Hand Winch for Use with Lightweight Loads

Question:

Will the brake not work? Can you still let the line out? I am thinking of using this type of winch to raise and lower my sailboat mast. When the mast is in raised position there is probably less than 50 lbs of tension on the cable until it is lowered a few inches.

asked by: Bill E

Expert Reply:

In cases where the weight of the load on the winch is too low to properly engage the winch brake you can use a worm gear winch instead. This type of winch uses a screw mechanism to operate the load. The weight of the load cannot cause the winch to reverse direction so no brake mechanism is needed at all.

The linked page displays our range of worm gear winches. You have a choice of poly strap or wire rope models, but for a marine environment I suggest the strap type, either part # DL11004 or # DL11002. Part # DL11004 has a hex drive which allows use of a cordless drill to operate it.

Both are rated with plenty of capacity (2K) and both work perfectly without a minimum load weight on the strap. With either you can use strap # DL24242.

expert reply by: Adam R