Been there .... and have the scars to prove it.
Barient winches were known (personally verified) to fail due to (IMHO)
bad engineering design which required 'supreme' maintenance to prevent
..... all above a 'consumers' knowledge and understanding. Some
barients were not all metal but had 2 major flaws: 1. a plastic top
flange. 2. a "push button" spring release mechanism that kept the
barrel on the spindle. If the winch was 'loaded' so that the sheet
lead angle was higher than the perpendicular position of the spindle
..... the winch could come apart by breaking at the plastic top flange
which opened the spring release mechanism and the barrel of the winch
would come flying off. Under load of the tensioned sheet the loose
barrel would become a gyroscopic 'top', travel UP and along the tailed
sheet and smash into the operator..... got about 8 stitches in my
forehead to prove it.

I had another 'famous brand' lose its pawls (obviously due to bad
maintenance) and unexpectedly release with the winch handle still
attached .... nearly broke my arm, the soft tissue injuries took nearly
three years to heal properly.

If you're a rapacious scumbag sleazy trial attorney looking for
ammunition to win the financial lottery by suing the winch
manufacturers ... most of the remaining manufacturers apparently have
proven and quite well engineered systems ... usually involving
excessive safety factors to prevent structural failure .... but sadly
no means to insure regular and proper maintenance. In 'casual'
personal reverse engineering of such systems of current equipment I
perceive that the structural safety factor is probably approaching a
factor 6X .... equivalent to the safety factor of normal 'critical'
stress design: airplane wings, critical bridge components, cable
cars/trams, etc. - all stuff that should NEVER fail. .... but is not
immune to fatigue and 'gremlins'.
Just remember that ALL systems and structures eventually and ultimately
fail. Noone can beat the law of entropy, not even a greedy shyster.





In article , Courtney Thomas
wrote:

I assume that since winches can be under tremendous pressure, that all
suffer the possibility of exploding if pushed beyond their design.

Given that,.... are there known "dangerous" winches and what is the
source of their danger and how can it be determined that improper use is
not the culprit, rather than inherent inadequacy ?

Thank you.