winches

[wroughtn_harv]

In Plano Texas there's a very nice young man missing a digit. He was a lineman for the local phone company. They were winching a manhole to manhole section pull. His gloved hand got caught and was pulled into the fairhead. He lost his middle finger. It came out of his hand as I recall.

Winches are not unlike the boom on a backhoe. The force they exert is many times that required to destroy human body parts. They can get you coming or going, but mostly because you're there.

 

[ScottAR]

I'm guessing it was somthing like the winch on the rear of this dozer. Winches of this size have the power to pull your car in half and certainly the power to destroy arms and legs.

 

[Mosey]

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Now I understand that "the drum of a piece of equipment" was the winch drum itself. I had it in my mind that the winch was pulling some other piece of equipment or something. It's still amazing that it killed him instead of ripping off his hand or arm first. I'll definately watch out for any loose wire on the winch cable!

 

[cj7]

Being out of site of the operator was part of the problem. The guy that died was never in site from the beginning.

 

[RanchMan]

<font color=blue>There was a suggestion of laying a heavy blanket over the line</font color=blue>

I didn't read the other thread, but this is a very common practice and many winch manufacturers actually recommend it in their instruction books for their products (for good reason).

Basically, it has to do with air resistance (as Wingnut alluded to). Believe it or not, it does help, although yes, it does depend on a number of variables as to “how much” it helps.

Basically the blanket serves as a big "air brake" to slow down the cable (no, it won't stop it.) With a sudden release of energy, the air resistance is considerable, unlike with a slow release of energy. The PVC pipe idea can't do this (although I'm not prepared to say it wouldn't have other "benefits".) The chain? Well, although you’d have that whole momentum thing that should “help”, I tend to agree with Wingnut in that you might just be creating another projectile (that is tethered to nothing, unlike the winch cable itself) A high velocity blanket would seem to be a lot less damaging than a high velocity chain if it “flew off.”

Now, admittedly, there are a HUGE number of variables in a typical winching situation so there is no guarantee that everything will “work out” just because you have a blanket over your cable when it lets go, (e.g. the cable snaps at the opposite end from where the blanket is placed, the direction the cable whips, etc.) but overall it is a good practice to increase your safety factor when winching. (besides, what is the downside??? And please, nobody say anything like “it takes up room in my trunk” or something goofy like that /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif - those are excuses, not valid reasons...)

PS: After writing all this ( /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif ) I found <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ramsey.com/video/>this</A> link - you can download (Cable/DSL recommended! Big file!) the “Safety” video to see what Ramsey recommends/shows - about a 15 minute video with not-so-great actors, but you'll get the idea.

You'll notice they continually repeat to "use a blanket or tarp" when winching for safety reasons, and being a manufacturer of winches (hence they worry about product liability suits), I think that gives them some added credibility. (I'll go on to say that there are other safety “rules” that are not mentioned, but overall the narrator does mention some "good stuff" to think about when winching....)

Enjoy! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[ScottAR]

I think the blanket idea is a good one. The only possible negative is if one has to scoot the blanket away from the winch to reel in more cable. This would be going near the cable while it's under tension which is a big no-no.

 

[RanchMan]

<font color=blue>...negative is if one has to scoot the blanket... </font color=blue>

True. However, since most of the time the blanket is put at the end furthest away from the winch, it would keep you from having to move it during the winching process. Another aspect is that since you are typically "unstuck" (and hence not winching any more) before you are close to having the cable fully retracted, it would allow you to remove the tension in order to retrieve the blanket. Good point though...

 

[chim]

Been a while since I knew where the instructions got to for my Warn, but I recall the blanket was to be located something like half way between the winch and the load. Mebbe a bit closer to the load, but the idea is to slow the cable down should it whip from two main causes - the hook somehow gets detached from the load, or the cable fails. Also, tree branches work if you don't carry a blanket you want to drag in the mud...................chim