Grandpa  had  one  for  a million years,   so  I thought I'd buy a  'new' one  about 10 years ago, and  start  my 'legacy'..    Dumb gears ate themselves up  in  about  5 rolls  of  wire!  Pure   junk material!   Keeping the  gears  'set'  on a hollow tube with a set screw  is  the dumbest thing I've ever seen.     That   hydraulic motor idea is  a good one.

I bought a  hydraulic one  built in  SD    after  3 days  of  the Jet going south..   MILES AND MILES  later....    

  I hook the  hoses  back together on themselves,   for  unrolling/braking  action of   the spool..    and use the  speed control to   adjust the  amount of   tension for unrolling.