I Mangled my Winch Cable. Replaced it.

[Gordon Gould]

Some how I lost a snap ring on my snatch block. The sheave moved over enough to allow the cable to fall between the sheave and the frame during a pull. So the cable ran on the pulley shaft rather than the 3 1/2" diameter sheave. When you pull a wire rope around a small diameter with a lot of friction it comes out looking like a cork screw with lots of broken wires. Yes that stain is blood.



I had to replace the cable. I pulled the old cable out and strung it in a straight line across the lawn. Disconnected it from the clamp on the drum and clamped up the new cable. If you want to make a clean end or cut on a wire rope just cover a section with tight wraps of black tape then cut the cable right thru the tape. You can use a hack saw or cut off wheel.



There is a right way and a wrong way to put a new cable on any winch drum. Done right the cable lays up nicely in even wraps. Done incorrectly you put twists into the cable and you have to fight with it to get it to lay up evenly. It acts like a coil spring that wants to unwrap when you take the tension off it. The new cable will come in a coil or spool. When filling the winch drum the supply spool or coil has to turn in the same direction as the winch drum. Both CW or both CCW. You feed from the top of the spool/coil to the top of the drum or bottom to bottom. The cable makes a general "U" shape rather than an "S" shape between the spool and drum. This is what I mean.



This is my set-up



I connected up the tractor and powered the new cable on. I used a gloved hand to squeeze one side of the plywood spool to keep tension on the cable as it wound on.



After the new cable was all on the winch I picked up the end of the old cable laying on the ground, put it thru the hole in the spool, and loaded the spool with the old cable. The cable, hook, and sliders dragging in the grass provided enough tension as I turned the spool by hand. The spool now loaded with the old cable.



Before I cut the end to get my sliders and hook I took a 3' piece of fence wire, bent a 6" rt angle on one end. Laid the 6" end along the cable and wrapped the wire over itself.



Twisted the two ends of the fence wire together and cut the wire rope. I used the fence wire to hold the cable on the spool. If you ever had a bunch of loose cable to deal with you will know why I showed this.



Then I finished the end of my new cable by putting on the sliders and hook.



gg

 

[wmonroe]

For as strong as wire ropes are they are damaged very easily if not used correctly. I don't have any experience with logging winches so this might be a dumb question but why not use synthetic winch rope? Will it not stand up the the dirt/debris/abuse a logging winch sustains?

 

[NHbotanut]

Gordon,

Great info. I also had a pulley fail on me 2 weeks ago. The snap ring somehow came off and the 2nd cover fell off when I started the pull but the cable stayed in the groove.

I really need to bite the bullet & buy the self release pulley. I buy "disposable" pulleys. They are rated for 25k pull. The store I get them at are $22 each. They work for about a year before they fail. I finally got a little smarter after this failure & bought 2.

 

[Mysfyt]

Google 'Flemish Eye' to learn how to put that into the end of your cable. Not hard to do with a little practice and it is MUCH stronger than just using clamps.

 

[rutwad]

I saw a wrecker that had mangled its winch cable. I'm thinking it's no longer but, but to my surprise they straightened it back into shape. They took 2 pieces of wood and clamped tightly around the cable. Then they simply wound the winch back up pulling it through the clamped wood. Again, I was surprised.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I saw a wrecker that had mangled its winch cable. I'm thinking it's no longer but, but to my surprise they straightened it back into shape. They took 2 pieces of wood and clamped tightly around the cable. Then they simply wound the winch back up pulling it through the clamped wood. Again, I was surprised.

Well if they had many broken wires in their cable like mine it would be foolhardy to keep using it. At least in my book.

Mysfyt, ( Miss-Fit?? ) I can use that old cable to make up some slings or chokers and practice the Flemish Eye.

gg

 

[Jim Timber]

I've always found these rather elegant as a method of wrapping, but I've never tried making one.

 

[Gordon Gould]

For as strong as wire ropes are they are damaged very easily if not used correctly. I don't have any experience with logging winches so this might be a dumb question but why not use synthetic winch rope? Will it not stand up the the dirt/debris/abuse a logging winch sustains?

I think sharp rocks, the ground in dirt, and general abrasive abuse would be a definite problem. I know they use synthetic cable/rope in some portable winch applications because of the weight and handling advantage. Some tractor logging winches now come with a wire rope cable that has a synthetic core. I have heard a few isolated complaints about breakage but don't know if it is really due to the core or just misuse.

gg

 

[Jim Timber]

Wallenstein switched to using a swaged bullet end and putting a single midget on the cable, so you can use the winch rope as a choker. It's a nice idea in theory, but I'm not about to drag the end of a 165' cable with a swaged end across the dirt under a log if I can avoid it. I got cable chokers to use for skidding because they're substantially lighter than chain, and they're $20 to replace. I'll chew up a choker before I grind off the end of my tow line.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Google 'Flemish Eye' to learn how to put that into the end of your cable. Not hard to do with a little practice and it is MUCH stronger than just using clamps.

------------> PROPERLY installed saddle clamps are "as strong" as the full diameter wire rope, so you can't get any stronger than that.

SR