DRILLING EQUIPMENT
WINCHES – 2
Many Diamond drilling companies now are starting to use winches with level winders or spoolers to put the cable perfectly on the winch drum. In some cases now this is a required safety feature. The wireline cable must be one of the most dangerous parts of the drill and having a spooler reduces the danger.
We have been making these level winder winches for 6 years. The one we make is the best I have seen. It uses a special screw called a ball reverser screw to move the fairlead back and forth in synchronization with the drum. This screw is made of very hard steel, by a US aerospace company. You cannot file it. I have never seen one that was worn out. Even when the winch goes fast the screw turns really slow. The fairlead is pushed by a nut on the screw that has three ball bearings inside. The ball bearings never break and are cheap to replace when they wear. Most other level winders use a blade type follower that is quite easy to break. The screw is driven by a small chain under the aluminum cover. The fairlead can be adjusted to different angles depending on the vertical angle to the sheave wheel. The fairlead has only two rollers rather than the more usual four. They are much larger in diameter than the little ones I have seen on other winches, and have a vee shape, they are made by McGill bearings. Really they are cam follower bearings, but they work really well as a fairlead. This is easier on the cable. The rollers are very hard steel also and do not wear. There is a mechanism that allows the screw to be turned independently of the drum if the follower needs to be re synchronized with the cable on the drum.
Below is a picture of one of our level wind winches. You can see the screw, which has a different shape than the type that uses the blade follower. The rounded profile groove makes it much tougher than the usual rectangular groove. Also you can see the fairlead. This fairlead is better for the high speed of the wireline cable than the typical type that has tiny rollers made from soft steel.
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