Up, Down and an Emergency Stop. Simple enough? The up and down buttons are momentary ones. What we call a "deadman's" (deadwoman's?) switch. You hold the button down for the unit to operate. If you get tired, fall down or die, and your finger comes off the button, the unit stops. The Emergency Stop (E-Stop) Button is there for when (and it DOES happen) the up or down button gets stuck. (Usually from having too much soda poured into it.) The E-Stop is a mushroom head. Slam it anywhere and it engages. You should be able to hit it even during an earthquake.

The more complicated stuff; master switches, indicator lights, computer control, etc., is directly proportional to the depth of your pockets. I do not have the space to get into them here. Go ahead and buy what you want and think you can afford. BUT, always, always, always get a manual override to go along with the cutesy stuff. You will need it. No control system is infallible. Eventually you will be sitting there with a system that doesn't work with show time in a half hour. You will kiss that manual override at that point.

MECHANICAL WINCHES Ramsey's low mount and upright mechanical winches, designed for PTO drive, are suited for a wide variety of applications. Low mounts range from 3,000 to 45,000 lbs. line pull. Upright winches range from 10,000 to 100,000 lbs. line pull.

The last part of control is the most important. The limit switches. This is so important that I'm going to try to do this part without a punch line. Most limit switches are electro-mechanical devices that stop the piece from moving. There should be at least four switches per winch. One for up, one for down, and one each for ultimate up and down.

The ultimates consist solely for emergency. If they are engaged the entire system should shut down and require you to investigate why they were contacted. The normal up/down switches are for standard use. There may also be more than two normal switches; it depends on the system.

The switches are normally mounted on the winch frame. A sprocket is mounted on the drum shaft, and another one on the limit switch shaft. The two sprockets are connected by a roller chain, similar to a bicycle chain. As the drum turns, so does the limit switch. You set the limits so that they engage when you want them to.

It is important to understand that the roller chain is the only connection from the shaft (i.e. the winch) to the switches. If the chain breaks the limit switch will not work, and the winch will run until the piece hits something/someone! The Moral is: Please take care of your chain(s). Inspect them often.

This is the short of it as far as winch motors are concerned. It's a start, but it takes a lot more information than this space will alow to bring you fully up to speed. I'll do some more in the future.

Photos courtesy of the folks at:
RAMSEY WINCH
info@ramsey.com
P.O. Box 581510
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74158-1510 USA
Phone: (918) 438-2760 Fax: (918) 438-6688


Thanks to Uncle Bill for his ongoing support and contribution.