In March 2026 Amy, one of the people behind Roamate, reached out to Thomas Manzell, a customer and engineer from the United States, to test a tool for senior users to get the 37‑pound Roamate into a car or truck.

The Roamate was designed as a lightweight mobility device, but lifting it into a vehicle is still daunting for someone with limited strength or balance. Falls are a leading cause of injuries among adults aged 65 and older[1], so it was important that any solution be intuitive and safe.

If you’d rather skip ahead to a simpler 'how-to' guide with ready-to-purchase Amazon links, Check out our streamlined "how-to" guide here. Otherwise, stay right here to read the whole intriguing story!

At the very beginning, we sent Tom a rope-based pulling system to experiment with—essentially a manual lifting setup using winches. We included two versions: one smaller, more manageable unit, and one much heavier-duty version with thicker ropes—what Tom later jokingly described as something that looked like it was designed to pull deer, elk… or Godzilla out of the woods.

Here are the deer pullers:

On the first warm day of spring, Tom unpacked the two winches that Amy had shipped. One was the heavy-duty “Moose” winch, and the other a smaller six-roller hand winch. He chose the smaller unit to begin testing on his wife's Toyota RAV4.

As he examined the rope system, Tom noticed a Prusik knot tied onto it. The Prusik is a friction hitch commonly used in climbing, but in this context, he couldn’t immediately see its purpose—so he removed it to simplify the setup (It was only later that Tom realized this knot was actually critical to the system: it acted as a stopper or locking mechanism. Without it, the rope could no longer hold position after each pull, which meant the system lost its ability to “pause” mid-lift.)

Tom attached a loop strap around RAV4’s hatch hinge and clipped the winch to it. He laid a small carpet on the bumper to protect the paint. A second loop strap attached to the Roamate provided a lifting point.

By pulling steadily on the rope, he could raise the Roamate with one arm. However, the winch required continuous tension, forcing him to hold the rope taut while manoeuvring the device into the trunk.

Tom pointed out that, although he could manage the task, many older users might struggle to maintain tension while repositioning the Roamate. He concluded that a locking winch (one that ratchets and holds the load without constant tension) would be more practical.

Revisiting the "Prusik knot"

Amy pointed out that the reason there was no locking mechanism was because Tom had already taken that "knot" off the winch. After understanding the intended function of the Prusik knot, Tom reflected on whether it was practical for the average Roamate user.

Note that the unit on the left utilizes a black rope paired with a white friction hitch, while the version on the right is equipped with a white rope and a black locking knot.

The Prusik knot was meant to act as a manual stopper on the rope system. But the user had to understand where the knot should sit and how to make sure it was creating enough friction. If the knot was not repositioned properly, it might not grip the rope as intended. For someone unfamiliar with knots and rope systems, that extra step could easily become confusing.

This was why Tom started leaning away from the rope-based system. A mechanical ratchet, by comparison, gives a much more obvious and reliable sense of control: pull, click, hold. That made it feel more intuitive for everyday users.

If you're open to pulling a bit of rope, search Amazon for a "Rope Hoist Pulley System" and pick one that fits your needs. Here are two quick examples to get you started: YATOINTO Rope Hoist Pulley | YATOINTO Rope Hoist Pulley with straps

If you’d like to see how the Rope Hoist Puller works in action, feel free to watch this video by Amy.

Trying the back seat

After the attempt on the trunk, Tom thought of loading the Roamate through the RAV4’s rear passenger door. He attached one loop strap to the frame of the Roamate and another to the metal strut of the driver’s headrest.

Feeding the winch rope through these points, he tried lifting the device into the seat. Unfortunately the Roamate dug into the upholstery and refused to slide smoothly. He concluded that the seat surface created too much friction and that the geometry made it awkward to manoeuvre. Trunk access remained the preferred path.

Amy’s Take: Some of our users actually found different ways to pull the Roamate to the back seat—just not from behind. Check out this facebook post from Julie who explained how a simple stool could help you pull the Roamate to the back of your car seat! Tools don’t need to be complex, or even developed by yourself.

If you’d like to see how Julie’s stool method works, check out this video of us replicating the method (not quite).

Early April: The ratchet strap

Searching for a simpler mechanism, Tom purchased a one‑inch retractable ratchet strap. Unlike the winch, a ratchet strap automatically locks after each pull, so the user doesn’t have to maintain tension.

