COTS Worm Gearbox

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

I cannot speak to the quality of this particular item, but Harbor Freight has a winch featuring a worm gear. You would obviously need to come up with your own interface. HF sells several winches, most of which feature a ratchet & pawl to prevent backdriving.

Bought one of these to play with. It weighs in at 11lbs! With the frame off and just the gears and drum it's down to 4.5lbs. Some more lightening by replacing the steel drum should make it manageable. A strap to replace the cable and I think it might work. Mathwise, the speed is right and a miniCIM will drive it to climb around 12 inches per second depending on input speed.