Winches

Winches Buying Guide

Pulling duty and lifting duty are different ratings. The split shows up right in the Thern model list: the 750 lb open gear hand winch at $327 is marked for pulling only, while the 1,000 and 2,000 lb versions with brakes are rated for lifting. The difference is what happens when the operator lets go. A lifting-rated winch has a load-holding brake that keeps a suspended load exactly where it is; a pulling winch has nothing designed to do that, and a load on the hook will find its own way down. OZ Lifting's brake winches, from $85 in carbon steel and $269 in stainless, carry an automatic brake for exactly this reason. The rule is absolute: never hang a load from a winch the manufacturer rates for pulling only, no matter how well the gearing seems to hold it.

Manual, electric, or air. Hand winches earn their keep on jobs that happen occasionally: positioning a machine, tensioning a line, raising a gate. Everything in hand winches cranks by hand, topping out at Thern's 4,600 lb worm gear model, and Thern's 4WM2 accepts a drill drive when cranking gets old. When the same pull repeats all day, an electric winch pays for itself fast: industrial electric winches starts with the OZ 1200 lb unit at $749 in 110V AC or 12V DC and runs through Thern's worm and spur gear power series from $2,591, with horsepower, brake, and control options per model. Air is the continuous-duty answer. The Thern piston units in air tugger winches run from plant air, meter speed through the throttle, and stall at overload without cooking a motor, which is why they show up in mills and rigging lofts. For straight-line cable pulls, the Little Mule wire grips and the 60 ft Vestil puller in cable pullers and grips grab the conductor itself, and they never lift.

Rate the pull at the layer you will use. A winch's rated line pull is measured with the rope on the first layer of the drum, where the working diameter is smallest and the gearing has the most advantage. Every layer that builds on top increases that diameter, so pull drops and line speed rises as the drum fills. If the job needs full capacity at the end of a long pull, check the manufacturer's per-layer figures rather than the headline number. Duty cycle deserves the same honesty: electric winch motors are rated for intermittent service unless stated otherwise, and a pull that runs minutes at a stretch, hour after hour, is the argument for a heavier power winch or an air tugger. Voltage is the easy call. Wire 110V AC where the winch lives near a panel, and choose 12V DC where it works off a truck battery in the field; the OZ electric winch comes either way.

Gearing sets the feel of a hand winch. Spur gearing cranks fast and suits lighter lines and frequent travel: Thern's single reduction models start at $325, and the double reduction versions trade speed for cranking effort at 2,000 lb. Worm gearing multiplies harder and resists back-driving, which makes the handle feel controlled under load, at the price of slow line speed; the Thern worm gear hand winches run to 4,600 lb. The $236 direct drive model covers light utility work where gearing would be overkill. REID's PLUSWINCH sits apart from the crank-and-drum crowd: an 1,100 lb goods winch with mounting bracket, rope material, and rope length options, built alongside the REID davit and gantry systems we carry. The ratio that makes a load easy to raise is also the ratio you turn all day, so match the reduction to how often the winch works.

Rope is a specification, not an accessory. Most winches here ship bare, and the rope gets chosen like any other rated component. The winch ropes collection carries Thern galvanized and stainless assemblies from 3/16 to 3/8 inch, OZ assemblies split between electric and manual winch fitment that should never be swapped across, and Samson synthetic rope assemblies for Thern winches at $805 for the weight and handling advantages of fiber. Galvanized is the default; stainless earns its premium in washdown and outdoor service. Two habits keep any of them alive: keep the manufacturer's minimum dead wraps on the drum, because the rope anchor alone is not rated to hold the load, and spool under tension so upper layers cannot crush down into loose lower ones. When the pull has to change direction, the Thern vertical lead block in wire rope pulleys turns the rope without grinding it over structure.

ASME B30.7, and the question of people. Winches fall under ASME B30.7, the volume formerly titled Base-Mounted Drum Hoists, covering construction, installation, operation, and inspection for drum winches driven by electric motors, air, hydraulics, or engines. It expects the same discipline as the rest of the B30 family: rated load marked and respected, a look before use, and periodic inspections of rope, brake, and drum kept on record. One scope note worth knowing: the 2016 revision clarified that capstans sit outside B30.7, so the Thern Liberty capstan winch runs on its manufacturer's instructions rather than the volume's provisions. And the bright line: nothing on this page lifts people. Thern states plainly that its standard winches are designed for material, never for lifting people or lifting anything over people, and personnel work takes purpose-built, personnel-rated equipment.