Putting “retractable ratchet strap” in the search box on Amazon will give you plenty of results. However, most of them seem to come in packs of two, four, or enough straps to secure a small yacht. If you manage to find a link that works better for Roamate’s needs, definitely add them in the comment section! Here are some of them:

Rhino USA Retractable Ratchet Straps (4-Pack)

DC Cargo Mall Auto Retractable Ratchet Straps (2-Pack)

Erickson Pro Series 2in x 10ft Black Retractable Ratcheting Tie-Down Straps

And here’s what Tom got:

When Tom first tried the strap on its own, the Roamate “dug into” his improvised carpets. He realised that reducing friction was key.

The Breakthrough: Finding the Perfect Friction Reducer

He considered various friction reducers — chair mats for carpeted offices, sleds used to haul deer carcasses and plastic snow sleds — and eventually settled on a 26‑inch polyethylene snow sled. Its curved shape and handles provided both a low‑friction surface and attachment points for the strap.

Here is the sled Tom bought:

Slippery Racer Heavy-Duty Snow Sled with Handles

He perfected the method over several days:

Well, if you’d like to skip the block of texts and watch the video (of us replicating the ratchet strap method, it’s here).

1. Placement: lay a plastic mat or sled halfway into the trunk so that half of it extends outside onto the ground.
2. Positioning the Roamate: set the folded Roamate beside the sled.
3. Threading the strap: pull about 7 feet of strap from the ratchet. Feed the loose end between the sled and the Roamate’s left side, under the seat, over the right arm rest, through the seat handle and back over the left arm rest. Clip it back onto the strap to make a loop.
4. Ratcheting: pull the handle to tighten. The strap clamps the Roamate to the sled and slowly tips the assembly up. Because the sled slides easily, you can reposition it so that its handle sits above the Roamate’s arm rest. Continue ratcheting until the device is level with the trunk floor, then push the sled and Roamate inside.
5. Stowing the mat: once inside, pull the remainder of the mat or sled into the trunk and release the strap if desired.

Tom also picked up on a subtle but crucial detail during his testing: he found that wrapping the strap all the way around the Roamate, rather than relying on a single attachment point, distributed the pulling force evenly and kept the Roamate securely locked against the sled.

“Wrap vs Hook Point”

Instead of relying on a single hook point, Tom started experimenting with wrapping the strap around the body of the Roamate—running it under the seat, over the armrests, and through the seat handle. This did two things at once: it distributed the load more evenly across the frame, and it naturally “hugged” the Roamate into a more stable shape during lifting.

Amy’s Take: Beyond the low-friction sled breakthrough, this was another area where Tom’s ingenuity truly shone. While the Roamate’s handle provides a convenient single attachment point, this wrapping method—combined with the sled handle integration—transforms the Roamate from an awkwardly shaped object (from a pulling system’s perspective) into an ideal object to pull smoothly into a vehicle.

You can take a closer look at the wrap method in this video. But the pictures above might be a more accurate demo of how Tom wrapped it.

Refinements and wider straps

By mid‑April Tom was confident that the ratchet‑strap‑and‑sled approach worked, but he continued to refine it. He ordered a 2‑inch retractable ratchet strap because manufacturers told him that the wider handle would provide more mechanical advantage (The better mechanical advantage actually came from the longer handle that comes with the wider straps, not the wider strap itself).

Tom initially tried a cheaper, unbranded 2-inch red ratchet strap from Amazon, but it caused immediate problems. It wouldn't release while under tension because the anchor strap wrapped around the headrest blocked the ratchet handle from closing properly.

After returning it, Tom purchased a Rhino retractable ratchet strap and was delighted with it. In the locked position, the strap can still be pulled out, allowing the user to thread it through the sled and around the Roamate without having to manipulate the ratchet body. Furthermore, if too much strap is pulled out, pressing a small release button rewinds it automatically.

In his detailed instructions Tom described the sequence:

1. Clamp the ratchet strap to the headrest strut.
2. Pull out enough strap to reach the ground plus extra.
3. Loop the strap through the sled handle. Thread it under the Roamate’s seat, over the arm rests, through the seat handle and back through the sled handle.
4. Rachet until the tipping point: the strap will clamp the Roamate to the sled. Continue until the assembly tips up; then push the sled into the trunk.
5. Lock the strap: once the Roamate is inside, lock the strap (handle down) so you can pull out more strap to rotate the Roamate or reposition it.
6. To remove the Roamate, pull the sled and Roamate towards you; the strap will remain under tension, assisting in a controlled descent. He cautioned users to keep their feet clear of the wheels when the Roamate touches the ground.

