RARE RUGER YANKEE HOIST

T.A. WORKMAN · Jul 23, 2025

I was lucky enough to finally find a Ruger Yankee Hoist and bought it back in February.
While I was talking to the lady she told me some background on her grandfather & dad who were both long time Ruger employee's.
She informed me that a collector out of Alabama had purchased a one of a kind revolver, that her grandfather & dad had built at Ruger.
She further stated that he was writing a special article on it for the ROCS Journal. I ask her if the collector happened to be FT44 / Bill Hamm and she replied yes.
We had quite a nice chat, it was her grandfather who had owned this hoist. Small world

:)
Bills article on the gun was in the Spring 2025 ROCS Journal VOL. 12, Issue #1.
Terry

contender · Jul 23, 2025

GREAT find!

I got one a while back,, AND a Clydesdale one to match it. I displayed my Ruger on in 2024 at the OGCA/ROCS show,, and it drew a lot of admirers!

T.A. WORKMAN · Jul 24, 2025

Thanks Ty,
Did you ever have any luck in getting Todd Walther's to make things right on the one you bought ?
From the time line on the paper work this would have been about the time Steve Vogel was put in charge according to JD.
Terry

Before clean up,
As you can see he had the wire rope pulled through the hoist, ready for business. I had communicated with contender about the shipping on his.
He told me he had his shipped in two separate parcels which is an excellent idea.

How ever that would have required me to ask the lady to remove the wire rope from the hoist itself, and then rewind the rope back into the carrier
which weights 44 lbs. loaded. Fella's I just could not bring myself to do that, so I ponied up and had her shipped as you see it.

contender · Jul 24, 2025

Nope,, Todd Walthers NEVER,, ever replied to my inquiries or made any adjustments. He claimed it was a Ruger winch,, but it wasn't.

I bet that shipping cost a bit. But I understand why you chose to do so!

My cable came on a spool, & not a carrier like yours. Interesting. Makes me wonder if there is more than one type of cable carrier,, "as manufactured?? "

Great that you got it Terry!

T.A. WORKMAN · Jul 24, 2025

YANKEE MECHANIC'S / RUGER CLYDESDALE WINCH

Re: Yankee Mechanic's Inc. Clydesdale

Post by John C. Dougan » Thu Jan 02, 2025 1:34 pm

Hello Guys,

I authored an article that appeared in an RCA JOURNAL a few years back. Below is the narrative from that article. I can't locate the actual JOURNAL, probably 2021-2022. The posts before this one have plenty of good photos, so I did not add them to this.

Yankee Mechanics manufactured three models of wire rope hand winch hoists. The model A had a lift rating of ¾ ton, the model B has a lift rating of 1 ½ ton and the model B-3 rated at 1 ½ - 3 tons. Suggested list prices were $133.25, $153.75 and $169.25 respectively. The heavy-duty steel carrying case was an additional $20.50.

Yankee mechanics was established in New Hampshire in the 1960s. Sturm, Ruger & Co. acquired the company in the early 1970s and changed the name from the Yankee Winch Hoist to the Clydesdale Winch Hoist. And, the corporate address was changed to Southport, CT and designated as a subsidiary of Sturm, Ruger & Co. The Clydesdale logo trademark application was filed in 1971 and registration was dated 5/29/73.

The late Stephen Vogel who was married to Bill Ruger's daughter Molly was assigned to head up the winch hoist division when he first came to work at Sturm, Ruger & Co. in 1971-72. Vogel managed to get the company organized and negotiated a hefty purchase order from the military, it was later canceled, sales were slow. A few years later W.F. Lett Manufacturing in Concord, NH acquired Yankee Mechanics.

There were at least two distinct product catalogs, both have four pages. The narrative is not the same. The Yankee Winch Hoist name was supplanted by the Clydesdale Winch Hoist name. The manufacturer remained Yankee Mechanics.

Regards, John