick N6RK