Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Feb 19, 11:45 am, Ignoramus8591
wrote:
Now... A question... Is there any advantage to a "cable puller" over a
lever chain hoist, for pulling stuff? 4 ton puller in my instance. Got
one in auction yesterday and cannot decide if I should keep one.

Before I found a lever chain hoist at a good price I used the cable
ones to lift firewood logs since my back won't tolerate leaning over
all day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/F...88505171720306

The import cable pullers wear VERY quickly unless you disassemble and
grease them first. Usually the ratchet and lowering mechanisms need
some BFH adjustment too. After this I could get a year or two out of
one before it deteriorated and jammed. The Jet lever hoist has gone 10
years with no problems.

The "4 ton" cable puller I have requires perhaps 200 Lbs on the handle
for 3200 measured Lbs of pull in the two-line configuration with about
half the cable wound on the reel. Leverage decreases rapidly as the
reel fills.

A neighbor's large oak had fallen into a crotch on another tree during
a storm. It was a straight log I wanted to save for lumber, this one:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/H...53242652915618
and the only way to get it down intact was to pull the base of the
trunk up a steep hill. I had been cranking away at it for a while, two
or three clicks per pull, and stopped to rest. The ex-Marine,
construction worker neighbor stepped in to show me how it should be
done and couldn't move it even one click, probably because he's leaner
and doesn't have the momentum or bicycling leg muscles.

Finally I worked my tractor into place above it and pulled it free
with the 2500 Lb winch and a snatch block. There is enough slack in
the electrical cable to chain the winch to a tree beside the tractor.

Bottom line, the cable pullers are like $20 angle grinders, OK as long
as you don't need them often or depend on them. When I pull a large
leaning tree to fell it in the opposite direction I need several
pullers because one doesn't pull far enough.

These help a lot by taking up the slack:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=65951
I have the yellow ones from WalMart instead. Pull on the free end of
the strap to take up as much slack as possible, then crank the ratchet
handle a few times. Otherwise about a quarter of the cable pull is
wasted, and the cable doesn't wind smoothly without a load.

Jim Wilkins

I used a big cable comealong from HD to pull a 12x16 wooden building up
a hill and a 90deg turn a few years ago. Worked like a charm one I
worked out the right trees to hook it to for each segment.