Air Winch Hire in the UK

[kat6787]

Hello everyone,

I am currently looking for air winch hire in the UK for a project I am working on and was hoping to get some opinions / input on the companies I have found so far. This is the first time I have dealt with any suppliers in this area and I would really appreciate any feedback you all might have. Also, if there are other suppliers that anybody has used in the past and can recommend I’d appreciate any information you could give.

Here is some background information about what I’m looking for:
Purpose: Cable pull-in on a North Sea platform, water depth ~140m
Capacity: Needs to be at least 3Te capacity to handle the pull-in and tensioning of the cable. The drum needs to hold at least 200m of cable.
Type: The client would like to use an air winch, as the space on the platform is limited and it would be difficult to find enough room for the additional equipment that comes with a hydraulic winch. That being said, if I could find a hydraulic winch with a small enough footprint, they wouldn’t be opposed to using it.

Here is a list of the suppliers I have found so far.
1) Red Rooster Industrial (UK) Ltd
2) Atlas Winch and Hoist Services Ltd
3) Rotrex Winches
4) ACE Hire
5) Hoist and Winch Ltd
6) Bezemer Group U.K.

Any advice / input / opinions would really be appreciated.

Cheers,
Kat

 

[Ussuri]

LGH Hire Ltd
Karmoy Winches (Norwegian)
Fisher Offshore Ltd
Monyana (although they may now be part of fisher)

I noted the 'needs to be at least 3 tonne' comment. In my experience it is good to have something in reserve so I would suggest you confirm the required rating. I have in the past designed support steelwork for a 5T winch only to be asked by the project team that actually they needed 15T, and would the steelwork be OK?

We are often limited to suppliers who are approved and we have used before. They have been audited, their paperwork is up do date, they have an acceptable health and safey policy, staff are competent and trained. New suppliers need to be assessed which takes longer.

 

[StephenA]

Is the 3T on the top layer or bottom layer of the drum? Pulling in 3Te on the top layer may mean a 15Te or larger winch. It depends on the drum width and diameter.

Stephen Argles
Land & Marine

http://www.landandmarine.com

 

[kat6787]

Ussuri,

Thanks for your post. I will look into the suppliers you mentioned. The 3Te minimum includes a safety factor of 2 on the calculated load. It’s just a starting point, as the company has not decided how much tension they want to apply with the winch during the pull-in. Most likely they will want a winch with a 5-10Te capacity, but I thought it would be better to state the minimum I need and go from there. I asked if the client had a list of preferred / approved suppliers and was told they didn’t have one for temporary works equipment.


StephenA,

Unfortunately I am fairly ignorant on winch specifications, so I’m not quite sure how to answer your question. At this point I have put out a few emails and phone calls and was hoping to speak with a technical sales rep to get more detailed information about what I actually need for the pull-in. Do you know of any resources that I could use to learn more about how to properly size a winch for a project?


Thanks again to both of you.

Cheers,
Kat

 

[Ussuri]

Kat

Is your factor of 2.0 on the static weight in order to cover the dynamic effect or is this 2.0 over and above maximum dynamic load. Judging by the size of your winch I expect its the former. You just need to make sure you have enough reserve capacity, just in case.

What Stephen was getting at, is that a winch has a different capacity depending on what layer the wire is on. The motor supplies a maximum torque which is more or less fixed (not withstanding the constant tension method you can get on larger winches). If the drum is empty, ie all the wire is out, the winch will be able to pull the most. The lever arm of the wire is at a minumum. This is the bottom wrap/layer. As the winch winds in the lever arm increases thus reducing the available pull. This is down to a minimum when all the wire is in and on the top wrap/layer.

 

[Ussuri]

Also, you will need to load test your winch once it is installed.

 

[StephenA]

The man you want to speak to is Denis Lavery of Atlas Winches.+44 (0)1899 221 577.

Stephen Argles
Land & Marine

http://www.landandmarine.com

 

[kat6787]

I sent an email requesting information to Atlas, but I will be sure to follow-up with Denis.

Thanks to both of you for all your help.

Cheers,
Kat