A capstan winch uses a rotating drum, or "capstan," to pull a rope that is wrapped around it. Unlike a traditional drum winch that spools the rope onto a fixed drum, a capstan winch allows for an unlimited rope length because the rope is not stored on the machine. This makes it ideal for long-distance cable pulls, as it provides consistent pulling power regardless of the cable length. The operator simply feeds the rope by hand, maintaining tension, while the capstan does all the pulling work.