Using Hoist as a Winch

[raysss]

Hi, I have a hoist rated 1300lbs and was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to use this as a winch, and the maximum load it will be able to pull. I am thinking of fixing this at the back of the garage so as to be able to pull my boat/other items back in.
Now I know the main difference between the hoist and the winch is the braking system. I have read somewhere that a hoist is much stronger than a winch as lifting a load is much more stressful than pulling it. I hope anyone can help me with this, as I do not want to burn the motor

 

[rlitman]

I'm not an expert on this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
It's just that a winch can be made to freewheel, so you can let the cable out quickly. A hoist won't do that.

I hope you're not thinking of attaching that hoist to your back wall, right?
You could anchor it to the floor in the back.

 

[fast one]

Rlitman, our chain hoists, strap hoists at work you can put them in reverse/let off and hold a lever on the handle and they free wheel. We use our hoists as winchs to pull things on the ground when need be.

 

[davedriveschevys]

Should work fine, anything meant for overhead lifting is way over engineered for the safety factor. And x2 on rlitmans recommendation on anchoring to the floor.

P.S. never do this the other way around as in using a winch as a hoist, ask me how i know!

 

[Gradyhd]

There are a lot of technical differences, but the short answer is yes, you can use an overhead hoist as a winch, but you shouldn't use a winch to lift overhead. The load braking is the main safety a hoist has over a winch. A hoist is usually designed to be suspension mounted (hung from something) and a winch is designed to be base mounted. You also need to know whether the gearbox is oil filled, and if so where is the vent located when it's laying on it's side. If it's grease filled, no problem. I'm a crane and hoist tech and have been in the business for 26 years, so I've seen a lot of things done that just make you wonder why???, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

 

[kbs2244]

The bigger danger is when guys go the other way.
You should be fine.

 

[Zeke]

Why not use what you have instead o getting another tool. It might be a bit slow, though.

 

[rvr6000]

Everything else aside, from a physics standpoint the winch doesn't know if it's pulling sideways, upways, downways or anyways. It just knows it has a load and if it's within the specs it will move it. That being said, being rated at 1300 lbs doesn't mean it will pull 1300lbs of dead weight across the floor as friction will be working against you. Should work for what you want it for though.

 

[54FordPanel]

Use it for both.

I bought a HF hoist, and use it as both a hoist and a winch. I mounted it to the steel beam, then put a couple of D-ring anchors in the floor.

It works great as both a hoist, and a winch for pulling cars into the garage.

 

[raysss]

Thanks for all the input guys. The pictures/sketches shown by 54FordPanel are an excellent idea and most probably I will set up something similar. The only thing that is bugging me a little bit is that I have no idea what weight the hoist will be able to pull. Pulling a load is quite different than lifting it.

I believe that the hoist will be able to pull not only the rated lbs but more, even though there would be friction. The reason I am thinking this is that it is easier for a person to pull a load of -say 150pounds- than to lift it.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if my reasoning is flawed (I am no physics expert!). That is why I appreciate if someone can help me on this.

 

[rlitman]

Hoists and winches are rated by cable tension. A 1300 lb winch OR hoist can pull 1300 lbs.
That could be up, down across, it's just force on the machine, creating the tension on the cable.
Now, it takes 1300 lbs of tension to lift a 1300 lb object, with a single line. Dragging it horizontally will always take less than that, unless it is anchored down (mud can substitute as an anchor).
I'm sure a 1300 lb rated hoist could pull something 3000 lbs on wheels, horizontally, but if you're talking about the HF 1300 lb hoist (which I have three of BTW), there is a catch.
They run all on, or off. There's no slow acceleration with these, so the line pull can be pretty jerky. You can help this a bit, by using a dynamic tow strap, or halve the pulling speed by pulling with a block and doubled line.

 

[raysss]

thanks for the input rlitman. I'll try with the strap.