Dennis Vernacchia wrote:
> Just picked up a NEW Fulton KW3000 Worm Gear Style Winch today which I plan
> to use with a 1/2 inch variable or low speed Drill motor to tilt a
> LM-470D tower that has around 1300 lBs dead weight on the cable when
> tilting.
>
> Anyone have any bad experience with this particular winch ?
>
> Will it hold under load or tend to creep. I don't intend to not lock down
> the
> handle but good be good to know any anomalies with this setup
>
>
> BTW they are on sale right now at Grainger for $143.( while supply lasts
> whatever that means )
>
> 73, Dennis N6KI
I replaced a 2550 with a KW3000 on the tilt over winch on my
HDX5106. The closest it gets to creeping is this: When I first
start lowering the tower, there is a very light load on the winch
(obviously). If I give the handle a hard shove to spin it in the
direction of lowering the tower, it will go around a rotation or
three. Because the tower is "helping" it, it might go around an
extra time. But there is no way to make it "run away". When the
tower is nearly horizontal, it takes about 30 foot pounds of torque
to turn the winch in the direction of lowering the tower. The
amount of friction is such that it is unimaginable that the tower
would creep down, even without a handle. BTW, this is with the
winch greased thoroughly to reduce friction. The downside of
a worm gear winch is that it takes twice the effort to raise the
tower, due to all the friction. It has to at least double the
effort with friction, or it could run backward. The friction
makes the winch get hot if I use an electric drill. It still beats the
squeeling brake on the 2550. All in all, the KW3000 is the lesser of
two evils for me.
What I wish someone would make is a conventional gear winch
with a brake that worked on air resistance. A gear train
would make a paddle on an axle rotate at high speed such that
the winch would free run downward at a controlled rate without
anything overheating. Schwinn make an exercise bike that worked
on this principle. It eliminated the troublesome resistance
pads. We now return you to your regular winch.
BTW, if you are a Farm Bureau member, you can get a discount at Grainger.
Rick N6RK
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