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Running a steel Hawse fairlead with cable?

K85 Octane

K85 Octane

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Warn advertises this Hawse fairlead as steel or synthetic friendly. I don't think I've ever seen a steel cable ran through a Hawse style fairlead. This particular piece is made of steel.

I'm looking to replace my roller fairlead, which sticks out like a donkey snaggle tooth. However, I'm not willing to drop the money for a rope line seeing as I hardly use the winch. I'd like to try this fairlead out but am reserved about using something as hard as the cable itself. Seems I should use the aluminum one and let it get mauled by the cable, at least it will be softer than the cable. :dunno:

Whatcha think?


313m1HH4taL._SX425_.jpg
 
Eww, betcha the aluminium one would get chewed up in no time. Even if your cable has no kinks or loose hairs, it's relatively abrasive, especially if galvanised.

OTOH, your roller was steel, so why should a hawse of steel be much different? (Other than the cable drags across it instead of rolling, but still, steel-on-steel shouldn't groove much.

-- A
 
Just trying to get the maximum life out of the steel cable. Not sure if dragging it across steel is better than simply going through aluminum fairleads every couple of years. Dunno
 
For the cost/hassle of replacing hawses, seems like you Might As Well™ go to rope. :haha:

Plus there's enough guys going to rope that you can get used cable cheap all the time. I did that and could hardly give away the cable, in good condition.

-- A
 
Both my 8274's I've had/have have all run a hawse fair lead. Can't say I've had any issues over the years IMO.
 
They were all hawse before they went rollers right?
I thought the roller was an upgrade that just became standard. Meaning they don't "need" rollers it's just nicer
 
Check out the fairlead pics in this thread.

www.coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249796

When I put that winch on, there were very few fairleads available to order, so I built that one.
I should have used some kind of bearings on the rollers, but I figured they would roll if the load got heavy enough.
About once a year, I soak them in oil, and put a pipe wrench on them to free them up.
The top and bottom are pieces of hardened steel polished before painting. I seldom have hard pulls up or down, so I figured I would not need rollers there.
The side rollers are some kind of hardened stainless type alloy. Not sure at this late date what I used. it was some kind of large rod my machine shop had laying around.
May have been the shaft off a hydraulic cylinder, not sure.

Anyway, over the decades, I have done many very hard pulls where the rollers did not roll.
Never saw any obvious cable damage.

The key is the size of the roller. There is a set amount of load on the side of the cable depending on the angle and the amount of pull.
Steel damage is determined by the amount of pounds per square inch applied to it.
If you have the cable half way around a 12 inch diameter fairlead, with 5K of force, then the circumference of the fairlead is approx 36 inches. So the 5K load is spread out over 18 inches of cable.
Not much PSI there.
If the same load is spread out over the edge of a bolt cutter blade, say .01 inches, then the PSI is enormous, and the cable is going to get cut.

So, as far as actual load damage to the cable, you would not need a roller. The roller prevents friction damage as the cable rolls over it instead of sliding.
Again, the amount of damage is determined by the PSI of the cable sliding over the steel.
In this case, the harder the fairlead, the "slicker" it is, and so less friction as long as it is smooth.
That is why I don't see any cable damage with my hard rollers even when they don't roll.

I still want them to roll though......
 
Smokinthehippies said:
They were all hawse before they went rollers right?
I thought the roller was an upgrade that just became standard. Meaning they don't "need" rollers it's just nicer
Click to expand...


I thought it was the opposite.... hawse came out for the much later rope..... rollers are older tech for cable....

I think you'd want the steel hawse over alum for cable... not only will the alum get gnarly quick, it'll load the cable up with alum too..
 
I've had a Hawse on my Braden PTO for 25yrs and haven't noticed any appreciable steel cable wear or damage. I've made many off center pulls where the cable has ridden on the Hawse and all is good.

When I first got the winch setup I was going to change it to rollers (because I thought that style would be better), but use over the years has shown me there probably isn't anything to be concerned about with the Hawse style.
 
Hawse is fine for cable don't run the aluminum one. Guy I know bought his fancy aluminum and then didn't get rope. It tore that thing up in one wheeling season.

I remember looking at the old warn winch catalogs and hassle being the standard fairlead with a roller being an upgrade suggested if you do see lot of side pulls
 
blazinzuk said:
Hawse is fine for cable don't run the aluminum one. Guy I know bought his fancy aluminum and then didn't get rope. It tore that thing up in one wheeling season.

I remember looking at the old warn winch catalogs and hassle being the standard fairlead with a roller being an upgrade suggested if you do see lot of side pulls
Click to expand...

That's the point I was trying to make.
Once upon a Time hawse was the standard and roller was an up charge. Now it's pretty much steel gets roller and rope gets aluminum hawse but there's no reason cable can't run on steel hawse.
 
Smokinthehippies said:
That's the point I was trying to make.
Once upon a Time hawse was the standard and roller was an up charge. Now it's pretty much steel gets roller and rope gets aluminum hawse but there's no reason cable can't run on steel hawse.
Click to expand...

I was going to the reply with the same comment. Hawse was the standard back in the days and the roller was always an upgrade. When I bought my high level Ramsey back in the late-90's the roller fairlead was optional.
 
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