I'm wondering how much those Irwin style clamps between the ramps and rear bumper were really adding to the safety of that whole operation.
More so out of necessity than safety. When I started winching it up without them, the ramps which were supported by the trucks bumper, started lifting up. Clearly that was a no go.
They worked very well to hold them down, but after I had it about halfway up there was enough down force, from the tractor itself, to hold them down.
That was the first time I put a dead tractor in the truck. Think of a free body diagram of the forces on the board as the tractor is being winched up into the truck, when its front wheels first contact the ramps. Very little holding force is needed from the clamps, due to the long “moment arm” of the wooden ramps.
The force balance is different without the “puller”, and with the tractor under its own power from the back wheels. I’ve never had the ramps lift up off the bumper in that situation. That’s why it will be much easier loading it up after the guy fixes it and I can use its own little 9 hp engine for the “lift” power.
Fortunately, I’ve done a fair amount of rigging on board ships using similar equipment as part of my “day job”, so that part of the task (safety) came as second nature to me.
That puller that I used was pretty sweet for this job. I recently acquired from a buddy in a trade for an old plumb bob reel that I had picked up in a $ 100 “bundle deal”, at a garage sale. The reel didn’t come with a plumb bob, but I located and purchased a compatible one on eBay (for $ 16 including shipping).
You wouldn’t believe the other stuff that came with that $ 100 garage sale bundle. My favorite item so far is the 10 speed bike which I have now used several times back and forth to church. How nice it is to have a bike, that actually shifts gears, for that trip. The road is flat as a pancake between home and there, however the headwind coming home is often horrific.
Here are some of the other items that $ 100 garage sale bundle included:
There wasn’t a price on the bike, which was the item which first caught my attention, when I drove by. The woman’s husband had passed recently, and she was selling all his stuff before she sold her house and moved to a smaller place in town.
Both tires were flat on the bike. There was very little wear on them, so I suspected it hadn’t been ridden much. I inflated them when I got home and they have held air for a month now. It also shifts great.
I’ve already used the cant hook, cut off grinder, and the Dale Earnhardt (my favorite driver of all time) collection.
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The landing net had been priced $ 40 and wasn’t part of the original “bundle” deal. When I offered $ 100 for the other items, the lady said that she couldn’t believe that I had offered that much. That’s when I asked her if she’d throw in the net, which she did.
It worked great out on Lake Erie on Father’s Day for a few big smallmouth bass and some huge freshwater drum.
It also came with a box of about 20 dvds that included one of my all time favorite movies (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid).