[Phillip Beall (W5EBC)]

All,

I ran across this post from Commander Zero about a totally cool old Beebe Bros. 2-ton hand winch, and it struck me as exactly the sort of thing that makes sense from a preparedness standpoint.

No batteries to keep charged, no gasoline to store, no electronics to fail.  Just a seriously overbuilt chunk of mechanical hardware, some cable, mechanical advantage, and elbow grease.  The kind of tool that can sit around for years and still be useful when you suddenly need to move a log, pull something out of the way, drag equipment, or otherwise persuade something heavy to go somewhere it doesn’t want to go.

There’s something appealing about equipment that remains useful regardless of whether the power is on.

Built to last | Notes from The Bunker

So, local RVARC folks: please keep your eyes open!  If anybody spots one of these old Beebe winches—or something similarly ridiculous, overbuilt, and hand-operated—at an estate sale, farm auction, flea market, Marketplace, Craigslist, etc., let me know.  From the post:

I think it would be pretty cool to pick one up.  😂🤣😎

73

Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

[Phillip Beall (W5EBC)]

UPDATE:  Apparently 2 Tons Wasn’t Enough… 😂

Well, I posted this earlier today, and apparently Commander Zero decided we needed a little more temptation.

He has now followed up with “Built to last II” — featuring the 5-ton big brother to that 2-ton Beebe Bros. hand winch.

https://www.commanderzero.com/?p=13732

And this thing is a BEAST. 😎

The 5-ton version weighs somewhere around 150 pounds, so we may be stretching the definition of “portable.”  But the basic idea is still exactly what caught my attention in the first place:

No batteries.
No gasoline.
No electronics.
Just gears, cable, leverage, and a sufficiently determined operator.

Even better, there’s a preparedness lesson buried in the story of how he bought it.  The winch was listed online for $550, but shipping was another $372.  Fortunately, it happened to be fairly close to him.  He contacted the seller, offered $300 for a local pickup, and wound up getting the deal.

Which reinforces my earlier request to the local crowd:

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!

These old pieces of industrial/farm equipment may make a whole lot more sense when found locally at estate sales, farm auctions, equipment auctions, flea markets, Marketplace, Craigslist, old barns, etc., rather than trying to ship 150 pounds of vintage American iron halfway across the country.

And yes, after seeing the 5-ton model, I still want one.

Possibly more now. 😂🤣😎

Here are the 2-ton and 5-ton versions for comparison:

Somewhere around Northeast Texas, there has to be one of these things sitting in the corner of a barn waiting for us to discover it.

The hunt continues. 😎

73,

Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

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