Hand-operated winch

[Poen]

In the latest Leisure Wheels I saw a hand-operated FX winch from Safari Centre being offered as a prize for the winning letter. According to the footnote it sells for R2500.

Has anybody perhaps got experience or views on this piece of equipment?

I have never heard of it before, and would like to learn more about it.

[Muggins]

Poen

I am just as interested in seeing the response to this question. I saw a hand operated winch in use on a recovery dvd. On the dvd they said this often worked when all else failed.

It appears to be just as strong. I have not physically seen it in action. I do how ever think that you will have to be on the strong side. If you've eaten muffins and muesli your whole life for breakfeast this probably won't be an option.

What catches my attention is the price. It is a fraction of the price of an electric winch and bumper for the winch.

Lets see what gets said about it.

[Dirk]

We had to recover a severely stuck defender with one some time ago, no pull or snatch attempt with my disco worked, 20mins with the handwinch and it was free. I think it is as dangerous as any other piece of recovery equipment,
but definitely something that's worrhwhile if you don't want a fixed winch.

[Uys]

They are also called Tirfor winches, works well, but hard work.

http://www.lifting-safety.com/a41.php

[My Garry]

Your Hi-Lift jack can also double as a hand winch the accessories are around R 700 for the chains and tree protector.

[Poen]

Hi Muggins,

I have had a high lift jack for many years. When I bought it in the nineties I made sure to purchase a replacement set of moving parts and springs, which are still unopened.

I can recall using it twice on my Land Rover - punctures being the reason, and then it’s winch capabilities came in very handy pulling out a few obstinate shrubs and smallish trees in our most recent garden. I suppose the winch capacity is dependant on the muscle ability of the operator.

My late dad will have told you that a high lift jack is nothing other than an old fashioned bumper jack that was used extensively on vehicles when they still boasted bumpers as strong as modern tow bars, and then of course on the farm when tensioning top and bottom fence lines. Our 1939 Oldsmobile had a bumper jack that actually fitted under the bumper, but was carried out of sight and dust where no one could see it. It looked very similar to these modern day old fashioned jacks. The reason for having to be able to lift from low to very high was that the long suspension travel on some of those old cars which necessitated the body being lifted very, very high before the tyre would clear the gravel road.

In Mahai we once bumped into a couple with an overland equipped motor home-type Land Cruiser, carrying a high lift on the bull bar. When asking where on the rear of the body the lifting point was I was told that it was carried not for lifting, but to break the tyre away from the rim when fixing punctures.

Ek hoor op RSG se 4x4 praatjie word daar verwys na voertuie wat byle, grawe en wat nog aan die buitekant vertoon as swaar gewapende McGuyver voertuie, en dat dit nou uit die mode begin raak met die vertoon van toerusting.

[hbannink]

I must agree with Poen

The hi lift is a very versatile piece of equipment. You would battle to pull fencing poles out with a winch but you can winch with a hi lift it just happens slower and with a bit more effort. I don't think it is as dangerous as an electric winch just a lot slower. When I started playing with off road vehicles I was told all you need is a hi lift and a spade, if you can not get unstuck with these two you are in deep trouble.

My Kasper lyk soos 'n Mcguyver voertuig en ek het al die voorreg gehad om vir 'n spietkop die byl te gee en se kap. 'n Boom het gedurende 'n storm oor die pad geval met spitstyd en die mannetjie het my so mooi gevra

[Muggins]

So if one had a Jimny for example would the hand winch would be a good purchase.?Due to the fact that an electric winch and bumper would cost around R 18000.00.

[MikeAG]

In my view, the best brand of hand-winch is the Tirfor.........a really serious piece of engineering, quite capable of pulling a Landrover out of thick sticky mud axle deep (provided there is a convenient tree). Like all kit, it has a weight and a volume, so you have to ask yourself if it can justify its existence in your car. It is surprising how much room the cable takes up, for instance.

The huge advantage of a purpose made hand-winch over a highlift jack adapted for winching is that the travel on the winch is the whole length of the cable, whereas the travel on the highlift is about a metre.........(you then have to secure the gains you have made by wedging, or tying another rope, then you release the jack back to the beginning, re-attach the cable, and re-take the strain).

I have seen a Tirfor haul a Range Rover up a tree....and if it wasn't for the Tirfor I carried on my trans-Africa, there would still be a 110 LR sitting in a damn great bog hole near Likati in Zaire to this day.

