Ray got lucky that day and you are going to find out the hard way. 40 feet of 6 inch hose is one thing, try dragging a 4 inch trash pump line through cane mud after a rain when every step you sink to your shin and the hose is full of water. That winch is not about your back, it is about getting the pump set before the water beats you, and 15 minutes by hand turns into 45 real quick when there is nothing solid to stand on. I have watched guys go manual and then go begging for a winch at 2am when a levee is about to cut loose.

Been there with a web design client who swore the 2 percent was "predatory" and then STILL paid 3 weeks late. Flat fees honestly just teach people they can sit on your money for free.

Vacuum gauges are a crutch, plain and simple. The factory spec on a 22RE is 5 degrees BTDC with the terminals jumped, and if you just set it there with a light and a paperclip you wouldn't have been chasing pinging for 3 months. Your gauge method got you smooth because you tuned around a worn out timing chain or a tired distributor advance, not because it's the right way to do it. Peak vacuum can land you 3 or 4 degrees off from where the motor actually wants to be, and on a motor with any valve overlap your reading gets shaky and vague. Buy a $30 timing light, jump the connector, set it to spec, then fix the real problem like the slack in your chain or your knock sensor. Otherwise you're just hiding a worn out motor behind a gauge reading, and it WILL bite you come emissions time.