Yale lever chain hoist

Some years ago I picked up a 1.5 ton Yale lever chain hoist for the price of a couple of beers. It's the type with the roller chain not the standard link version. After a couple of years gathering dust I went to use it for the first time and I can't get it to release any chain. What am I doing wrong? Is there a secret to operating it or do they have part of a mechanism that gums up with lack of use?. I'll dismantle it and have a look if there are no suggestions.
Thanks
Charles

On 10 Jan, 23:39, wells snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
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They have a disk clutch mechanism in the handle under the handwheel knob, a bit like a steering damper, with two steel plates a fibre plate and two buckets of shitty rust, probably got stuck. Mind your fingers when using these things they can be bloody lethal when lowering.
John S.

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:39:30 -0800 (PST), wells snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
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Yale Pul-Lift ?
The clutches that hold the weight are probably stuck together as John says, they are not difficult to strip and clean up, but no grease on the clutch plates!
There's a place at Biggleswade that does spares and repairs if you need them, Anglia Lifting Services or something along those lines, very helpful when I wanted some parts, and they do testing as well.
Peter -- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel http://www.stationary-engine.co.uk http://www.oldengine.co.uk

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:39:30 -0800 (PST), wells snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
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If it's been put away 'loaded' - maybe you had been pulling something along rather than lifing and lowering - they can be a real bu**er to start, *lots* of force needed on the handle to release the clutch.
Tim