Abstract: A winch and its power source are anchored as a unit by means of a pair of rearwardly extending flexible cables secured to a suitable fixed object. Extending forwardly from the winch frame is a cable guide controlling the lateral movement of cable to be wound about the drum of the winch. As a cable is wound, the winch unit pivots about a vertical axis, which it automatically establishes, until the cable reaches one end of the drum. Just before the layer is completed, the cable contacts a vertical bar mounted on the cable guide, adjacent the end of the drum, the guide exerting an inwardly directed lateral force causing the winch to pivot about the established vertical axis in the opposite direction and causes the cable to move up one layer and wind a succeeding overlapping layer in the opposite direction until the opposite end of the drum is reached, at which time the action is repeated.