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PressReleases 
Articles Not Just Fun & Games: YO-YO Technology Saves Time & Boosts Safety on the Water
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
New Winches Reduce Wire Tangles & Speed Making/Breaking Tow
Some of the basic principles that let yo-yos wind and unwind smoothly promise to revolutionize the winches used worldwide to connect barges. Field testing of YO YO™ winches using the new technology from WW Patterson Company of Pittsburgh shows they’re 75 per cent more efficient than old-style ratchets at making up and breaking tow. In addition, the new winches are designed to prevent two of the most dangerous and unstable conditions in a deck-hand’s life: the snarling bird’s nest of tangled rope or wire that results when lines gets kinked or snagged on old-style winches, and the threat of injury from snapped cables.
The YO YO™ Winch Secret
Just like the string wound around the familiar toy, the YO YO™ Winch has a single stack of wire with coils that lay on top of each other. This allows the winch to take up and pay out the cable smoothly. Because it is on a single stacked drum, the wire’s spring coil is contained. So it cannot snarl into a “bird’s nest” or tangle on the drum. On a sudden loss of tension, the wire is enclosed in the drum with safety guards –protecting operators from injury. And the wire can’t jam in the winch, either.
Safety Improvements Built-In
Patented safety improvements are part of the YO YO™ winch design. Over time, snarls and snags in wire reduce its strength and cause the cable to snap unexpectedly under load—jolting back at speeds over 100 miles per hour. By stopping those snags and snarls, the YO YO™ winch from Patterson can prevent injuries—the biggest worry of any towboat captain.
Quick-Change Artist
Bruce Darst, Port Captain for AEP River Operations, field-tested the new Patterson YO YO™ winches. Darst reports, “In three years of field testing eight of the new winches, we only replaced one wire. That suggests the no-tangle features will extend the working life of wire cables. And when we did change the wire, it only took a few minutes – instead of the typical 20 to 30 minutes for our old-style winches.” This quick-change ability comes from a unique swage & socket fitting that only requires one wire wrap on the drum instead of four to achieve its rated holding capacity. And there are no cable clamps or clips to mess with.
“Saves untold time and effort in building tow”
Capt. Darst says the smooth and steady operation of Patterson’s YO YO winches “saves untold time and effort in building tow – they’re easy to use and maintain and far superior to the old-style barge connections that have been used for more than a century.” In fact, field tests show crews can make and break tow in one-quarter the time required by old-style ratchet connections.
That’s a 75% labor savings. And it means that Patterson’s YO YO winches can pay for themselves in just one year.
Built to Last
The YO YO is a 40 ton winch made of plate steel and hardened gearing. All YO YOs come hot-dipped galvanized, with all gearing electroplated to stay rust free in the toughest of brown and blue-water conditions, for years to come. The winch comes with a standard swivel mount which makes it self-aligning, providing greater flexibility in making up tows and eliminating the need for sheaves or other deck fittings such as pad-eyes to direct the line of pull.
And even though YO YO technology is new to the barge industry, it’s backed by the resources of WW Patterson – a company that’s been around for 150 years. Patterson has stayed on top with innovation: its first patent on ratchet tightening tools for barges dates back to 1871.
“Why Wait?”
Patterson President and Owner David Grapes says the YO YO Winch is the result of asking customers what they needed to get their daily work done safer, easier, and faster. “They told us that making up and breaking barge tows is a big part of their job and one that could use some improvement.” The new product, says Grapes, “exceeds even our own high expectations. It’s going to save huge amounts of operator time—and we all know that time is money – while reducing physical wear and tear on deck-hands and their equipment. The safety improvements are every bit as important. And cutting down wire wear and replacement is another big bonus.”
Erik Arlet, Patterson’s Sales and Service Manager, says “these winches, with their sturdy, innovative design, are expected to last many, many years. But they can only start improving your bottom line if you install them on your fleet and start using them. You wouldn’t hold off on something that could cut your fuel bill by 75% or make your car 75% more efficient. Why wait?”
Further information is online at www.pattersonmfg.com
