guys with winches, I need advice

[Ian Sharpe]

I tried out my new magnum 9k winch this weekend. Good for straightening crooked fence posts!.


Works great but I have a couple of Qs.

The manual says to ensure that the winch cable winds on straight & that all coils should be alingned next to each other so that there are no gaps for the cable to get caught in.

Problem is , in order to do this I have to be about 1 foot from the winch & guiding the cable by hand. Two big no nos according to the manual.

So how do you do it??

also I bought a block so that I could double the pulling power etc.

So if my cable is rated at say 10k lbs & suddenly I can put twice the strain on it, does it give way or just stretch, also sounds like a good way to rip the bar off the Paj!..

any advice

cheers

[STIKA]

Place you car facing up a slight grade then wind the rope on under tension (May be put the handbrake on a couple of clicks) if you winch on clear gonud and the pull is in a direct line you should have little trouble getting the cable to wnd on side by side

If the cable over lap you may squash the cable when recovering under load and this will reduce the life of you cable

If you install a hook with a swivel this will help as well

[Alex Kogan]

Using a block won't double the strain on the cable. Strain depends solely on pull of the winch.

You don't have to watch the cable. Once it got some tension it will wind up properly so you can stay as far as you remote alows and apply some tension on the cable. Just always wear the gloves.

[DougH]

There was a little article on a winch tool that some one made, over on 4x4wire.com. They basically bent a gardening tool (weeder?) , so they could use it to direct the cable.

The synthetic winch cable is great, gloves, no gloves, no problem.

[Ian Sharpe]

Doug,

is the synthetic cable prone to damage like being jammed etc

cheers

[DougH]

Doug,

is the synthetic cable prone to damage like being jammed etc

cheers

In my opinion it is less prone to damadge than your normal steel cable.

If you get your wraps out of order and you flatten a spot of it you can work it back out with your fingers in seconds, good as new.

It doesnt kink like steel cable. It doesnt have any memory so you dont get a birds nest like you get when you take cable off the drum.

It is more prone to abrasion, I will have to report back on that when I use it more.

Plus it is way stronger than steel cable of equal size. My 3/8ths line is rated for over 20 thousand pounds of pull.

[Ian Sharpe]

Doug,



sounds like a winner all round, many thanks

[DougH]

Ian,

There are different types, I run Amsteel personally.

If you are interested in some more information try searching on pirate4x4.com in their forums. There are many threads that break down the different types of synthetic, and opinions on pro's and cons.

One other thing to consider, synthetic is more susceptible to heat damage.

This shouldn't be a huge concern while winching in. However, if your brake is in your drum you should be careful if you were planning on powering out against the brake for a long time (lowering off a obstacle for instance).

It is a perfect match for my high mount (8274) since I have a brake that is seperate from the drum, and a motor also away from the line.

[Adomw]

Ian

The biggest mistake in terms of cable life that people make is to not pull out all the cable when they use the winch.

Over here in WA we (the SES) train people to pull the cable right out (except the last 5 or 6 wraps) every time.

Most of the damage happens if you use only half your cable and then put strain on.., 'cause no matter how well you wrap the cable, that act of pulling it out to use it loosens the rest so when the strain comes on the cable tends to submarine through the wraps still on the drum and bugger the whole cable.

The safety area we apply is 1.5 times the length of the cable out

IE if you have 30m cable out no one should be within 45m of either end of the cable unless protected by a vehicle or something 'cause if the cable comes off or breaks at full strain then every thing soft within the arc from the anchor or drum will be severed.

the other trick is to try to pull straight or if you can't , redirect the pull using a pulley

Ado

[Ian Sharpe]

Ado, thanks I think thats where I went wrong.

I didnt have sufficient room when straining up a fence post to allow me to pull out the line to its full extent. I only had about 10 metres & you guessed it the line got pinched.

ANyway its not too bad only a bit distorted (but not broken)

thats why I was asking about synthetic lines

anyway DougH

many websites say you should not use a steel fairlead with a synt. cable.

Is that really a necessity or can one get away with it.
I found a good site

http://www.brawn4x4.com.au/winch_rope.htm

cheers

[DougH]

I use a plastic fair lead that is the same material as my rope.

I would be carefull using a steel hawse fairlead as well as a roller fairlead.

The rope can get wedge into the space below the rollers, and it can also shread on the roller frame.

I would stick with a aluminum fair lead, or a plastic one.

Oh I forgot to mention the main reason I love this stuff, if you break it during a pull it drops straight to the ground. It has no stretch so it is very safe compared to steel cable.

[Ian Sharpe]

O k

thanks Doug for all your help

cheers