Recommended Hand Winch for Lifting Kayak to Ceiling

Question:

My kayak is suspended from the ceiling with 1/4inch synthetic rope using a hoisting pulley system. The load on the rope end is about 30 pounds and I need the winch to take up about 50 feet of the 1/4inch rope. I was considering Dutton-Lainson DLB800A, but noticed that its brake has a 50 lb minimum load for brake to operate properly. My load of 30 pounds is somewhat below the 50 lb minimum and I cant seem to find any brake winch with a minimum load below 50 lbs. Could you please recommend a brake winch or similar that would work for my application? Summary: 30 lb load needs to spool approximately 50 feet of 1/4inch synthetic double-braided rope needs a locking mechanism: brake or equivalent. I looked into warm drive winches, but the high gear rations 30:1 + would take forever to spool/unspool 50 feet of the rope, and their spool capacities seem to be below 50 feet, anyway.

asked by: Vitaly

Expert Reply:

We do have some brake winches that have no minimum load requirements, but they won't have enough spool capacity for 50 feet of 1/4 inch rope.

I do have a worm gear winch that would work for you, part # DL11001. The winch has a 49 foot drum capacity for cable up to 9/32 of an inch. Since that's a tad larger than a 1/4 inch, your 50 feet of rope would fit.

In lieu of the handle, you could use a heavy duty variable speed drill with a 5/8 inch socket. This would make raising an lowering the kayak quick and easy. Because it's a worm drive winch, it won't freewheel when you aren't applying force to the crank.

expert reply by: Mike L