A rope pulling apparatus including a drum for having rope wound therearound and a drive apparatus for providing power to the rope pulling apparatus and driving the drum's rotations. The rope pulling apparatus also includes a speed control apparatus monitoring the rope being pulled and wound on the drum and a controller for determining the speed of the rope and adjusting the drive apparatus to speed up or slow down the rotation of the drum responsive to the speed of the rope. A method of winding rope on a drum at a constant rope speed. The method includes winding a rope at a desired constant rope speed onto a drum with a rope pulling apparatus and determining a speed of the rope. The method also includes adjusting power of the rope pulling apparatus to achieve the desired constant speed.