Tom offered a helpful tip for users with limited arm strength: stiffen your arm, lean back and use your body weight to pull the strap rather than relying on your arm muscles alone.

A handle extender for easier ratcheting

While the Rhino strap made lifting easier, Tom wanted to reduce the effort further. He searched online for handle extenders but found them expensive and oversized. Then he tried attaching an eight‑inch curved‑jaw vice grip from his toolbox to the ratchet handle. The extra leverage was transformative — he could “dead lift the Roamate with a couple of fingers.”

Vice grips are inexpensive and widely available at hardware stores, perhaps your toolbox.

Better than Ratcheting? The American Power Pull come-along

Hoping to find an easier mechanism than standard manual ratcheting, and inspired from the longer handle mechanical advantage from the 2 inch ratchet straps, Tom purchased an American Power Pull come-along tool. He had high hopes for it.

The experiment quickly crashed in practice. Tom found the tool completely impractical for the Roamate setup because its strap was permanently locked to the winch body, making it incredibly tedious to pull out enough line. Worse, releasing the tension to lower the sled back down was painfully slow and difficult.

May: Digging into Plan C (and D and E…)

By May, Tom’s workshop looked like a catalogue of winches and straps. But he wasn’t content to stop; curiosity (and a bit of skepticism) pushed him to try everything he could think of.

The chain hoist that jammed

He started with a compact chain hoist – the kind sold for lifting engines. On the State‑of‑the‑Art Test Stand (SOTATS), it hoisted a 40‑pound bag of salt effortlessly. But in the RAV4 trunk, the chain bunched and jammed, locking the mechanism mid‑lift. “This can only be used for vertical lifts,” he concluded.

Boat winches? Not quite.

Next on the list were boat trailer winches: Tom bought a two-way Boat Trailer Winch with 4:1 and 8:1 gear ratios.

However, because they couldn't be bolted to a solid base, they spun and twisted as soon as they were under load, tangling themselves in the strap and nearly smacking Tom’s knuckles. “Doable but awkward,” he admitted, and sent them back to Amazon.

Enough Manual ways, Let’s Go Electric!

Despite the success of the ratchet straps, Tom worried that some users would still struggle to crank the manual way.

Right after plan C, D and E "crashed and burned," Tom completely pivoted. He wrote: "I am rethinking for little old ladies and weak seniors”, why not try something that completely does the work for you?

He found a mini electric hoist winch on Amazon that could mount to the rear headrest and lift the Roamate using a hoisting strap. Because it ran on standard 110-volt AC power, Tom paired it with a compact, 6.5-pound Bailibatt portable power station so the lifting system could operate completely independently of the car’s electrical grid.

By pairing the mini winch with the lightweight battery pack, Tom created a powered lifting layout that successfully eliminated physical arm strain during loading. Tom noted that the total cost for the winch, power pack, hoist strap, and swivel snap hooks came out to slightly below $200. And it’s a one button job to lift the Roamate up.

Late May: Enter the Drill‑Winch

The electric winch is perfect in terms that it doesn’t require any manual power, except for the set up. However, it does come with its shortbacks. The 21 pound winch could be challenging to put on the head strut, and because the winch pulls so fast, the extreme torque/current trips the built-in safety sensor on the winch, cutting power completely before the Roamate is fully stowed. While the Roamate is far enough inside the trunk that you can easily finish pushing it by hand, having the power abruptly cut out mid-cycle could be an annoyance.

While sifting through product pages for yet another strap‑based solution, Tom revisited a device he had initially dismissed: a “drill‑winch.”

This tool uses a standard cordless power drill to drive an internal spool of cable. While the phrase “drill winch” itself can sound scary, it is actually a 13-pound winch and a drill which many people already have, allowing you to let the drill do all the heavy lifting in a clever, hybrid setup.

By pulling the drill's trigger, the rotational power of the drill is converted into pulling force, offering a lightweight, variable-speed alternative to a traditional electric winch.

Amy’s take: This half-manual, half-electric option completely avoids the bulk of the 22-pound pure electric winch. Instead, it gives you a slower, more deliberate loading process, offering the flexibility to modulate the speed exactly when you need to for maximum control.

