Ratchet cap for winch

A winch used for tightening a strap to retain an article, which may be cargo, on the deck of a vehicle has a ratcheting mechanism which tightens the strap around a cylindrical shaft. A ratchet cap installed on the winch has two sections. One of these sections is fixedly attached to the winch drive shaft This first section has a plurality of spaced recesses running around a surface plate thereof. Spring urged pins with rounded end surfaces are mounted in receptacles formed in the second cap section. The rounded ends of the spring urged pins are urged against the surfaces of the recesses. The pins are prevented from moving out of the recesses in one direction by a right angled end portion of the recess in this one direction and are free to move out of a recess over a slanted recess end portion into an adjoining recess in the opposite direction. At least one aperture is formed in the cap into which a lever for driving the winch is fitted. When the lever hits against the deck and cannot be moved any further, the ratchet cap can be rotated in its free moving direction to enable further driving of the winch downwardly to tighten the strap.