HF Come-A-Long

Thanks, Glenn F.

I worked on a bridge building crew one summer. We used to pour a test block about the size of a coffin. Broke 3 cheapo comealongs before somebody bought a good cast iron one. Never hurt that one a bit and it carried ALOT more cable and could do a single line pull where the cheapies were double. It cost, maybe $200 but was worth it.

I've got several of the HF ones, they more or less work but they're so cheaply put together I never really trusted them.

Keith

Glenn F.

Yes, Grip Hoist is one. They are expensive. Steel workers use them when pulling building frames into square prior to bolting or welding.

I don't have much of a problem with the cheapie cable winches. They are quick and easy. If I need more power or can't risk failure, I use my chain Budget or a roller chain com-a-long.

I'll bet that most of the failures with the imports happen when they are overloaded. Don't even think about using a cheater bar on the handle. A little spray lube can't hurt either.

HF come-alongs are rated for pulling a wheeled load on a smooth, hard level surface... Betcha didn't know that. In other words, pull your truck across your garage floor, which you can easily push by hand.

I bought one to move a 6000lb radial drill off my trailer and around my shop. Didn't work out quite like I planned. Got the drill as far as the ramps before I had to rebuild the thing to working condition.

It lasted 30 minutes before the spot welds on the drum broke, the drum twisted in the frame and everything came to a grinding halt. I had to completely diassemble the works, weld the drum back together, weld up and bore out the wallowed hub holes, and straighten the sides of the drum. Now the circlip holding the pin in the hook on the body has fallen off. Real quality stuff there. The realistic rating is more like 2tons with the cable doubled. Maybe 1 without. Chinese stuff is just rediculously over-rated.

For pulling a 2500-3000 free-rolling car up on a trailer using long ramps, it works OK, but I certainly wouldn't subject it to any harder duty than that. I am especially skittish of come-alongs (primarily cheap crappy ones) now since a friend was killed using one last year.

This one isn't worth a shucks, whether you buy it from Harbor Freight, Sears, or any of the other places that sell this unit.

That is the exact problem with Chinese stuff. evrey twelveth one seems to be pretty good, but the other eleven are total crap. I guess it just depends on how good the fishhead soup is that particular day in slave labor camp #23. Some days they are motivated and some not.

Would you describe how your friend was using the come-along and what happened that he was killed by it, if you have that information. I'm not a fan of morbid stories but I do use a come-along once in awhile, and I would be grateful for any information that might help me avoid having an accident with one. I'm sorry about your friend.

Thanks, Stan

His name was Larry Koutz, out of Valdosta GA. He had some trees taken out of his front yard and was pulling some roots out. His wife came home to find him unconscious and bleeding severely from a head wound. He never regained consciousness and died about two days later. He was a very intelligent guy, Air Force F-4 driver and built and flew his homebuilt Q200 all over the nation. Hard to imagine somehting like that happening to a guy like him, but it did.

The problem with a come-along is that you are directly in line with the hook, cable, etc... any time you are operating it. As was mentioned above, throw something over the cable to slow it down if it cuts loose. I had never heard of this trick, but it makes perfect sense. I'm sure Larry would have had an old rug close on the cable had he heard this before. We might even still have Larry. I will certainly keep an old junk rug wrapped around the come along from now on.

It's not perfect though. The bearings are cheap. The cable tensioner likes to catch on the cable. And the ratcheting pawl likes to rotate and get out of position.

Wouldn't care to use it as my sole tie-down on a 4 ton item though. HF also sells good chain tensioners cheaply.