Q: What is a capstan?
A: A "capstan" is a pulling machine that works by wrapping a piece of rope around a rotating cylinder. "Capstans" are different from "winches" because the rope used for pulling with a a capstan is not wound onto and off a spool as it is a winch. Capstans are also called windlasses.

Q: Can a capstan rope winch pull a truck?
A: The worst stuck we have been able to find so far for field testing is a 1 ton 4WD pickup full of wood, mired in a muddy field and dug in up to the axles, with one wheel wedged against a stump. We were able to pull it out (straight line) with a CAPSTAN Rope Winch that only had 2/3's of the power of the units that we eventually put on the market.

Q: Are capstan rope winches a quality product?
A: They are manufactured in USA. They are of all metal construction and the gears and shafts are all heat treated alloy steel for long life and strength. We tested the products before we put them on the market and continue to make improvements. We do not think that the CAPSTAN Rope Winches will break. But if they do we have a 5 year warranty. NOTE: We have had almost no warranty claims.

We did a "life test" with the CAPSTAN Rope Winch we drug a full size Ford Bronco backward up and down a gravel road with the rear brakes locked (about 1,500 pounds of pull). We drug the truck 200 feet, then drove it back and did it again until we accumulate 20 hours of run time on the winch. 20 hours means we pulled approximately 36,00 feet or nearly 7 miles! We had tried the same pull with a 12,000 pound electric winch and it only pulled the truck 28 feet before it started to smoke.