Quantum Paraglider Winch, and Others

Let's look at some specific winches, including the Quantum paraglider winch. 'Now you're talkin' I hear you say!

Websites tend to spring up around some aspect of towing, or some specific organization, and the focus is on just one specific winch or type of winch. Where there is a choice, it's usually between a small number of commercial winches.

This page is an attempt to bring together some useful information for the purpose of comparing some commercial winches such as the Quantum paraglider winch. The specific names of towing units and the people who create them might be handy for your own further enquiries. Type them into a search engine, or toss them into a conversation at a forum or flying site.

There's probably many more out there, but here's an example of a crowd who have made their plans available for the payout winch they use. Skytribe South Africa have a CD which is available for a small outlay.

Here's some ideas for what you can mount the Quantum paraglider winch on, based on what people have actually done. With some extra metalwork I suspect, in some cases.

• car roof
• car trunk (boot)
• boat
• pick-up (ute)
• jeep
• quad bike!

Some Good Commercial Winches

It should be easy to do some basic comparisons at a glance.

Company: Greg Justus
Winch: Quantum Payout Winch
Tensioning system: belt tension over a rotating drum, set before launch
Weight: ??
Rewinding: reduction starter motor, with rubber wheel
Price: US$1200 plus shipping from South Africa
Other comments:

• proven reliability in hot, dry, dusty conditions
• very good rigidity
• stainless steel guillotine
• rewind motor apparently strong enough to get the line out of trees
• manual rewind also available
• simple, all-mechanical
• plenty of people seem to be looking for the Quantum paraglider winch!

Company: Towing Systems
Winch: WB-PY-H Payout Winch
Tensioning system: manual friction brake + force pointer
Weight: weight 30 - 45 kg (66 - 99 lbs)
Rewinding: 0.8 KW Electric Motor at 80 kph (40 mph)
Price: AUS$3700 inc GST, add roughly 25% for US$
Other comments:

• Towing Systems has been designing towing and braking systems since 1992
• instructions for work and service
• remote control unit available, in case operator can't be right next to the winch
• drum 33 cm (13 inches) in diameter
• 1.5 KW rewind motor available for extra AUS$620 (recommended for drogue chutes in water)
• salt water option available for extra AUS$900

Tribal Flight Paragliding has been appointed the Australian and New Zealand distributor for Towing Systems. What is it with this 'tribal' thing? Sky Tribe South Africa, Tribal Flight Paragliding... Do any paragliding pilots actually take off wearing a loin-cloth? Or have a thermal ceremony before heading out to the towing field with their trusty Quantum paraglider winch? ;-)

Company: Dugite Tow Systems
Winch: Dugite Tow Winch
Tensioning system: Hydraulic payout system plus electronics, smoothly adjustable from 1 kg (2 lbs) upwards
Weight: less than 28 kg (60 lbs)
Rewinding: electric rewind, not a starter motor, at 30 kph (19 mph)

Price: will be for sale for around AUS$7500 (US$5500)
Other comments:

• Western Australian based company, involved in manufacturing and design engineering field for over 20 years
• designed for single operator (that's 1 operator, it's ok if they're married!)
• 2 of these can fit in the trunk (boot) of the small Hyundai Excel!
• full bearings
• billet alloy construction where possible
• single tow or tandem tow Dugite winch available
• Dugite Tow Systems can be shipped anywhere in the world air freight

Company: SuperTow
Winch: SuperTow Hydraulic Payout Winch
Tensioning system: hydraulic payout system
Weight: less than 28 kg (60 lbs)
Rewinding: 6.5 HP manual start Honda motor
Price: US$6875
Other comments:

• the SuperTow winch is suitable for heavy workload
• gives very smooth tows
• downloadable Hydraulic Winch Circuit Description and Operations Manual
• 12.5 gallon hydraulic oil tank with integral strainer
• 15 GPM hydraulic oil cooler
• 64" tall tracking head with 360 degree swivel
• CNC machined, aluminum, ventilated line drum with taper lock hub mounting system
• all required hydraulic components, hoses, gauge, main system relief valve, piloted relief valve, check valves etc.
• winch mounting blocks

Company: Koch
Winch: Koch Winch System
Tensioning system: throttle, this is a stationary winch
Weight: pretty heavy by the looks (I've seen a photo)
Rewinding: n/a
Price: expensive
Other comments:

• the winch uses 2 drums, making launching much more efficient than with single-drum systems
• a club in Poland has done 190 launches in a single day using this setup
• mounted in a safety cage, on small trailer
• reputation for being fast and durable
• some models have a tension meter, some don't

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Last updated: 17 Mar 2010

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