it would appear to be the outside casing of a winch, the outer case would have turned when power was fed to it and when the brake was applied, power would be transfered via planetry gears and a shaft. This setup is used on double drum winches where a return cable is required, one drum turns the opposite way to the other
Photograph:
🔗Saddlestone,-Moss-Head,-Spion-Kop-and-Scald-Cop---August-2007-Image-043[linkphoto]Saddlestone,-Moss-Head,-Spion-Kop-and-Scald-Cop---August-2007-Image-043[/linkphoto][/link]
I am a mole and i live in a hole !