Mike

[Tony Weaver]

Agreed with Mike - the Tirfor winches are brilliant, and you don't have to be particularly strong to use them, they have a gearing system. I use a very small, very compact US made winch called a Little Mule Wire Puller, essentially a cable tensioner. It is only rated up to 3000kg on a double cable haul, but the handle is designed to crumple before you over-stress the cable.

I have used it to move a dead vehicle, haul trees out of the road that have been pushed over by elephants and were too big to chop up, have removed an engine using it as a block and tackle, and have used it to haul a Land Rover sideways out of a mud hole.

Often, when you are really badly bogged down, it's not the raw power of a massive winch that's needed, but simply a small little tipping point, like moving the vehicle one inch to the left or right, or forward or back, and for that, a hand winch is all you need.

Tony

[Muggins]

Originally Posted by Tony Weaver

Agreed with Mike - the Tirfor winches are brilliant, and you don't have to be particularly strong to use them, they have a gearing system. I use a very small, very compact US made winch called a Little Mule Wire Puller, essentially a cable tensioner. It is only rated up to 3000kg on a double cable haul, but the handle is designed to crumple before you over-stress the cable.

I have used it to move a dead vehicle, haul trees out of the road that have been pushed over by elephants and were too big to chop up, have removed an engine using it as a block and tackle, and have used it to haul a Land Rover sideways out of a mud hole.

Often, when you are really badly bogged down, it's not the raw power of a massive winch that's needed, but simply a small little tipping point, like moving the vehicle one inch to the left or right, or forward or back, and for that, a hand winch is all you need.

Tony

Tony

I am new at this. With regard to the hand winch. If one makes use of a snatch block would this halve the load you are pulling. If the winch cable is too short for this I assume one could use your towing straps to extend it to the required length.

I have known Tirfor winches for many years, albeit mostly in the construction industry.

The advantages of the Tirfor type Winches, IMHO are:

• economical (fraction of the cost of electric/hydraulic winches)
• reliability
• simplicity
• versatility (as discussed above)
• multi-directional (can be used in any angle relative to the vehicle and/or load)
• no dynamic (shock) loads, so the force applied to the load is controlled
• slow (things usually make warning noises before they break, which are not heard when fast winching speeds are used). When winching mud-stuck vehicles, the slow movement allows the suction 'vacuum' to be broken, which does not happen with snatching / winching.
• educational (get the 'offender' to operate the handle )

[Uys]

Disadvantages: Another thing that has to be loaded somewhere!

Originally Posted by Uys

Disadvantages: Another thing that has to be loaded somewhere!

They are so robust that you can bolt them anywhere where you find space.
Under the bumper/chassis will do as well. (Just hope you can reach it when you need it!)

[Tony Weaver]

Originally Posted by Muggins

Tony

I am new at this. With regard to the hand winch. If one makes use of a snatch block would this halve the load you are pulling. If the winch cable is too short for this I assume one could use your towing straps to extend it to the required length.

Sorry, I'm not enough of a meneer to answer that question, as I don't use a conventional winch at all, so I don't know about snatch blocks etc. I presume that is a pulley? If so, yes, the hand winch has a pulley built in for doubling up. I also carry chains for my Hi lift jack, and can attach those with D shackles if needed.

Uys, space wise the Little Mule is really small, and the Tirfor can be bolted on outside as 4E points out. Don't forget that a conventional winch weighs a fair amount of kgs and is sitting on your front bumper - with a hand winch, you can move it all over the place, side or back or front.

[Uys]

Originally Posted by 4ePajero

They are so robust that you can bolt them anywhere where you find space.
Under the bumper/chassis will do as well. (Just hope you can reach it when you need it!)

I didn't know that! Thought it needed to be kept out of mud etc.

[Tony Weaver]

The West coast diamond divers used them underwater for shifting big obstacles. Conditions don't get much tougher than that.

Tony

[4WD]

Ek al een gebruik om n vriend se voertuig uit n moddergat uit te trek. Niks anders wou werk nie, want die voertuig het eenvoudig vasgesuig in die modder. Dis baie harde swoeg en sweet, maar dit werk!!

[James Mackay]

Keep it simple stupid , the only real issue is the storage of the cable . but otherwise they are reliable and very versitile , far more than a eletric unit .

[Muggins]

Regarding the cable on the tirfor will one be able to pull that through a snatch block?