Rock,
Is yours a Maasdam or something else?
I have used their cable pullers for many years, and aside from bending a handle sideways, (which was easy to straighten), they have been indestructable.
Myron
It's a Maasdam. The handle twisted and couldn't be moved to back off the tension. Like I said, it's one of the old 1k ones so maybe the newer ones are build different.