Added weight, added problems

We have acquired an extra 1300 lbs of counterweight as a result of tough economic times at a local municipality. Sidewalk grates to be exact. Anyway, adding the extra weight will surely get us over the 1000 foot mark. The problem arises when we start to winch the arm into place.

Even with our current counterweight, I am always a little nervous watching the winch in action. As the arm comes down, the winch inevitably bends and moves a little. Adding an extra 500 lbs or more will surely make me even more nervous.

I’m hoping to take a look at the setup and figure out how to reinforce the winch so it doesn’t fly off and act like its own projectile when I’m standing 10 ft away.

The problem is that the bad of the machine isn’t really a load bearing structure. It’s just there to keep the A frames together. So I have to figure out how to brace the winch only using the A frames. I’ll keep you up to date.