On Oct 20, 5:11*pm, mm wrote:
Is there another word for a come-along? *That word sounds like slang
or vernacular.

OK...

Now that we've got the name of the device figured out, how about a
long line of "Best Use Of A Come-Along" stories...

It was 1973 and I was stationed at the Coast Guard base on Governor's
Island, NY. While driving around Queens one night I came upon a
flooded section of road, lost control of my car and slid sideways into
a fire hydrant.

This 4-door Dodge was of the style that had a "half-post" between the
front and rear door. I hit the hydrant right at the post, bending it
in until it was pressing against the side of the driver's front seat.
The front and rear doors both popped open and obviously wouldn't
close. The rear door was sitting at this weird angle since it was
attached to the bent post.

I drove back to the base with the doors part-way open and roped in
place.

The next morning I went over to the maintenance shop for the bouy
tenders that were stationed at the base. I grabbed a come-along and
some chain and drove up next to a 10,000 lb bouy sinker. I hooked one
end the chain to the bouy sinker's loop and the other end to the post
in my car and started cranking on the come-along. The car started
leaning towards me without the post even moving, so I wedged some
large hunks of wood under the frame. This kept the car upright and
within a few minutes the post was upright and both doors open and
closed normally.

Other than the hole the hydrant punched in the rear door, you never
know I hit anything.