A hand winch is akin to a jack. Until you get into a force majeure situation, you don’t even remember about it. But as soon as extraordinary circumstances arise, you immediately begin to think: “Oh! And why didn’t I buy a winch then? ” Yes, it's just too late already. We have to rely on the help of third parties, which does not always arrive on time. Eat like this, for example, in a ditch on a deserted highway in the midst of winter, it will not seem enough. And therefore, useful items, fixtures and tools in the trunk should never be shy. And the winch is included in this set in the first place.
Hand winch - what kind of device is this?
Such a winch is a means by which a person gains the ability to manually manually move objects weighing more than 2 tons. The severity limit depends on the model of the winch, as well as the quality and strength of the materials from which it is made. Knowledgeable experts subdivide all manual winches into three types:
- Chain (chain hand hoists).
- Drum
- Lever
But despite the fact that some craftsmen add chain hoists to the category of hand winches, in fact, these lifting devices are not such, although the principle of their work is not far from the principle of the lever variety. Therefore, in the future we will focus on the review of drum and lever winches.
Where is it used?
Such devices can come in handy in the most unexpected cases. In the apartment, of course, there is absolutely no need to have them, but in the garage and trunk of the car they will not be superfluous. To remove an engine from a car, put it on wheels or drag a light side to the side or a car that has pulled off the road back to the road - all this suggests that a hand winch is irreplaceable for a car.
Also, with its help, it is possible to deliver building materials to the upper tiers at a construction site, to lift heavy things into the attic, it is irreplaceable on the backyard. The same carcass of cattle for cutting with its help can be pulled to the right place and raised without resorting to the help of a neighbor.
Drum varieties
Each drum manual winch consists of a frame in which a drum, shafts, gear train and other functional devices are built. The rotation of the handle puts the gear into operation, which in turn causes the shaft to rotate with the pinion gear. Further, the structure of each variety may have its own, but the point is that, by rotating the handle, the cable is slowly wrapped around the drum, thereby providing movement (pulling) of the load to the winch itself and to the object for which it is hooked by a second hook.
The advantages of drum winches:
- Versatile and easy to use.
- Can be used alone.
- They allow both lifting goods and moving them on a plane.
Minuses:
- The device allows you to perform manipulations with objects weighing up to 1300-1500 kg. This is a ceiling for drum hand varieties.
- To scroll the handle, it may be necessary to secure the winch frame to a stationary object. Otherwise, when manipulating heavy objects, it becomes difficult, and often impossible, to rotate the handle.
More information about the device and the functional features of the drum varieties in the following video:
Lever Varieties
Such a device is simpler and, according to experienced car enthusiasts, more reliable. Any lever manual winch, as well as a drum winch, primarily consists of a frame, to which all its components are attached. Here, winding the cable and transporting the cargo becomes possible through manipulation with a direct lever, that is, moving it back and forth.
The pluses of the device are still the same as the drum variety, but there are absolutely no minuses. Unless the cable is short, but this is a disease of all hand winches, without exception.
The choice depending on the tasks
The choice should be based on what weight you have to manage. The manual winch that they are going to use around the house, that is, pull the trunk of a dumped tree, raise the cow carcass to the cutting hook or send things to the attic, it can be any, including a drum up to 500-1000 kg. If you take a winch with you on off-road mileage on ATVs, you should not bother with carrying capacity either. But if you are a motorist and often ply along the snowy tracks, you should opt for a more powerful linkage model.
Running models
Of the drum-type winches, the models have worked well:
- Sportsman W1000 - a reliable device for moving heavy loads weighing up to 450 kg. The cable length is 10 meters, width - 5 mm.
- Trailer Winch 11149-4 - manual winch on a nylon belt. Withstands manipulation with weights up to 550 kg.
- TEKTON 5552 is another Western model designed to work with cargo weighing more than half a ton (1200 pounds). A very durable thing made of thick steel, but because of this it is very heavy.
- "Caliber LB-1100" - the Russian version, superior to the western and power, and reliability, and durability. It yields in the length of the cable due to its larger width - 5.6 mm. Designed to work with a weight of up to 1100 kg.
Of the linkage, the most popular variant today is considered to be the manual winch LR 1.6. Despite the fact that its declared traction power is up to 1600 kg, the device can manipulate with much more weight. With its own weight of up to 9 kg, it has a cable of about 9 m. An excellent and reliable device for any motorist.
The competition of the HR 1.6 is the following models:
- MTTM 1.6 is a large cable length (12 m) but less reliable in power.
- 4ton puller - the Chinese model, even less reliable and less powerful (claimed - 4000 but in fact failed by 1200) than the Russian MTTM. But, despite this, it is popular because of its low price (more than 7 times cheaper than LR-1.6) and its small volume and dead weight (3.5 kg, which is more than 3 times less than the weight of LR-1, 6).
- Jun Kaung 2ton is a Taiwanese invention on tape with a declared pulling capacity of up to 2000 kg. Fails at 1750 - verified. But, despite this, it is a completely trustworthy instance.
- Jun Kaung 4ton is the more serious Taiwanese thing on the cable. With the claimed 4000 kg, when tested by our specialists, it broke down at 3800, which is quite good for myself. If you hit the road in a sedan or SUV, such a thing will help out in any situation.
Conclusion
The main criterion for choosing hand winches is primarily the thickness of the steel of the frame itself. If it is less than 3 mm, it is best not to buy such a winch, as it will fall into parts at the slightest significant load.
You can learn more about the selection criteria for hand winches by watching the following video.