I was at a hardware store the other day and saw what might be a useful bit of kit for some of you guys who handle a lot of Red, Fallow, or Sika carcasses.

It was a "portable" electric winch which is designed to hang off your tow ball on a temporary basis. It is a budget brand, cheapy special by Rawlingson (sp?) and is rated at 12V, 300W with either 6000lb of "rolling" pulling power, or 2000lb "static" pull. The picture on the box shows a 4x4 being recovered, but I suspect that’s a tad optimistic to say the least! It has 30ft of 3/8th (??) steel cable and the control is on the end of a 10ft "flying" lead and it has a line recovery rate of 6ft per minute under load. The item was boxed so I could not comment on build quality but size wise it seemed mid way between the quad winches Cabela's sell to a "proper" 4x4 winch. It comes in what they describe as a “weather resistant” housing so I am not sure it would stand up to being permanently in an open bed of a pick up for instance with out an additional cover…

Even if its pulling power has been overrated by say 50% I would think that with a little adaptation, it would still make an excellent winch for dragging carcasses into the back of your vehicle providing it is reasonable quality of course. The best part is that it’s selling for �30! At that price it would seem worth trying out… I was very tempted to buy one myself, but I am not sure I really need one for Roe and Muntjac!

If anyone is interested, let me know and I can get further details…

Regards,

Pete

[ 06-23-2003, 11:59: Message edited by: Pete E ]

Pete,

At that money I may just get one to put on the shelf. Where was it?

Deerdogs,

Thats what I am thinking!

Unfortunately, its a small indipendant place in our neck of the woods..I will get some contact details and post them here in a few..I was thinking that if I can find a part number you might be able to order it locally if you know anywhere that stocks Rawlingson stuff...

Regards,

Pete

Sounds good to me! Does it run of the tow electrics or a cigarette lighter?

1894,

It comes with a long lead and two crocodile clips..I would imagine it would blow fuses if it was connected via the cigerette lighter..

I need to check whether it has a "reverse" function ie it can let out a load under strain..

Regards,

Pete

The shop is called Charlie's and it is situated just on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Their telephone number is : 01743 440400..if you are going to call and ask any quesitions, keep it simple as I just tried and from the response I got, I suspect they recruit their shop assistants from the same place as MacDonald's!

As its payday next friday, i think I will take a trip down and get on of these; not quite sure why I need one, but I am sure it "will come in useful"!

[ 06-23-2003, 18:14: Message edited by: Pete E ]

Hey Pete,

Keep us posted on what you think of it. I'm looking at getting one of those king-cabs, at the moment and considered putting a winch on the front. This may be a cheaper option and less likely to get stolen!!

FB

FB,

I really can't see it replacing a proper winch on a 4x4 as far as recovery/self recovery goes as it has no where near the pulling power of say a Warn. However, coupled with a ramp or something similar, it should make hauling carcasses into the back of your pick-up dead easy. The manual alternative to that is either what we call a "fence puller"/"come- along" or one one of those cheap little hand winches used for pulling boats on to trailers. I have tried the latter and it needs a sold mounting to work well, where as the "fence puller" can be just hooked onto a fixing point and the load ratched in...

The guy I lease my stalking from in scotland has an Argo and I would imagine that if the cable could be fed up to a pulley hanging on the roll bar and then off the back, it would be the dogs b*****ks for dragging red deer on board.

Anyways, I think I will try to get hold of one this weekend and put it through its paces. I have a large concrete water trough that needs moving, so there's my "justification" for buying one!

The pic below from cabelas gives you an idea of what I am talking about, although I suspect this is a better quality/more expensive item:



Regards,

Pete

[ 06-23-2003, 18:13: Message edited by: Pete E ]

Guys -

Always one for a gimic - Ive ordered a couple - they go for around �59.75 inc vat (Rolson portable electric winch - stock code #42575) - order from the head office direct for mail order - tel is 01686 625 313/Julie - post was free to me down in Devon! Cards accepted.

Pete - if they are on at �30 in your branch - buy them!! Im sure you know 700 stalkers who need a xmas present!!

Thanks for the heads up!

Rgds Ian

[ 06-24-2003, 15:51: Message edited by: IanF ]

Ian,

There was no price on the boxes concerned so I had to corner one of the shop assistants. He cut the bar code off the box and scanned/price checked it at the till. He actually commented how cheap it was when the price came up..(�29:99). Your price seems more realistic (although still cheap for an electric winch!) and I am wondering if there was not a mistake somewhere...

I bet these would sell like hot cakes down at the Deer Fair or the Keepers Fair up in Scotland!

regards,

Pete

Don't forget how dangerous cables under tension can be!

C'mon - you know the Deer Act in the UK - wrong calibre cable!!

Taken delivery - very impressed! Go for it if you ar considering an order - its flexible enough that you can walk to the edge of a gulley - attach the winch to a tree or rock - and pull out a carcass.

This is just what I have been looking for.

Ian

Pete,have you ever looked into the Capstan Winches?We have one over here called a {Simpson Capstan Rope Winch} which attaches to a chain saw motor,one model is light enough to back pack,I use one to winch deer up into the back of the pick up,and to pull pigs up and into also.

Ian,

You were correct about the price..it seems there was a "mix up" when I priced it up...still cheap if you have work for it though. As I said earlier I don't really need one of these and I think at �60 instead of �30 I will hand fire for now.I would be interested to here how you get on with it though...

Dave,

I think Capstian style winches have a big advantage over standard winches for carcass recovery and that is your not restricted by rope length and neither does the winching power alter as the ropes winds in.

I was discussing them with a Forestry Commission wWildlife ranger (they do the deer culling in a lot of our "national forests") and they are going to be trialing them for carcass recovery instead of the standard electric winches they now have fitted to their vechicles. Seems what they want is to "convert" a couple of the standard electric winches to a capstian format for the trial and then carry a 150yards or so of that cheap rope in the back of the pick up....

I have heard of those conversions for chain saws but i don't know if you can get them in the UK. What I do like is the capstian version of my "come-along" as sold by Cabelas:



Looks a very simple, viable, and cost effective solution to moving a big carcass...

Regards,

Pete

[ 07-02-2003, 02:51: Message edited by: Pete E ]