Steel VS synthetic cable

Tom would highly recommend the more expensive drill winch with synthetic rope one instead of steel cable. That detail matters; steel cables can bird’s‑nest and jam unless kept under constant tension. Synthetic rope, on the other hand, spools neatly and is far safer if it ever snaps.

The unexpected hero

It arrived at his door on a Tuesday. By that weekend he was ready to give it a “GOLD STAR” review. “Second place is so far down as to be almost invisible,” he wrote.

For around US$175 (drill winch, 3/8‑inch rechargeable drill, 4‑foot hoist strap and a sled), users could have an almost effortless lift system.

Step‑by‑step: The drill‑winch method

Again, if you’d like to skip the texts, here is the video (of Amy trying the TM drill winch method)

Anchor: Hook the winch’s rope to the center headrest bar of the back seat. Pull out rope until it reaches the ground.

Wrap: Thread a four‑foot hoist strap under the folded Roamate seat, over the right armrest, through the carry handle, back over the left armrest, then through the sled handle. Clip the strap onto itself. (That “wrap vs hook” insight from April still applies.)

Winch: Snap the drill onto the winch. Reel in the rope; the sled and Roamate tip upward smoothly. Stop when the assembly is level with the trunk floor, then push it inside.

Adjust: Loosen a few inches of rope, rotate the Roamate 90° so its wheels clear the hatch, and close the trunk.

Unload: To get it back out, reverse the process: pull the sled toward you until the rope tightens, then run the drill in reverse. The synthetic rope holds its position whenever the drill stops, so the load never slips.

The adapter

In Tom’s notes to Amy he stressed two details: use a magnetic 5/16‑to‑1/4‑inch nut‑driver adapter so the drill can snap on and off the winch hands‑free, and stick to a 4‑foot hoist strap.

Shorter strap

Longer straps simply create slack and complexity when threading through the sled. 4 foot is the golden standard.

The positioning

Position the Roamate with its drive wheels facing the left side of the trunk; this protects the joystick and ensures the left armrest nests under the sled handle.

The chain hoist: A surprising come back

Sometimes, an engineer revisits a failed experiment out of pure convenience. During "Plan C," Tom’s first attempt with this tool had crashed and burned. In the tight quarters of the RAV4 trunk, the chain had bunched up, jammed completely, and left Tom frustrated enough to declare, “This can only be used for vertical lifts.”

A few weeks later, looking at the $38 device sitting in his garage, he decided to tinker with it one more time. And that’s when he cracked the code and discovered the secret to its success: constant tension.

[ Headrest Hook ]

│

(Chain passes through)

│

▼

┌───────────────────────┐

│ Chain Winch │ ◄─── Hand 1: Holds constant tension

└───────────┬───────────┘

│

▼ (Ratchets with Hand 2)

[ Sled + Roamate ] ──► Pulls past tipping point

He passed the chain right through the hook by the headrest, reversing the standard layout. He discovered that if he used the hoist's free-spooling mode, he could effortlessly adjust the chain length and tension before even starting.

Once engaged, the loading process became a coordinated, two-handed dance:

Apply Tension: Pull the chain taut with one hand to keep the mechanism from bunching.

Ratchet: Crank the winch handle with the other hand.

Pause & Reset: Take a few ratchets, stop to untangle the free chain if necessary, and then continue cranking.

Using this method, the little winch pulled the sled and Roamate straight up and past the vehicle's tipping point with little arm strength.

"Now, it is not all that wonderful because you have to keep constant tension with one hand while ratcheting with the other," he noted. There is absolutely a learning curve to mastering the rhythm, unlike the effortless pull of the drill winch.

But for budget-conscious users, the math is impossible to ignore: $38 for the winch, plus the sled and straps, brings the entire system to just $78.

While the drill winch remains the gold standard, Tom officially updated his leaderboard, ranking the ease of this rediscovered chain hoist at a highly respectable 70% of the drill winch's performance—making it a budget-friendly victory born from a tool that almost ended up in the scrap heap. 

Tom later added a separate swivel hook for the excess chain instead of running both chains through the same hook. "Static tests showed smoother movement of the chain and better separation of the two chains" he said.

This is the swivel hook which, according to Tom, greatly improves lifting ease.

