Taylor,
I don't quite follow your description but it reminds me of a home made well driver I saw about 25 yrs ago. I think it may be a less sophisticated version of your description.
He took an old rear axle/differential assembly with an empty rim still attached to one drum. For Stephan's use it would be mounted behind the tractor, parallel to the tractor's rear axle, with the drive shaft connected to the PTO.
He mounted a tall mast with a sliding weight to the old axle .
A heavy rope was tied to the weight, routed up over the top of the mast, down to the rim, and wrapped around the rim once or twice. The rope wrapped around the rim served as the clutch.
In use, the PTO ran continuously, and therefore, so did the rim. When the rope wraps were loose, the lift mechanism was in neutral. When you pulled on the loose end of the rope, the wraps tightened on the rim, causing the rotating rim to wind up rope and raise the weight. When the weight was high enough, you let go of the rope, the rope loses it grip on the rim, and the weight drops.
I didn't get to see this actually run. It was sitting in my neighbor's yard one night and I surmised how it worked. But as I type this, I'm wondering if you lifted the weight high and there were many wraps, if the "clutch" would release reliably. If not, your only choice would be to run like hell. He may have used a heavy weight and low lift height to minimize the number of wraps. Or maybe used some lubricant on the rope.
I don't know who came up with this concept but it supports my belief that some of the best engineers never set foot in a college classroom. Lets see.... "Design and build a machine to vertically transfer 500 ft-lb of energy 6 times/minute. Don't spend more than $50 and, oh, have it by Thursday."
John
