Trailer safety (was Re: [AT] OT Darwin

[Larry D. Goss]

I'm amazed that the winch manufacturer paid, Charles.  There is no doubt
that the free wheeling function is the most dangerous aspect of those
winches.  They usually are nothing more than a pin that engages or
disengages on the high torque end of the power train.  So the constant
bouncing of a truck or trailer as it travels hammers against it like you
were using a riveting technique.  IMHO, if the owner is using the winch
as an active part of the binding technique, it should be considered as a
violation of the warrantee.  JMTCW.  On one of the trucks I used to use
when I was employed in a commercial repair shop, the free wheeling pin
was so messed up that it wouldn't disengage any more.  If I had known
then what I know now about how those things are constructed inside, I'd
have stopped using the winch altogether until it was replaced.  But at
the time I was happy, dumb, and ignorant of the issues concerning the
guts in them. 

Larry 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of charles
bridges
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 3:02 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: Trailer safety (was Re: [AT] OT Darwin


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 12:55 PM
Subject: RE: Trailer safety (was Re: [AT] OT Darwin


> WHOA!  Man, Mike, that makes chills run up my spine.  One of the
things
> I learned early on when transporting tractors is NEVER EVER use the
> winch as a binder, not even for the front of a light load.  It is SO
> tempting to chain the back and use the winch as a quick and easy
> tensioning device, but they just aren't made for that.  I did it a
> couple of times, and on the second time I was driving down the highway
> and heard this rumbling from in back.  Before I could get the truck
> stopped, the winch had run backwards, jammed the spool of cable, and
> burned up the main switch on the motor.  I had left the control wire
> lying on the bed of the truck and it shifted around enough that it got
> caught under the front tractor tire and the insulation got cut all the
> way through so that the controller was shorted out against the
expanded
> metal traction paths on the bed.  The winch was unfused -- wired
> directly to the truck battery -- so it's a wonder that the whole thing
> didn't catch fire when the motor stalled.  As it was, the relay switch
> burned up and finally went open circuit.
>
> The free spooling action of those winches is also a concern.  They
> simply won't take the impact load that results from having the winch
> under load while running down the highway.
>
Yes, anything can go wrong at anytime.
Before I retired from truck driving, a guy was loading a broke down
vehicle
off the side of the Interstate and his winch went into free wheel mode.
The
vehicle rolled right out in my lane and left me nowhere to go.  I
knocked
that thing up on the bank beside the roll back and totaled it.
The owner and roll back operator both were agile enough to run up the
bank
far enough that  it didn't hit them.(and smart enough to put the guys
wife
and kid in the cab of the truck before starting to load).
The guy keep telling me the winch messed up, but I didn't believe him
until
I saw the cable was still hooked to the car.  I was told later the winch
manufacturer paid all damages and there were no injuries.
charles

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