Worm Gear Winch

[PM Pataskala]

I am considering using a worm gear winch and powering it with a drill. They are absolutely safe and no breaking mechanism is needed. Anyone out there have any experience with these?

Thanks,

Dick Robinson

[dhjohnson]

Hi Dick,
My husband built us a wonderful new rack for our second year. He used a worm gear winch with a 2,000 lb capacity. I use a low speed high power corded drill to raise and lower the rack. A cordless drill was not appropriate for our rack. It killed the battery with one down and back up. Our pole is a 5" x 5" steel, 22 feet tall. It takes about 1 minute 15 seconds to bring down two octagonal rings loaded with 24 gourds per level facing out. We have only used 50% gourd capacity for this year so we could put up 96 + gourds on this rack. I love the way this rack operates. Very smooth with no bumps, jitters or clanging. I highly recommend the worm gear, its strong and smooth. No braking system necessary. Go for it. The worm gear winches are pricey but worth it. Best of luck for the 2013 martin season!

[PM Pataskala]

Thanks,

You just talked me into it. I hoping an 18 Volt drill will do the job. If not, I'll use corded. The winch costs $ 109.00 - I'm ordering it tonight. I'll post my findings in about a week............


Dick

[Robbo]

Hi,
What is a worm gear winch and where would you get one?
Rob.

[Dave Reynolds]

Debbie -- Does the worm gear have a place for a socket fitting on the end?
Do you use a socket fitting on your drill?

Dave

[PM Pataskala]

Dave, yes - it comes with a handle for cranking which is removable. The handle fits over a 5/8" hex stud which you can turn using a regular 5/8" socket. I get my new winch tomorrow (Monday) so I'll post pictures and other info then ( if the weather permits).
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dutton-Lainson-Co ... on-lainson

[PM Pataskala]

For those of you who are waiting on my report: I got the new winch today -installed it but probably won't get the pictures loaded tonight. Fur shur will be posted Tuesday..... I really like it. So smooth and effortless.

[PM Pataskala]

Here is a picture of the worm gear winch mounted on the pole. As you can see it has a 5/8" hex shaft so it can be raised or lowered with the included handle or with a drill. See Pictures:









This is a picture showing 2 areas on the cable that I painted blue. These are to let me know when the house is reaching the top of the pole. It is important slow down a bit so as not to abruptly hit the stop at the top. The house is fully raised when the top of the upper blue section is even with the resting blocks on the side of the pole.



Things you need to understand about a worm gear winch vs the typical spur gear winch (standard):

The gear ratio (number of turns of the crank to one turn of the cable drum) on the spur gear type is 3:1 ( about one inch of travel per crank )

The ratio on the worm gear type is 30:1 - This means if you had to use the crank handle to raise or lower your house it would take several minutes and your arm would wear out before you got done.

SO - ONLY USE A WORM GEAR WINCH IF YOU WILL BE POWERING IT WITH A DRILL (BATTERY OR CORDED) !!!! There is a link to a YouTube video showing this at the bottom of this post.

There is no safety brake needed when using the worm gear winch. The ratio is so high that it cannot turn backward on its own. The ONLY way your housing could fall is if the cable were to break which is not very likely.

I use an 18 Volt DeWalt battery powered drill with no problems at all. My house travels 8' 10" from the resting blocks to the top of the pole. It takes 25 seconds to lower and 35 seconds to raise (these times were with a battery that was NOT fully charged).

The first time using the drill you should set the slip-clutch to a low number so that it will not raise the house. Then keep adjusting the clutch to a higher number until it will raise the house without slipping. This way, when you get to the top the clutch will slip and you know you are all the way to the top. This method will prevent overloading the cable.

A Spur gear type is noisy - click-click-click. The worm gear type is virtually noise free.

If you use the crank handle you would hear no noise at all. The only noise to be concerned with is that of the drill itself.

The winch is made by Dutton-Lainson Company - WG1500HD 1500 lbs Worm Gear Winch with Hex Drive (Made in the USA !!!). Model #DL11011

They also make one rated at 2000 lbs but I don't think that is necessary for any normal martin house or gourd set-up. Model #DL11001 - Same unit as above but the gear ratio is 40 to 1 (about 30% more cranks to equal same distance of travel)

According to the rules of the forum I can't tell you where to get one so just Google WG1500HD and you will find some sources.



Please let me know if you have any questions.......

Link to video - (38 seconds long)

http://youtu.be/qpllu4dJge4



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[JL Murray]

Very nice Winch, i was really liking your Winch just a little bit ago when i was cranking, and cranking, and cranking, on my DL Brake Winch to raise one of my Gourd Racks back up after doing a nest check.

[Robbo]

I gotta have one!

[Mitch Booth]

Great photos Dick!!!

Can I get a close up photo of how your winch cable attaches to your T-14?

Thanks,

Mitch

[TerryG]

Hi Dick, I have the same set up on one of my gourd racks,works just great.

[PM Pataskala]

Mitch, I would have to dismantle my house to show you. The cable connection is hidden. Not all T14's are made the same. If you send me a private message with your phone number I would be happy to give you a call and explain my set-up.

[dhjohnson]

Hi Dick,
Glad you like your new worm gear winch. We have the model with the 40:1 ratio. Our rack is 20 feet with a two foot topper with perching rods. I usually stop the top ring at about 16 feet. My husband modified the bale so we could use dual cables. We are carrying a lot more weight and will add even more in the future. I did a nest check last Friday and found two females that rode down and stayed in their gourds. Boy was I surprised to remove the access cap and there they were. It was a very moving first experience for me. The birds would always fly off last year for nest checks. The drill noise doesn't bother them at all. The two females never left their nests and rode back up. Just a testament to the smooth and quiet operation of the worm gear winch.
Dave Renolds,
Yes I use a socket to engage the winch for operation. My husband modified the attachment that came with the winch to accept a socket. We use a heavier variable speed corded drill because of both the weight and distance the rings must travel. We have already experienced storms here with straight line winds of 60 mph and the rack doesn't move. She's solid!

[Ben@SWMichiganPM]

1st off great site. Secondly thanks for the information on a new way to raise and lower the house. Very cool.

[Tom Christian]

Dick,

Good job! No friction washers frozen solid and one could add a couple of socket extensions to get the operator out from under the heavy load.

Nice, Tom