Disassemblable PID-05 winch

This PID-05 winch was built for a client doing towed surface hydrophone array work.  The client had been dependent on large, heavy, steel winches and the large ships that could support them for their work, but wanted to switch to a relatively smaller and lighter – ideally disassemblable – winch option that could allow them to work with a wider variety and availability of boats.

A custom PID-05 was an ideal solution for this job as the clients’ particular needs could not be met by a winch from A.G.O.’s standard lineup.  The PID-05 is a legacy winch model now only built as custom one-offs for unique applications like this requiring:

• • Extra large drum sizes
  • Very minimal required winch features
  • No safety requirements demanding a fully-enclosed-drum frame style (where the frame covers over the entire drum)
  • Minimized overall winch weight
  • Low drivetrain power requirements (generally <2HP)
  • Potentially also disassemble-ability with a removable drum assembly

The final winch could be disassembled into three subassemblies:  Its frame (~165 lbs), drum (~321 lbs empty, ~883 lbs with the hydrophone array), and its motorized drivetrain assembly (~132 lbs).  Although the overall size and weight of this winch is considered “large” by A.G.O. standards relative to our typical standard winch model sizes, it was still significantly smaller, lighter, and more manageable than the big steel winches the client had been relying on!

Other features on this winch included:

• • Slip ring compatibility and custom mounting hardware for client’s slip ring
  • Electric brake integrated into the motorized drivetrain
  • Hand crank manual backup drive with manually-actuated drum disk brake and hardstop drum pin-lock