Winch question - steel vs synthetic rope

[Mo4130]

In all reality you should replace your cable every 5 years. 7 at most. Obviously depending on usage.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

No one has touched on another good thing about synth rope: the big reduction in weight compared to wire rope. I've owned and used maybe 7 or 8 winches over time from 6K to 15K pounds. Maybe 500 pulls in 45 yrs. of 'jeeping' (small j) rock crawling, TC-ing and wood gathering. If...i was going to buy a brand new winch i would use synth. But wire rope is better for wood gathering. It's the abrasion. The poster above is right about not using synth on a used winch. Too many sharp edges. I have had a wire rope break and it was at a 'smashed' flat place damaged on some bad pull. No one is in the fly zone when I'm winching. I run the electrical cord from the front of the rig right into the cab and winch from there. A bit safer. I also have manual throttles on rigs to keep the alternator humming to fight the deletorius effects of a 300 amp/at dead stall pull on the batteries. I've pulled the front bumper right off my FJ-55 while winching with a Warn 8K. Before it came off, the Warn winch bumper was pulled into a 'V' shape and actually bent the frame rails in the process. The bigger the winch, the more straight line pulls you want to attempt. Winching at a severe angle is very hard on the wire rope. The other thing is the bigger the winch, the more chance you have of pulling or bending something to do with the frame and suspension on the wincher. With my M15K Warn on my Dodge P.U., almost every time I do a pull I MUST be dead manned. No Sn. Bl. needed with only 90 feet of wire. Otherwise, when pulling, if the pullee is heavy or obstinate, the puller just gets dragged closer to the pullee. The 8274, the fastest winch in the west, works well with a snatch block, especially with 150 feet of wire rope. It also has a little spring loaded clip on the hook keeping stuff attached. I"ve hung off cliffs, winched with the jeep laying on its side, sideways hanging off a cliff and various complicated winching maneuvers just to get through. After winching, I am somewhat protective of my wire rope, after the cost of replacing a few, I will find a tree on the property, unreel the wire rope to a few rolls, use the tree saver and wind the winch in under the tension of the emergency brake or brakes on which tends to straighten out the wire. Not all the way, but enough. Two people works best. One guides the rope neatly on.
There is an art to winching. Unfortunately, each wincher must find out how to attain that art, mostly through trial and error. I guess an ancillary question would be what equipment to accompany the winch. For sure a snatch block. I bought mine from ******** Cepek in 1969 (at his old narrow store front in Southgate) and have used it hundreds of times. It is a must have. Don't get the flimsy ones I see advertised. Several 'D' rings or shackles of different sizes to keep everything attached during the pull. A large hook (similar to the ones used by tow companies) to use when there are no tow hooks or attachment places on the winchee. Heavy weight gloves. A tree saver. A 12 foot piece of hardened chain with slip hooks on both ends. A piece of used wire rope with clipped hooks on both ends. A 30 foot, 4 inch nylon strap with loop ends. A 20 foot, 3 inch nylon strap with loop ends. A 5/16 inch cat choker. This slick little woodsman's tool is the 100% effort when you have no where to hook up the cable on a stuck rig.
It's too late for me to go to synth rope as I've bought my last winch. At least I haven't bought the farm.
regards, as always, jefe

 

[Thirty-Nine]

No one has touched on another good thing about synth rope: the big reduction in weight compared to wire rope. I've owned and used maybe 7 or 8 winches over time from 6K to 15K pounds. Maybe 500 pulls in 45 yrs. of 'jeeping' (small j) rock crawling, TC-ing and wood gathering. If...i was going to buy a brand new winch i would use synth. But wire rope is better for wood gathering. It's the abrasion. The poster above is right about not using synth on a used winch. Too many sharp edges. I have had a wire rope break and it was at a 'smashed' flat place damaged on some bad pull. No one is in the fly zone when I'm winching. I run the electrical cord from the front of the rig right into the cab and winch from there. A bit safer. I also have manual throttles on rigs to keep the alternator humming to fight the deletorius effects of a 300 amp/at dead stall pull on the batteries. I've pulled the front bumper right off my FJ-55 while winching with a Warn 8K. Before it came off, the Warn winch bumper was pulled into a 'V' shape and actually bent the frame rails in the process. The bigger the winch, the more straight line pulls you want to attempt. Winching at a severe angle is very hard on the wire rope. The other thing is the bigger the winch, the more chance you have of pulling or bending something to do with the frame and suspension on the wincher. With my M15K Warn on my Dodge P.U., almost every time I do a pull I MUST be dead manned. No Sn. Bl. needed with only 90 feet of wire. Otherwise, when pulling, if the pullee is heavy or obstinate, the puller just gets dragged closer to the pullee. The 8274, the fastest winch in the west, works well with a snatch block, especially with 150 feet of wire rope. It also has a little spring loaded clip on the hook keeping stuff attached. I"ve hung off cliffs, winched with the jeep laying on its side, sideways hanging off a cliff and various complicated winching maneuvers just to get through. After winching, I am somewhat protective of my wire rope, after the cost of replacing a few, I will find a tree on the property, unreel the wire rope to a few rolls, use the tree saver and wind the winch in under the tension of the emergency brake or brakes on which tends to straighten out the wire. Not all the way, but enough. Two people works best. One guides the rope neatly on.
There is an art to winching. Unfortunately, each wincher must find out how to attain that art, mostly through trial and error. I guess an ancillary question would be what equipment to accompany the winch. For sure a snatch block. I bought mine from ******** Cepek in 1969 (at his old narrow store front in Southgate) and have used it hundreds of times. It is a must have. Don't get the flimsy ones I see advertised. Several 'D' rings or shackles of different sizes to keep everything attached during the pull. A large hook (similar to the ones used by tow companies) to use when there are no tow hooks or attachment places on the winchee. Heavy weight gloves. A tree saver. A 12 foot piece of hardened chain with slip hooks on both ends. A piece of used wire rope with clipped hooks on both ends. A 30 foot, 4 inch nylon strap with loop ends. A 20 foot, 3 inch nylon strap with loop ends. A 5/16 inch cat choker. This slick little woodsman's tool is the 100% effort when you have no where to hook up the cable on a stuck rig.
It's too late for me to go to synth rope as I've bought my last winch. At least I haven't bought the farm.
regards, as always, jefe