Tom's 3-Month Testing Retrospective

After exhausting weeks of hands-on garage trials on his custom test stand and various vehicles, Tom compiled a final ranking of the loading configurations based on physical effort, safety, and overall practicality.

The drill‑winch pulled the Roamate into Tom’s trunk in about 20 seconds and lowered it in 25. The only physical effort required was sliding the sled 90° to reposition the wheels.

From a design perspective, this new tool felt like the culmination of the entire beta journey. It combined the low friction of the sled with the security of a ratcheting mechanism, but it offloaded the heavy lifting onto a small electric motor. For users who already own a cordless drill, the upgrade cost is even lower.

Shout out from Tom: if you plan to use a drill you already own: ensure it features a 3/8-inch chuck. A smaller 1/4-inch drill simply won’t open up wide enough to fit around the drill-winch shaft.

Amy’s Take: What It’s Actually Like to Lift It

In terms of physical strength required, the rope and ratchet strap methods are surprisingly similar. Both can get the job done, but both become difficult when the Roamate reaches the vehicle's tipping point—the moment where the most force is required.

But the rope method is just plain messy. If I had to give the ratchet strap one major advantage, it's that the strap is already built in and automatically retracts, making storage and setup much cleaner than dealing with loose rope.

What impressed me most wasn't actually the pulling tools themselves—it was Tom's supporting innovations around them.

The first was his wrap-around attachment method. While the Roamate's handle provides a perfectly usable single hook point, the wrap-around system distributes the load more effectively and creates a much more secure connection during the pull.

The second was the sled. The Roamate is an awkward object to pull: it has multiple protruding parts, creates friction at various contact points, and has a tendency to catch, drag, or tip. The sled is just the perfect translation device that turns a complicated mobility aid into the ideal shape for loading.

The drill winch isn't just another pulling tool. It builds on the sled and wrap-around system to create a loading process that is controlled, predictable, and requires almost no physical effort. What initially looked like the least favourable solution ended up feeling like the most elegant one. I became a strong advocate for it after trying it myself!

On Car Types:

Early in the project, Tom pointed out that not all vehicles behave the same. At first he thought the rear hatch hinge on his Toyota RAV4 might serve as a convenient anchor point for the winch. He quickly abandoned that idea because the angle did not pull the Roamate into the trunk effectively. Instead, he attached the winch to the headrest strut of the back seat, which provided a strong, central anchor and a straight pull. 

The RAV4’s wide, top‑opening hatch makes it relatively easy to find a good anchor, but not every vehicle is laid out the same way. Depending on your car, you may need to get creative and identify a similarly sturdy attachment point—such as a headrest strut or another structural element—to achieve the proper pulling angle. 

Final thoughts from Roamate:

One quote from Tom really stuck with us throughout this project:

“I sat down (actually I was already down, but that seems more poetic) and thought, ‘What could I do better for elderly users?’”

That mindset shaped everything he did.

Tom approached this project from the perspective of a real product manager. He wasn't just asking whether a solution could work mechanically; he was asking whether a real user could actually use it comfortably, safely, and repeatedly.

At the same time, he's an excellent engineer who never stops at "good enough." If something worked, he immediately started looking for a way to make it work better. That’s how we eventually come to the drill winch method.

And here’s the part we didn’t expect:

We originally thought this would turn into a product—a dedicated lifting system we would design and develop ourselves. That's why we chose a beta tester.

But Tom ended up going in a completely different direction.

Instead of building something new, he pieced together a solution using simple, off-the-shelf parts—a ratchet strap, a drill winch, a sled, small adjustments here and there—and it just… worked. Not perfectly, but practically. And more importantly, it was something anyone could easily buy and use.

After internal discussions, we made a call:

Instead of turning this into another product, we would step back and document the entire journey—not just the final methods, but the thinking, experimentation, failures, improvements, and discoveries that led to them, from Tom Manzell.

Partly because the solutions were already practical and accessible enough for people to recreate themselves. But more importantly, because we felt Tom's work deserved to be documented.

That's why these 19 pages exist.

Not because we wanted to sell another accessory, but because we wanted to preserve and share the remarkable amount of thought, ingenuity, and persistence that Tom invested into solving a problem many people simply accepted as unavoidable.

And for that, we're really grateful to Tom.

[1] Older Adult Falls Data | Older Adult Fall Prevention | CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/falls/data-research/index.html

[2] Prusik - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik