2ton ratchet puller failure

If you look closely, you can see where/how the spring engages the pawl on the left. It has a hook that grips the pawl lever, holding it toward the spool. The spring for the pawl on the left is not engaged on its lever. Let out enough cable to allow the lever to flip back over, and re-engage the spring. I was thinking....a loop of cable may have grabbed the hook on the spring, flipping it off the lever.

One of mine is noticeably "stiffer" than the other one in operation. Casting flaw or something. My biggest gripe with these pullers is their tendency to backlash like a bait-casting reel. You have to be diligent to let cable off without a tangle.
 
i appreciate the responses..i took all the cable off and took a really good look at what was going on and this thing is pretty beat. couldnt get it to flip back right away. ended up getting some pry bars and the help of a hammer and i got it to flip back. i think i can get it to work as long as i dont pull on it at the optimal leverage point (when the handle is perpendicular) because at this point the play in the pivot cause the teeth to be misaligned and it will just fold next time i yank it. funny thing is when i have the handle engaged with just one click left of room the teeth seem to be aligned correctly. so if i use one click at a time i think it should work.
i will post some pics later today to show the wear.
this is still odd to me that this happened to me in less than one year of use.
never over loaded it, as the handle would've folded..
 
wear at pivot
SDC11607_zpsec86e4b7.jpg
 
I just went and looked at mine. Neither of them have the holes wallowed out like the ones pictured above.

And I bent the handle on my old one right off. I replaced it with a piece of steel pipe and haven't had a problem since. They claim the factory handle os designed to bend before overloading the puller. I bent mine pulling with two hands, no cheater. I don't believe the puller itself could be overloaded by hand, even with a cheater. I have had old tool sale come-a-longs rated the same as this heavy puller, and they were made out of cheap stamped sheet metal and had much smaller cable,
 
never used a cheater, that was bent by a co worker but he felt it starting to bend and then stopped and its been like that since (that was in nov.)
again keep in mind this thing was brand new in the spring of 2012 and i haven't used it that much, which is making me think theres some kind of defect if guys have been using them for years.
directions are long gone but wondering if i was supposed to grease it?
 
I did look at that....the angle on mine is more favorable than yours appears to be, somewhat like yours in the last photo. The pivot points are not near as elliptical as yours. I can't tell if yours is that way from wear or from casting flaw. I've had my oldest one for probably 12 years, maybe a bit more. I bought the other one in 2011 I think. It's only been used once or twice, but the older one has been used countless times.

I pulled over a heavy leaning red oak last year on which I had 3 lines. One to each puller and another to a 12k# Warn winch. Not sure I could have tipped it if any one of them had been lacking.
 
the handle holes being wallowed out could happen on the first pull if the puller is misused. misuse has nothing to do with time. personally, i would invest in a chain hoist. i have had mine(a ton and a half) for fourteen years! it has helped align a lot of steel and pull a lot of trees. I have put cheaters on the handle. hung things from it i know i shouldn't have. I have used and abused this thing to no end and it still asks for more. imho (with ten years in the heavy rigging and steel erection industry i have used up to 10 ton chain falls and 150 ton porta-powers and 8 ton chain hoist) the cable hoist is junk to be used by hobbyist and amateurs. the cable abrades and pokes you or breaks and the gears aren't meant to take the beating a pro is going to put one through. The handle bend before the gears snap? sounds very fishy. i had a six ton chain hoist in a bind with two men pulling on a four foot cheater pipe racking a turbine house in springerville az for S&A it didn't even stretch one of the links. a manual puller or peice of hard rigging has a 4 to 1 safety factor. so yours was over loaded to 8 ton? humm by one man and a factory handle? i think not. i think you need to spend a dollar and buy a nice chain hoist and a masadam? rope puller for the small stuff
 
Has the tool ever been used as a link between two pieces of heavy equipment to pull?

It looks like it's been overloaded and likely not from force applied to the handle.

At any rate, it's shot.
 
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Looks like a faulty unit to me. Even if it were stressed, the holes in question would not be affected, as they are merely the pivots for the handle.

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I agree, it does not look like it was stressed. It looks like the metal has just worn from use like it was not durable enough for the task.

The wear is where it would be expected to wear from cranking the handle though. Every time the handle is operated where it is worn is exactly where the force is applied.
 
Agreed, but judging by the remaining paint, and the fact that he said he bought it new last spring, wear seems out of the question. Mine looks way rougher than that, and yet shows far less signs of wear.
 
chain hoist doesnt sound like a bad alternative considering u had two guys hanging on the thing without a problem, for some reason anything with a chain always kind of bothered me a little bit (weakest link theory) but id be willing to give it a shot.
for now ive been messing with my winch a little i think im gonna give it a whirl next time i need some pulling help. i gotta a spare battery, and cables.
wanna to a test to see if its gonna start twisting under heavy load.. ill have to use a short strap i guess. anyone ever try this?
SDC11628_zps26924952.jpg
 
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