Exploring the Versatile Manual Winch

A manual winch is a versatile tool to have in your arsenal whether at home or in the car. If you intend to own it as part of your recovery plan on the off road then do just that – let it be a part of the solution, not the entire fallback plan. The reason? A manual winch as the name suggests is not electrically-powered; it requires human effort. There is no way you are going to pull free an 8000lb vehicle with your muscles. Manual winches are designed for smaller loads starting from as low as 150kg to 3000kg.

What type of manual winch do you buy?

There are largely two types of manual winches. There are those that use worm gear mechanisms and the others that make use of spur gear technology. The worm gear manual winch often has dual speed features which ensure that your lifting effort can be done very fast if the load allows it. Such manual winches are housed within a steel frame that is rigid enough for supporting the winding handle. In the worm gear manual winch you also get freespooling technology which facilitates faster pay out of rope.

The spur gear manual winch can be said to be a good improvement on its worm gear alternative. While the worm gear manual winch can only have its pay off in a single direction the spur gear manual winch offers two. The difference between the spur gear and the worm gear is brought to light when you consider the release catch freewheel. It is this component that while the load can be taken up fast you can use heavy duty brakes when you feel like catching a breath.

You can order manual winches to specifications

If you need a heavy-duty manual winch whose specifications do not match any of those that you can find on the market you need not worry. It is possible to purchase a custom made manual winch provided you get in touch with a reputable manufacturer. The internet is an excellent resource on which to make these inquiries.