Due to the direction of the forces applied to the gears and the direction of rotation of the mechanism, the gearbox must be located on the right side of the winch. It does not disadvantage either left-handed or right-handed user as both hands are used in the process and users quickly adopt the technique required to tiedown a load with the BOA WINCH. In practice, the right hand is used a little more, so a right-handed user could feel at an advantage.