Dual purpose winch cable extension

[alaskaboy]

Question for the collective intelligence,

I have two winches, one front and one back, that each carry 90ft of 7/16" cable. Rather than carry an additional 100 ft of extension line, what about unspooling the second line to use as an extension. I'm already lugging it around and it would save me the $500 for a rope extension of similar strenth and required storage space. I know this would be a major pain requiring reloading, but in a pinch, would be better than nothing. The question is how can you adapt the tab end that normally screws into the drum in a non-damaging way to function as a suitable anchor/loop?

 

[opie]

First, 100' of syn. line with an equal rating to 7/16 cable shouldnt run you $500.

However, to answer your question.... You could splice a smaller fixed eye in the drum end and secure it with the supplied screw and a large fender washer. Since this attachment isnt load bearing, you simply need to secure it to the drum. You would do this through the fixed eye. No thimble.

 

[opie]

Except I glossed over the part where you already have cable.

You could still have an eye placed in the end of the cable. It would be a little cumbersome....

 

[mrchips]

3/8x50 synthetic extension will run about $200.

 

[opie]

3/8x50 synthetic extension will run about $200.

I can make one for $140 shipped.

 

[Metcalf]

Is this steel cable on the winch? or synthetic line?

For steel. Throw three or four cable clamps in your tool box with an spare eye loop/thimble. You could in a unique situation, remove the line from the rear winch and form a loop at the 'drum' end to form a winch line extension. You may damage the cable enough at the end that you may have to have a new 'drum' attachment point added loosing 2-3' of cable worst case.

For synthetic. Purchase a spare eye thimble for your size line. Print off the instructions for how to make an eye from Sampson Rope. Make yourself an emergency 'fiddle' so you can spline the line. I have seen this done with the end of a ball-point pen....so it doesn't need to be anything exotic. Again. You would probably loose the 'drum' eye. But with the synthetic you would only need 1-2" of line to be cut off. You should be able to remove the eye and use all that line again.

Like you mentioned, its probably a RARE case to be stuck in this situation, but having the tools to do this would be less expensive than another dedicated extension since you are already carrying that line.

 

[dzzz]

I.........

For synthetic. Purchase a spare eye thimble for your size line. Print off the instructions for how to make an eye from Sampson Rope. Make yourself an emergency 'fiddle' so you can spline the line. I have seen this done with the end of a ball-point pen...............

The advantage of this approach is that it will take so long someone will come along and pull you out

 

[1911]

The advantage of this approach is that it will take so long someone will come along and pull you out

:lol:

Yep! If you find yourself in a recovery situation where you need a winch line extension and you don't have one, you're going to think that maybe the extra cost for one wasn't as much as it seemed like when you didn't want to buy it.

 

[opie]

Also, 100' of 3/8 or if you're inclined, 7/16, doesn't really take up that much space.

As suggested, with syn line you can always splice in a temporary eye and remove it to place back on your drum. I posted a video showing how to do this along with some other repairs. I have 2 more videos processing right now with more complex repairs.

 

[Metcalf]

Splicing a temp eye doesn't take that long!

 

[opie]

Splicing a temp eye doesn't take that long!

Nope... a few minutes.

 

[alaskaboy]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I am stuck with the steel cable for now as that is what I have.

Hmm, maybe when I upgrade to the warn 24,000# winch...

 

[Ozjourney]

If you did have synthetic rope why can't you just tie one rope to the other with a knot, ie bowline ???

Steve

 

[opie]

If you did have synthetic rope why can't you just tie one rope to the other with a knot, ie bowline ???

Steve

Knots can reduce a lines rating anywhere from 20-50% depending on the knot and how tight the first bend in the knot is.

Fibers like dyneema are slippery, and dont hold certain knots very well. If you want to join 2 dyneema ropes, a triple fishermans knot or a carrick bend would be the best bets. But they are still knots and Im not sure what kind of derate you could expect from them. For a nice safety margin figure youll cut your line rating by 50%.

 

[Shawn686]

Another thing to think about is getting the knot untied when you are done. Good luck getting that knot untied after using it to recover a vehicle. I made that mistake with a tow strap once..... never again.

Shawn