Low tech, no tool winch

No stranger to being stuck or having to move something too heavy to move without power equipment, I'm not sure how I didn't know about this.  Quite ingenious I thought.  It's called the flip flop winch.  Do people know about these things?

Nice find!!

I have seen these before and they are ingenious.  My sole concern would be that the tension not be too great, the loan not too heavy and the cordage very, very strong.  These simple devices can generate some amazing forces.

I love it

Eric

That was pretty cool!  Thanks for sharing that.  I love learning ways to move very heavy things without power tools.

Question for anyone who has used one of these: Why did he make his barrel pole 8 feet long? Seems to me a shorter pole would have been easier to keep under control while flipping it. Is there a lot of tension on it as it flips back and forth, requiring high leverage as you flip it?
Just looking at the distances and angles of the stake, pivot point where it flips and turns, and the long lever pole, it makes a pretty weirdly angled triangle that flexes more than is useful.  I'd think shortening the barrel pole would be more effective.

Am I missing something?

I've never used one of these so I don't know for certain, but I think you are right Pearl that the barrel pole could be shorter.  He does say that this pole could be weaker wood where as the lever pole needed to be sturdy.  So that would confirm that the barrel pole does not get a lot of leverage requiring force on it.  

To Pearl. Even though the barrel pole is not being used to leverage the load, it still has to be flipped under very high tension. The shorter the pole, the more difficult and unwieldy to flip. The longer pole is providing you the leverage to flip easily.

I've only just watched the video and thought about it. But, in my head the barrel pole needs to be long and heavy enough to not unwind while you're managing the lever. And also, the midpoint between the anchor and the weight will often be a little bit off the ground, so that adds some length-need to the barrel.

Is there a lot of tension on it as it flips back and forth, requiring high leverage as you flip it?

In a word, yes. Did you see how he released tension on the apparatus? He rotated the barrel log towards the load allowing the rope to unwind. That's the purpose of the stakes, to prevent that from happening under load. If you placed your lever pole in the center you could only crank it one time, not terribly useful. The method is ingenious but I'd add a few suggestions. Use low stretch, high strength rope such as dacron. Synthetic line snap back is no joke. Many sailors have been maimed or killed when large nylon (read; elastic) anchor or tow lines parted (broke, snapped) under load. Dacron has far less stretch but still be aware. The best approach is to remain well clear of the load line under tension but this set up requires one to be right in the danger zone. Anything draped over the lines under tension would absorb most of the force if it parts under load. I've used heavy blankets or coats but in this case a floor mat draped over the lines on both sides of the winch mechanism would be a wise precaution. And very important, new rope will have a Working Load Limit (WLL) that is some fraction of its breaking strength. A 5000lb vehicle rolling freely on wheels could be moved easily with a smaller rope but that same vehicle mired in mud may require many times that amount of force to free it. And what condition is your rope? Damaged, dirty, or frayed rope will have less breaking strength than new.  I always err on the side of caution when sizing my rigging.

Thank you all for good answers to my question!
I appreciate it. Some times it's hard to tell if people do things because it was convenient (I had an 8 foot log) or because it needs it.

Anyone used this kind of set up? How did it go?

I was thinking of getting a hydrolic winch,  but this may due in a pinch.  Can you do this with a metal cable like a winch?  What would you adjust?

Kathy Vargo wrote:I was thinking of getting a hydrolic winch,  but this may due in a pinch.  Can you do this with a metal cable like a winch?  What would you adjust?

You can use metal cable, as long as it is rated for the loads you're pulling and it can handle the diameter of the coils. If metal cable is wound around a too small shaft it can kink or otherwise be damaged. If rope fails generally the most damage is a bruise but when metal cable fails it can sever limbs, depending on loads etc. I would recommend buying a come-along replacement cable and making sure the logs are no smaller than the reel on the come-along. Someone at a cable supplier can be more specific.

I personally would stick to rope because it's easy to adjust length by tying a knot. Whereas a metal cable needs special ends, connectors, or adapters. One lost bolt or nut and its hooped.  When rope frays at the ends it gets fuzzy, when metal cable frays its a bunch of needles.

Some random thoughts on this. I saw this video years ago and tried it out, to imprint on my brain what the rigging process was. I learn/remember best by doing.
For a lighter weight being pulled, use the biggest diameter barrel log you can handle, so as to gain the most inches per turn. If the weight being pulled is very heavy (tractor, huge log, etc) a barrel too large will add a lot of load to the lever log, so it all depends on your strength and the sturdiness of the lever log. Linear movement of the rope is half the circumference (or 1.5 times the diameter) of the barrel log each time.
Keep in mind the mechanical advantage here is huge. The weak links are the lever log and the rope. If you expect to be doing this, buy a length of winch rope. It’s far safer than ‘regular’ rope, and more forgiving than steel cable. You can also use a chain, which is much less dangerous if it happens to break. Chains don’t whip through the air like a rope or cable does- tension dissipates immediately and they just collapse. Definitely throw a coat or blanket over ropes or cables.
One last thought- rigging to the truck as shown in the video is a bad thing for the rope. The sharp edges of that hole in the bumper will cut. If possible, try to go around something smoother like the neck of a tow ball or the rear axle. If you have to go over a sharp, square edge with the rope, put something under it if possible- a glove, sock, anything to cushion it.

I've seen this before and it makes a lot of sense.  The barrel pole serves as the drum on a winch which is very short on most electric winches.  What we are dealing with here is man power to turn that sucker.  I think its that long in order to be out of the way while flipping the lever and long enough to flip the barrel without having to strain yourself during the flip.  I put one together but haven't used it yet.  I did tighten it between two trees and it operates as advertised, so now I know how to make and use one.  I think a wire rope would serve well in this application so you can really crank on it without worrying about a synthetic or natural fiber rope breaking.  It surprised me that it pulled his truck without breaking.  You will also notice that the rope was piano string tight too.

This is a great simple solution! About the length of the barrel pole: the winch system moves towards the anchor as it's used by half the distance the load moves. Ideally, the end of the barrel pole should always be angled towards the anchor to ensure that the new turns are tight up against the standing parts of the rope to minimise the leverage on the pole. If it's angled backwards, the new turns will run outwards (as they do in the video) and increase the leverage on the pole, making it more difficult to control. So, on a long pull, the pegs driven into the ground to retain the barrel pole will need to be moved towards the anchor. The longer the pole, the smaller the backward change of angle each stroke and the less often you'll have to move the pegs. Also, if the new turns do start to run outwards, a longer pole reduces the force you have to exert on the end to stop it flipping back towards the load.