[TowerTalk] HF winch

[Patrick Greenlee]

I use a 120 vac winch to raise lower a crank-up.  It is Harbor Freight 
120vac winch with a max pull of 1500 lbs.  It is the smallest ac winch they 
had.  I think you would be disappointed with a "jump pak".  I have two of 
them and think there is just not enough amp hours in one to do the job. A HD 
diesel truck starting battery (my Dodge has two each 100 AH+ batts in 
parallel) will give you a hundred amp hours or more at the 20 hour rate, 
i.e. 5 amps but you want maybe 30-40 amps or more and you won't get it for 
long with a 100 AH battery before you cause damage to the expensive battery. 
The more amps you take out of a battery the less AH you get. It is 
non-linear, you pay an accelerated premium for taking heavy current.

A small 120vac winch or a good hand winch are workable alternatives if the 
HD battery charger with the starting position (50 amps or better) doesn't 
appeal.

Patrick NJ5G

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mike Reublin NF4L
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 8:45 AM
To: towertalk reflector
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] HF winch

Thanks Patrick,

Even considering the load halving of the pulleys, it seems like at best it 
would be on the or above sane operating parms. BTW I had a hard root beer 
the other day. Pretty tasty!

The tower isn't up yet, so the first trial would be raising it. The battery 
charger is a good idea, and I thought of one of those starter packs, but 
haven't looked at specs yet.

A better idea may be an AC powered winch.

Mike NF4L

On Feb 3, 2014, at 9:08 AM, Patrick Greenlee <patrick_g at windstream.net> 
wrote:

> I think you will be greatly disappointed trying to run that winch with a 
> 20 amp supply.  If you insist on trying, consider that it is better to 
> experiment by trying to lift the tower than to lower it.  If the winch 
> were used to lower the load via its "power out" capability you might get 
> the tower down and then find you can't raise it back up.  Those winches 
> are notorious current hogs and as you may have noted by the duty cycle 
> specs, are rated at the edge of or past the envelope.  I hope you are 
> successful and safe in your efforts.  If it works just fine lifting the 
> tower on a 20 amp supply with no other assistance then I owe you a Root 
> Beer float the next time we are together.
>
> The brush type DC motor in that puppy doesn't care about good filtering or 
> precise voltage control. If you can come by a good used xformer that will 
> put out 12 to 18 volts at 50 amps then slap on a full wave diode bridge 
> rated for maybe e about 100 amps (put it on a heat sink) and you are ready 
> to go.  Alternatively find a 24 to 30 volt xformer with a center tap and 
> put on a two diode bridge with cooling for the bridge and go for it.  A 
> slow blow fuse or thermal breaker rated at or above the max current in 
> normal use would be a good idea too.  Another possibility is a heavy duty 
> battery charger, typically on wheels and will have a start position that 
> sources serious amps, well above the normal charge rates.  These are duty 
> cycle limited so choose wisely "grasshopper" and consider adding a fan to 
> lengthen the duty cycle. I have seen working used units go for under $50. 
> Check the specs on the Harbor Freight u nit.  It might just make the cut. 
> Consider you will have a terrif
ic battery charger/jump starter as well as a winch power supply.
>
> 73 and best of luck,
>
> Patrick NJ5G
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Mike Reublin NF4L
> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 6:46 AM
> To: towertalk reflector
> Subject: [TowerTalk] HF winch
>
> I picked up a 2500 lb. rated 12V. winch from Harbor Freight intending to 
> use it for tilting my HG-70HD tower. Weight with antennae and rotor etc. 
> is between 1200  and 1300 lbs.  I was hoping to run it from a 20A power 
> supply.
>
> I plan on a pulley arrangement that will give me a 2:1 advantage. I could 
> go to 3:1.
>
> If I read the specs right, the winch draws 55 amps when the load is 1000 
> lbs. The duty cycle is 45 seconds on, 14 MINUTES off. Mounting is 2 bolts, 
> M8-1.25x35 mm.
>
> Seems a tad sketchy. Your opinion?
>
> 73, Mike NF4L
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