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For decades, barge owners and operators had no rea- son to think twice about their rigging. There were only a few choices when it came to winches, and there were ratchets as well. Because of the simplicity of these machines, few people in the industry were compelled to think critically about how such a basic item might be improved. But winches and ratchets have their downsides: fouling and birdnesting can and do happen. Wire rope is heavy, and traditional rigging takes a lot of it. And old- fashioned winches require a good amount of time and ef- fort to operate. But what else was there? In 2008, the Patterson Manufacturing Company, of Pittsburgh, PA, developed the YoYo Barge Winch, a revo- lutionary design that reß ected a total re-thinking of the way winches do their job. And now, within the next few months, Patterson is on track to deliver its 10,000th winchÑa sig- niÞ cant milestone that reß ects just how thoroughly the YoYo has taken over North AmericaÕs waterways in just a few years. Keeping an Ear on the CustomerDavid Grapes, president and CEO of Patterson, is not surprised at the YoYoÕs success. ThatÕs because the YoYo is a direct result of customer feedback, something the people at Patterson respect and value. The engineers had origi- nally come up with an idea for a YoYo-style power winch, and they presented this to the people at American Electric Power (AEP), headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. and Patter- sonÕs biggest customer. AEP was interested, but it turned out that what they really wanted was a manual winch for barges. ÒWe expanded the idea from there,Ó says Grapes, Òand everybody in the industry has embraced it.Ó ThatÕs not an exaggerationÑPatterson Þ gures that, counting rebuilds and re-rigging, the YoYo has been the preferred winch for several years for more than 50% of the winches in play on an annual basis. With approximately 4,000 to 5,000 winch-sale opportunities per year, thatÕs a lot of YoYos. And once the 10,000th YoYo winch is in- stalled, an overwhelming majority of barges built in the last Þ ve years in the U.S. will boast this revolutionary design. What does this mean for the inland waterways shipping industry? It means heightened productivity and proÞ tabil-ity. Because the YoYo uses a single-stacking design, opera- tors no longer have to deal with springcoil, fouling, and un- controlled spooling. A patented double-dog design allows easy maximum line tensioning and makes it simple to use. The 25 feet of takeup (or 40 feet for tank barge applica-tions) mean less wire rope to heave around and eventually untangle. ÒThe deckhands all prefer the YoYo,Ó says Grapes. DECK MACHINERY Safety Through Standardization Celebrating the 10,000th YoYo Winch. By Kerry Connell www.marinelink.com MN 47MN July14 Layout 32-49.indd 47MN July14 Layout 32-49.indd 476/18/2014 3:44:57 PM6/18/2014 3:44:57 PM
