Using A Winch For Tub Hauling.

[The Old Ruminator]

Using a tape winch for tub hauling in Reservoir Hole worked fairly well. The dig at QWUH is about 8 metres deep and hauling the tub up needs two people. It becomes very tiring with a muddy rope after a short while. I thought that we could try a wire winch ( £31 on Amazon ). Getting it in place is the issue. To overcome this I have mounted the winch on half a scaffold clip. That will then sit on a vertical pole on a base jack to the roof. The winch can be moved up or down and sideways with the pole. It can be removed quickly as not bolted to a wall. In test the winch lifted a weight one metre per ten seconds. That of course depending on how quickly you turn the handle. In theory hauling fatigue is eliminated and larger loads can be lifted. The ratcheted load cant be dropped back down the dig. Will give at a try on Tuesday no doubt in practice something I have overlooked will occur.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

 

[alanw]

Watch out for Vevor products, they have a very poor safety reputation

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[alanw]

You should be OK dragging horizontally, but judging from previous recalls, watch out for ways in which the ratchet could accidentally release. Could the release lever be accidentally knocked?

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Gosh lots of recalls mostly electrical. It had a 5 star review on Amazon and Amazon recommended if that means anything. It does look well constructed and tough as you say the ratchet release could be a worry but it looks OK. If one wanted a safety feature I guess you could follow the haul up with a safety line. We shall see.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Read the reviews on this particular product. You dont get exceptional qualitiy for £31. The issues seemed to be with heavy hauling say 1000 lb. Hopefully not applicable to a tub of a few kilos. Maybe long term if the situation works it might pay to get a better quality winch but for the moment its trial and error.

 

[legendrider]

Would an additional safety rope running through a fixed jammer be practical? This would probably need a second person at bank to pull it through and if its really muddy there may be problems getting the rope to run, but if the winch failed it could prevent an uncommanded gravity-assisted skip descent.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Of course no hand winch manufacturer would recommend vertical haulting of loads. Nearly all those on Amazon look to be cheap Chinese make. As stated the main danger would be the failure of the ratchet mechanism with a load . If that fails the hanlde will fly around so whilst its wound by hand I cant see it being snatched from the operator with only a few kilos load. Holding on the ratchet on top to pull in the tub presents a danger if the ratchet fails. Yes a lifeline would work but may need two operators in most conditions. So I I have added a " safety chain " to restrain the handle. No point in over engineering that as ultimately the main gearing could strip or detach from the shafts. Like I say it appears rugged enough and looks better than most on Amazon. Here is the ratchet mechanism.



Here the handle restraint chain.



The rest of the team are not convinced and I feel that I have overlooked something. Its still worth a field test so I will try on Tuesday.

 

[legendrider]

Definitely worth doing a try-out, most of our contrivances are the end-products of trial and re-evaluation and rarely work to max efficiency as the Mk1 iteration! Let us know how you get on

 

[georgenorth]

I’ve got a fair bit of experience using this type of winch for work (where failure isn’t safety critical). They’re not built for frequent use and fall apart in various ways quite often (although under much higher loads than you’ll be subjecting them to). Capstan winches are much better if you can get hold of one at a reasonable price.

 

[Lankyman]

Just the job (if you've got space)

 

[mrodoc]

Not realistic - the bats struggle to get in!

 

[The Old Ruminator]

All down to price. At £30 its not worth bringing out if knackered. I was also looking at garage type block and tackle but most are chains. Utlimately there must be a reasonably inexpensive and safe way of hauling a tub up a hole underground. Yes I will be back after Tuesday.

 

[Maj]

.......... Utlimately there must be a reasonably inexpensive and safe way of hauling a tub up a hole underground.........

I'm sure you've probably seen our winch at Fernhill. It has served Atlas very well on a number of digs. Prior to Fernhill it was last used for many years at Thrupe Swallet. It was fettled inc new bearings before installed at Fernhill.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

I'm sure you've probably seen our winch at Fernhill. It has served Atlas very well on a number of digs. Prior to Fernhill it was last used for many years at Thrupe Swallet. It was fettled inc new bearings before installed at Fernhill.

Sadly no Dave. Have you got a photo please ?

 

[Cantclimbtom]

If safety is a concern, could anyone could "acquire" a Petzl ASAP from work?
A bit of safety rope round a pulley at top with a very light counterweight (just enough to counter the weight of the safety rope on the bucket side so it rises with the bucket) and the ASAP on that rope. Then even if you had some Temu death winch that exploded during use the bucket wouldn't plummet onto anyone

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Variations on a theme.

 

[Lankyman]

Variations on a theme.

Take care with American Power Pull products. I believe they've been banned in Greenland over safety concerns ...

 

[Leclused]

I think the speed of 1metre/10 sec will be the biggest problem. This means that it will take 80seconds to get a bucket out.

Why not just use a snatch block above the dig and then a rope around a waist harness so that a person or donkey can just "walk" out the bucket? Only possible for surface digs of course

 

[Maisie Syntax]

Of course no hand winch manufacturer would recommend vertical haulting of loads. Nearly all those on Amazon look to be cheap Chinese make.

A huge volume of products on the market are increasingly being manufactured in China. Some of the stuff is remarkably decent quality, even at a 'cheap' price. Probably best giving it a go, but make sure that whoever is filling / attaching the tub is out of the line of fire, should a failure in the system occur - but surely you'd be doing this as standard practice already? There's always a danger of over-thinking these things. Give it a go, just stay clear at the bottom.