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| Maasdam Pow'R-Pull |
Come get your duds in order,
For we're going to cross the water,
Heave away me jolly tars,
We're all bound away!
-- Sea Chanty attributed to Pius Power, Sr.
I'd like to introduce you to a close, personal friend of mine... the Maasdam Pow'r-Pull.
These are much like more familiar wire come-alongs, but not limited by drum capacity. Cranking the 10:1 advantaged handle for 3/4ton straight pull hauls 1/2in rope around a rope clutch. The tail end is passed clear of the hauler to be spilled or coiled.
This is what makes them 'endless'... we're not limited to a small wire drum's capacity before having to reset. It will work with all the line we've got. If needed, we can turn the hauling part around a block to double the pull to 3 tons.
Polyester braid or laid line is low stretch, and so preferred for many uses, but the clutch handles nylon as well. This puts anchor line in play!
If 1/2in nylon is in your rode locker, you've got a good length of line available for moving heavy objects, such as a microcruiser hull above the tide line. If it's deployed on an anchor which is set into heavy wind, beyond surf or is simply stubborn, the rope puller gives you additional muscle. Kind of a modern day handy-billy.
We've used ours for all of these, plus moving logs along a beach (for a DIY grid), to pull 'hung' firewood free, to raise and lower mast, and to ride to the rescue of friends and family.
A stunt we unfortunately never got to try was pulling a TRILOBYTE 16x4 straight up a cliff. Would have made for a good pic...
A Fitzcarraldo moment!
This tool is so much our friend that we have two of them, and, frankly, we are likely to buy another.
ReplyDeleteThe list of uses and problems solved with this (these) is long... too long to list here.