Wooden Winch Pulls Mini Van!

I have always been fascinated with winches and gears, so I thought I should try to make one out of wood. I based this one on a metal winch, also known as a ratchet lever hoist. 

I began by constructing a gear using sign-grade pressure treated ply wood.  For leverage and strength I made a large handle. To test the strength of this winch I attempted to pull a mini van weighing 3000 pounds. If my test was unsuccessful and the winch broke, there would have been no risk to myself or the vehicles as there was no tension outside of the winch itself. So the winch would have snapped, and the vehicles would roll in to their blocks. The winch passed the test! If you don’t believe me, check out the video.