Mors kochanski flip flop winch

[Fenlander]

Having got my ATV stuck on a tree stump this week, I had cause to try Mors' flip flop winch.

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All you need are two poles and a length of rope.

There is a really good description of how to use it here:

http://www.edibleplants.com/month/flipflop.htm

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[leon-b]

did it work ?
leon

 

[Fenlander]

did it work ?
leon

It certainly did!

 

[leon-b]

thats a smart looking atv you have, it looks like it has been converted from a big ride on lawnmower
has it ?
leon

 

[JonnyP]

Did you get the atv stuck on purpose, so that you could try the winch out ?
From what I can see, it looks slow, but effective

 

[led]

Interesting, I'll have to try one of those. Thanks for the link.

 

[Fenlander]

Did you get the atv stuck on purpose, so that you could try the winch out ?

Noooooo.......doing that a very hot, humid day, being biten by horse flies and mosquitoes isn't my idea of fun The machine should have cleared the stump without any problems but the back wheels sunk into the peat

 

[Ed]

From what I can see, it looks slow, but effective

You are right there.... but it does work. Jed showed us this technique at the BCUK spring moot last year..... we used a couple of big logs to move a landrover


Ed

 

[swyn]

It was a very good demo. just the sort of thing to remember when you really need to. It shifted the LR no problem, just took time and some effort. Ah.... you must have a piece of rope and some poles! Swyn

 

[BOD]

How does a Finnish windlass differ from a Spanish windlass?

I can't find any reference to it except in connection with Mors Kochanski's book (which I can't get)

 

[Stuart]

How does a Finnish windlass differ from a Spanish windlass?

I can't find any reference to it except in connection with Mors Kochanski's book (which I can't get)

their is no actual reference to windlasses in Mors Kochanski's book 'Bushcraft'

But in a pamphlet written by him titled "top seven bush knots and the use of the windlass" he covers the 'Finnish' 'Spanish' and 'flip flop' windlasses.

this is the Spanish windlass (sorry for the poor image)

I cannot find an image of the Finnish windlass online but looking at it in Mors pamphlet it is an altogether much more complicated affair with the drum pole raised up off the ground on two tripods and held in the horizontal plane like a saw horse.

the flip flop winch is a much simplified version of the finish windlass without the requirement for the tripods, as well as being the most simple windlass it also offers the most powerful mechanical advantage of the three, which pretty much makes the Spanish and the finnish redundant.

 

[swyn]

Bod The Spanish windlass is fine for holding furniture together, such as chair legs etc. This is a loop of line strung between the legs of a chair. In the middle is a batten which is wound around, twisting the line, shortening it as the more you twist the tighter the line gets. Picture those elastic band aeroplanes you may have had as a child..... similar principal. Also think of the propellor and scale this up to winch a LR. NOT something I would entertain if the thing got away from you it would probably kill you!!!
The flip flop uses turns around two poles to shorten the tow line. the mechanical advantage is so much greater with the length of the poles that you would have to be doing something seriously wrong for it to run away with you.

 

[BOD]

Swyn,

Thanks, I now understand that the torsion bar (propellor) is also called a Spanish windlass by many people. However the classic Spanish windlass uses 2 bars - one to apply tension and one to wrap the line.

Stuart,

I understand what a Finnish windlass is now - a horizontal windlass. The tripod tops are guy- ed in series to stakes in the ground or to a large tree. Used for hoisting.

But I am still confused.

The question now is what' s the difference between the Spanish and Flip Flop windlasses apart from the loops?

What I see in Fenlander's post looks like what I have always called a Spanish windlass except for the 2 restraining loops and is similar to the drawing in the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea.

I checked the net and found this page for Spanish Windlass

http://www.ropeworks.biz/archive/Swindless.html

also this photo

http://crosswinds.cary.nc.us/picbsc04/photos/photo_23.html


Is the upright or drum post of the flip flop vertical all the time? I also don't understand the use of the word "flip". Does it mean that the ends of the drum post are alternately placed in the ground?

 

[Fenlander]

Having got my ATV stuck on a tree stump this week, I had cause to try Mors' flip flop winch.

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Not sure whether this answers your question BOD.....

My next action (based on the above picture) is....

1. to bring the pole to the left, over to the right by 180 degrees(that's what I am in the process of doing on the second picture).

2. Then I bring the pole pointing towards the machine over 180 degrees so that it points towards the camera.

Now I reverse the process and continue "flipping" and "flopping" the poles in this manner.

Hope that helps

 

[Stuart]

see: http://www.edibleplants.com/month/flipflop.htm

when looking at the illustrations remember that the poles are resting on the ground (rather that vertical as per the spanish windlass)

 

[BOD]

I think a bulb is beginning to light up.

I will give it a go tomorrow. If it works as I think it does then it is very clever and much safer than the Spanish for one person working alone.

Thank you Fenlander and Stuart (I did not realise it was a bird's eye perspective)

 

[Eric_Methven]

Blimey! It's blindingly simple once you've seen it. Wayland and I could have used one of these at Chedworth earlier this year when my van got bogged down on the path - instead of embarrasing myself by asking for a tow from the National Trust rangers. I'll know better next time.

Eric

 

[Porcupine]

what i do wonder about is how you temporaly fix the poles to where you want em,pegs in the ground or a hook connecting it to the rope?

smart way to do this though


porc

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I've never seen that before it's fantastic!
i shall try to remember it!

 

[Simon R]

Just used two pencils and a bit of string to winch a hole punch across my desk! It is so simple when you see it working

Thank you for showing me a simple technique that could come in handy one day.