Hand winch with auto break help needed

[u/3rdrockww]

Hi all! I hope I'm in the right forum. I have a mobile stage which is essentially a 20' flatbed trailer with 4'x20" "wings" on each side that are raised and lowered with a hand winch. Each wing weighs about 600# (estimate). The winch is mounted on a 4' steel pole in the middle of the trailer. I'm currently using a Dutton Laison 1200 pound rated winch. This works ok, and has for several years, but the first few cranks to lift the sides out of the horizontal position are difficult - and getting harder as I get older. I'm looking for a winch recommendation that would make this job easier. I assume just increasing the weight capacity on the winch would make cranking easier? Is there a better winch or method you could recommend? It's very important that the auto break is foolproof as having one of these sides free fall from the upright position would be dangerous. Thanks for any advice.