If I remember correctly, the difference between 100' of 3/8" WARN Spydura and 100' of 5/16" WARN wire rope was around 18 lbs. Not a huge weight savings, but a savings.

You bring up a great point, however. A lot of people want to simply put the largest winch they can on a vehicle. If you put a 15,000 lb. winch on a smaller vehicle, such as an FJ40, you certainly run the risk of damaging the vehicle if you get super stuck.

 

[pugslyyy]

If I remember correctly, the difference between 100' of 3/8" WARN Spydura and 100' of 5/16" WARN wire rope was around 18 lbs. Not a huge weight savings, but a savings.

You bring up a great point, however. A lot of people want to simply put the largest winch they can on a vehicle. If you put a 15,000 lb. winch on a smaller vehicle, such as an FJ40, you certainly run the risk of damaging the vehicle if you get super stuck.

For me it is the different handling characteristics more than the weight that make synthetic great to work with.
My winch line is 32 pounds steel, maybe 3 pounds synthetic. When you start using the big stuff it makes more and more of a difference.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

The wire rope on my M15K is 7/16's. Even with only 90 feet of the stuff, it is exponentially heavier than 5/16's wire rope, per foot. I would think a synth rope would be better with something like a Warn 8274 as the line speed is so much faster than the 320:1, M15K. 'M' stands for mollusk. I bought a 15K#, Chinese snatch block yesterday as a Jeep warming gift for my neighbor who is fixing up a new-to-him '95 YJ. We had to rebuild his 8K# electric winch as the plug was bunged beyond repair and it needed a few other parts. Luckily, I had in my garage the same winch as a parts donor and a little newer. I had used the Chinese winch twice on a portable front receiver carrier and cracked the cast pot metal frame on an pretty good side pull. So, he has a pile of spare parts, sans pot metal parts, but nothing i would now use with a synth rope.
regards, as always, jefe

 

[TomOwen]

Another observation in the derivative "Hawse vs. Roller" debate: assuming your roller is of the overlapping variety and the rollers are smooth - they provide a bit of protection to the synthetic line from those folks that park by braille.

I have a new setup and the line is tuck down the corner of the rollers to the recovery point on the under slope of my RoverWare bumper as I thought my be the safest route protecting from a pinch. Sure enough yesterday eve, someone trying to park in front of me seemed to have left her mark on the rollers. Had it been the hawse, the line would be the furthest most protruding piece followed by the lip if the Hawes then bumper... Has me thinking about keeping the rollers....

 

[kojackJKU]

Guys, what about in a high salt environment like our winter roads? will steel rust quickly in this? if so, I would vote synthetic for me. I am mounting my winch behind the bumper and protected by the skidplate but still, this crap gets everywhere.

 

[AFBronco235]

Guys, what about in a high salt environment like our winter roads? will steel rust quickly in this? if so, I would vote synthetic for me. I am mounting my winch behind the bumper and protected by the skidplate but still, this crap gets everywhere.

,
You also need to worry about salt crystals getting in the synthetic line and wearing out the line like fine sand or grit would. Just cover up the steel winch line in the salt belt and rinse it off when you can, preferably when the water won't freeze on it.

 

[Lucky j]

Maintaning a wire rope for winter and summer does inclued lube!

The best I found so far was liquid molly! (apply every other year in my case). Same wire since I got the winch in 1999 and got to use it a lot! Still no rust. Had to repaint the winch once or twice. But as mention in a previous post, as to be rewind with a weight after a bad pull.

Guys, what about in a high salt environment like our winter roads? will steel rust quickly in this? if so, I would vote synthetic for me. I am mounting my winch behind the bumper and protected by the skidplate but still, this crap gets everywhere.