Since the ‘beastly’ piece, we have been shopping to Campbell River and I did a day at the bunkhouse renovations. Between those two events, I began the unraveling of the cable from my new, old winch. Sheesh!

As you know it is a Marpole Bulldog, 5-ton winch with what seems like 100′ of 1/2″ cable wound tightly around the spool. The winch has not been in use for years and I am pretty sure the cable was never fully unwound even when it was used – which was very little judging from the old paint still on the gears and the generally good overall condition of the old pig. That cable is tight, thick and inflexible.

Bear in mind that a 5-ton winch with gears does not ‘roll out’ the cable like fishing line from your salmon rod at the best of times. This not the best of times.

To get an inch of cable, you turn 22 inches of gearing; gearing that has not turned in a long, long while. It is like pulling teeth from a dead hippo (OK, I am only guessing at what that is like, to be honest but it must be hard, eh? I mean; first you have to fnd a dead hippo and that was what it was like for me to find this winch. I could go on….).

So, anyway, I tipped up one corner of the winch so that I could insert the long handle and I began to turn. And turn. And turn. After what seemed like an hour, I had five feet of cable off the drum!

There has to be a better way.

So, I got out the greases and the oils and applied same vigorously and generously in all the appropriate orifices which was nowhere near as much fun as it sounds. I finally got the old girl well-oiled and tried once again to have my way with her. But she did not not do any free-wheeling easily and, let’s face it, I need a little encouragement at my age and so I was thinking of giving up. It would not be the first time.

Instead, I got out the drill, attached a pulley to it and I jury-rigged another one to the drive shaft of the winch. By leaning into it, I could add tension to the fan belt I retrieved from my box o’junk and installed on both pulleys. Then I turned on the drill and the winch began to undress as it should.

Then the battery died (and you thought the metaphor had petered out!)

That was OK. I know it will work now so the pressure is off. Knowing my schedule as I do, I’ll try again in a week.