Safety Rope Pulley

Safety Rope Pulley HITCHES Hitches 12-5-8 A shop-built "tow rope" pulley designed by Russell Mauch, Barney, N. Dak., helps reduce wear and tear on tow ropes and won't pull bumpers off trucks. Mauch, who grows sugarbeets, built two of the heavy duty pulleys 1 1/2 years ago when, during a wet harvest, he went through three ropes at $175 each. "We had two 300-hp 4-WD tractors pulling 14 trucks full-time. The problem with conventional hookups is that when you turn, the ropes get cut on the tractor drawbars. Also, it scares me to pull 80,000-lb. trucks with 30-ft. ropes stretched out. If the rope breaks, it acts just like a rubber band, snapping the pin back hard enough to kill someone in the cab." The shop-built "tow rope" pulley eliminates contact with the tractor drawbar and increases the strength of the rope by doubling it up. If the rope does break, its doubled up length is only 15 ft. so the pin won't fly back as high off the ground, Mauch points out. Mauch's local blacksmith makes the pulleys using 1/2 in. wall, 3-in. pipe, welding each end of the pipe to two disk blades ground down to 8-in. dia. Two iron brackets guide the rope through the pulley. A heavy duty drawbar pin fastens the pulley to the tractor drawbar. A 30 ft. nylon rope, 2 in. in dia., runs between the pulley and two hooks on the truck bumper, one on each side. "The short pulling distance keeps trucks from going into ditches when you're pulling a truck onto a road and you have to make a 90? turn," says Mauch. "This tow rope pulley `walks' the rope back and forth at two different points on the truck bumper, causing less wear and tear. While you're turning, one rope is shorter than the other, keeping the truck right behind the tractor." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Russell Mauch, Barney, N. Dak. 58008 (ph 701439-2888).

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