Dear davego: you gave me an idea. The way to lower a beer barrel down a ramp into cellar would be to have rope long enough to make several winds around barrel in middle of rope, then tie ends together. Then the top rope could be cautiously paid out hand over hand. And considering the value of a barrel of beer, a pair of men and a pair of such ropes would be a good idea.The rope would have to be long enough to have a distance equal to the length of the ramp between you and the barrel, and you would have to walk forward as barrel went down ramp.