How can I mount a winch to a steel pole?

Question

In order to raise -- and tighten -- a volleyball net every evening, we've attached a winch to one of the poles. The attachment is by two bolts going into the existing threaded holes in the pole.

It works, but the bolts aren't thick and, because the winch goes side-to-side a little, when the net is raised or taken down, I am afraid, they might snap eventually.

As you can see in the picture, the implement has two other holes -- plastic zip-ties are running through them now -- which could be used with some sort of U-bolt. Except a straight U-bolt will not work, because the pole's diameter is 3″, whereas the distance between holes is under 2″.

Hence my question about some sort of Ω-bolt (or Ʊ-bolt?) -- which would "hug" the 3-inch pole, but with the threaded ends going into the holes available? Do such things exist -- and, if so, what are they called?

Any other suggestions? I thought of using steel hose-clamps -- but they all tend to be wider, than our holes. And not as hard as a bolt would be, anyway -- just a little better than the plastic zip-ties...

Answer 1

I would use a conduit hanger.

It goes around the pole, tighten the nut and bolt that's on the left side in Pic. This will clamp the hanger onto the pipe.

On the right side, I added a small bolt, this is where you would secure the winch to the hanger/pole.

** Edit ** You could use a piece of kindorf with a kindorf strap...

Strap around pipe, kindorf other side of pipe and attach winch to kindorf. If you don't have small fingers, attach winch to kindorf first. For added strength from the strap sliding around the pole, you can screw through the strap into the pipe.

They have different types of kindorf, thick/thin, holes or slots.

Everything I mentioned can be found in a hardware store or big box store.

Answer 2

A U-bolt could pretty easily be bent to suit. Squeeze it together after it's on the pole, then wrap it with some wire. Now take a wrench, pliers, or bit of pipe and bend the legs back to parallel. An extra deep U-bolt might make this all easier, and you may need to trim the ends after shaping, for clearance.

This would also serve to stabilize it laterally, as the legs would grab the winch base at the outer ends of the mounting slot (they'll be pulled outward by the tension from the wider pole). Super simple and rock solid, especially if there's another slot at the bottom.

Answer 3

Strong and Firm

This is a pole bracket for a security camera. Buy the right size for your pole, so the gap between the ends of the wings is about half the pole diameter (or less). Search for "security camera pole bracket". They are not expensive.

Secure it to the pole with two or three metal hose clamps.

The resulting strength of the attachment to the pole is incredible, and the large face with versatile holes allows you to attach your crank very securely also.

Here I have two of them attached to a 4 inch pole in my garage. I'm using them with cleats not winches because I'm using block and tackle in my garage, and I'm only using one hose clamp because I don't have the kind of stresses that a winch would apply.

I think this is more suitable than brackets that are mainly intended to keep pipes from falling off walls.