Peter123
C-Note
- Location
- Houston, TX
Well, I finished my ski crane this weekend.
I basically built an I-beam out of 2x4's, used a 2,000 lb winch I bought at Northern tool on sale for $50 and a pulley (sp ?). I mounted it in my garage up in the rafters with the wench setting on a double header (4 x 12). I connected it to an extra car battery that was sitting around doing nothing, and I use a set of jet ski rail straps that I bought on eBay for $40 (rated to 750 lbs).
Well, after getting everything in place, I hook the power cable and control into the wench. I noticed that the control switch only toggled one direction. Apparently, at some point in the last 2 weeks, I had accidently thrown away the directions for the wench, so I climbed the ladder and looked to see if there was a reverse switch on the wench. There wasn't. There is only a knob that disengages (greater release with more turns) the wench allowing gravity to pull out the cable. :banghead: I tried reversing polarity, but that didn't work, so I'm stuck having to use the knob for lowering. Not a HUGE deal, but still irritating.
It works like a charm, other than no reverse, and the total cost was around $100. Now moving the ski between the dolly I keep it on and the trailer will be easy as cake.
If I could do it all over, I would spend the extra $50 to have a wench with reverse, and I would change a few things on the basic design; however, it will stay like this for some time.
I basically built an I-beam out of 2x4's, used a 2,000 lb winch I bought at Northern tool on sale for $50 and a pulley (sp ?). I mounted it in my garage up in the rafters with the wench setting on a double header (4 x 12). I connected it to an extra car battery that was sitting around doing nothing, and I use a set of jet ski rail straps that I bought on eBay for $40 (rated to 750 lbs).
Well, after getting everything in place, I hook the power cable and control into the wench. I noticed that the control switch only toggled one direction. Apparently, at some point in the last 2 weeks, I had accidently thrown away the directions for the wench, so I climbed the ladder and looked to see if there was a reverse switch on the wench. There wasn't. There is only a knob that disengages (greater release with more turns) the wench allowing gravity to pull out the cable. :banghead: I tried reversing polarity, but that didn't work, so I'm stuck having to use the knob for lowering. Not a HUGE deal, but still irritating.
It works like a charm, other than no reverse, and the total cost was around $100. Now moving the ski between the dolly I keep it on and the trailer will be easy as cake.
If I could do it all over, I would spend the extra $50 to have a wench with reverse, and I would change a few things on the basic design; however, it will stay like this for some time.
