Page 48: of Marine News Magazine (July 2014)

DECK MACHINERY Making a Tough job a Little Easier People at AEP conÞ rmed this preference. ÒThroughout my 35 years of decking, IÕve had to use hundreds of dif- ferent types of winches. The YoYo winch is nothing like conventional winches,Ó says Syd Gibbeaut, port mate (now retired) at AEP River Operations. ÒThis is certainly an amazing winch, one that will have a major impact on our industry.Ó Bruce Darst, also retired from his position as port cap- tain at AEP, concurs. During the testing, he said, ÒWeÕve been using the Patterson YoYo winch as a barge connector for three years. The winch has proven to be super-depend- able and is both easy to tighten and to pull wire off the drum. ItÕs also very easy to replace the wire. WeÕve been Þ eld-testing eight of these winches and have only replaced one wire in that time, which also suggests it extends the working life of the wire cable. Because of its innovative design, itÕs impossible for the wire to become entangled or birdnested on the drum. This is the winchÕs biggest advan- tage and saves untold time and effort in building tow. ItÕs a very high quality winch, easy to use and maintain, and is far superior to the barge-connecting winches that have been commonly used in the past.ÓJohn Byer, AEP boat captain, sums up one of the main reasons the YoYo is so popular: ÒOnce you start to pull the wire off of the winch, as a result of the winch design, the wire pays itself off the winch. ItÕs the best mousetrap out there, and itÕs where we need to be.Ó ModelYoYo 25-1YoYo 40-1 Ultimate Capacity80,000 lbs80,000 lbs Drum Capacity (1" wire rope) 25'40'Center Line of Drum7.38"8.37" Overall Height26.95?40.30" Base Length34.85"44.60" Overall Length39.95"51" Base Width 14.75"16.75" Overall Width 23.80"30.42 Net Weight 1,170 lbsYoYo Winch Speci Þ cationsDavid Grapes, President and CEO of Patterson48 MNJuly 2014MN July14 Layout 32-49.indd 48MN July14 Layout 32-49.indd 486/18/2014 3:52:35 PM6/18/2014 3:52:35 PM