Volvo Farmer

Mine came with 5m of 5mm HT cable which was way too short but the spool had plenty of room on it so I got the local wire rope supplier to reuse the hook on the end and replace the cable with a 12m length. I think the cable is rated at just over 1 tonne.

The original 5m length came in very handy making up safety wires to go across the guy adjusters.

5:1 ratio on the crank and a good solid pawl to lock it in any position it works great - I just took my 3m mill down this afternoon for its 6 monthly check (only 2 months late!!) - it took less than 15 minutes on my own to let down 250kg of tower and mill and position it on the stand.

I use a single pulley rigged to the gin pole and a cable through that back to near the hand winches. The pull is smooth and while less effort to crank it is 2X the turns to get the same lift distance.

Folks always say it is easier on the lifting gear this way. I am not sure about thet. Not sure you would want to lift 1000# with a 500# rated winch this way is my point.

I tried truck lifting on my short 4 leg tower. Too coarse for my liking. With the winch setup I can lift it 1/16th of an inch if i want and the truck was much coarser. Direct pull lifting from the winch is ok but again takes more effort on the handle. Be sure your cable length is sufficient when using pulley[s].

You can use multiple pulleys, too but it takes a lot of cable but multiple reductions can get you a LOT of pull from a relatively small force on the winch handle. Do not mistake me for an expert but I have worked around this type stuff a lot over the years and it is all simple physics

I do not have any good photos of the rigging but a properly sized, solidly attached pulley and proper cable is about all you need to worry about.

Really busy filling the woodshed lately but maybe I can snap some pics of them today.

This is the winch on the new 40 foot tower for the 12 footer I will not get done this year.

The one on my 3 foot 4 leg tower is a worm drive Harbor Freight one that weighs less than the handle on that real winch above. It works OK but needs some repairs on bushings and thrust washers or simply buy another. They are pretty cheap but do work.

Maybe get some pics later today. No promises this time of year. Sun goes down pretty early these days.

Tom

Ignarus can exsisto rememdium. Sardus est forever

Using vehicles is usually a pretty scary way to lift a tower.  You will need one with a very low gear indeed and plenty of weight and a nice dry surface.

The best tool in my opinion is a griphoist/tirfor type of rope hoist.  Personally I favour the jet rope hoists because they cost less and are easier to use.  I have not encountered any safety issues.

http://www.southern-tool.com/store/wire_rope_grip_pullers.html