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Winch Rope - Synthetic or Steel?

LIVEAnimals

LIVEAnimals

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For those of you that have had the luxury of using both sythetic winch rope and steel winch cable what is really the best option? I have on my Warn 8274 the original 150' of 5/16 cable (hard to beat the length) it does have a couple questionable spots in it, pretty deep into the wrap of the cable though.

We use synthetic winch line at my work to winch locomotives around the shop, it seems to snap more often then cable. I understand its safer but if I anchor the cable with some sort of weight it will fall if it breaks.

Does the synthetic really last that long?
Being twice as much as cable is it worth the investment?

Lets hear it...
 
LIVEAnimals said:
We use synthetic winch line at my work to winch locomotives around the shop, it seems to snap more often then cable. I understand its safer but if I anchor the cable with some sort of weight it will fall if it breaks.
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We talkin' about trains? :eek1: You may be comparing apples and kumquats in terms of weight ratings there... how much are you pulling?

The synth-rope folks go on how popular it is in the marine sector due to its corrosion resistance. One of these days I'm gonna replace my steel cable with the rope just 'cuz it's easier to handle. (Not like my truck sees a LOT of winching sitting in my yard :doah: but it has pulled the odd stump :haha: )

-- A
 
we also use synthetic rope to winch locomotives onto the drop table and wheel lathe. I do not like it. it wears out just going in and out of the winch, and is very fragile to nicks/cuts when under tension.

in former life, I was a logger and used steel mainlines/cholkers for a living for many years. while it may kink, it is like a zillion times more durable when pulling over sharp rocks, ect..

steel cable for me, unless weight is a huge factor.
 
dremu said:
We talkin' about trains?
Click to expand...

haha if you want to get technical I mentioned locomotives not trains, trains are a combination of locomotives and box cars, haha :waytogo:. The reason I mentioned it is because in the last 7 years of working for Union Pacific I've rewrapped our wheel machine lathe winches 3 times at least, and at least 10 repairs on breaks. If this is the kind of wear I can expect running on my Suburban then I'll just stick with cable.

375 H&H said:
we also use synthetic rope to winch locomotives onto the drop table and wheel lathe. I do not like it. it wears out just going in and out of the winch, and is very fragile to nicks/cuts when under tension.

in former life, I was a logger and used steel mainlines/cholkers for a living for many years. while it may kink, it is like a zillion times more durable when pulling over sharp rocks, ect..

steel cable for me, unless weight is a huge factor.
Click to expand...

Good to hear some similar opinions, what RR do you work for? If weight was a factor then I'd drive a smart car not a 90 V2500 Sub :haha:
 
Haha I'm all for more weight over the front, helps keep the tires on the ground while climbing.

Kinda been wondering the same thing, but my cable sees little use and even less moisture.
 
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I have been running winches for decades. Every truck or Jeep I have ever owned has had a PTO winch on it.
Plus I used to help build and install winches.

I have done things with winches you really should not do........

And I have wanted synthetic for years. But I just cannot bring myself to do it. Every time I think about all the advantages, weight, no steel splinters, longer line per strength, I start pricing.
Then, I think about sunlight degradation, heat weakness, and the fact that of the thousands of pulls I have done over time, very very few of them were cable friendly.
Most were at odd angles, or against hard or sharp objects. My rollers on both sides have cable marks in them from hard pulls.

Combine that with the fact that I am often alone when I get stuck, and I'm really not able to walk out much any more, and I'm afraid I am going to stick with steel.
 
For my Blazer/buggy, it will ALWAYS have rope. Absolutely everything about it is better for that application. It's an 8274 with either 100 or 125 ft. of 3/8" rope on it.

For my tow rig and general camping rig, it has cable and I have no plans to change it. The weight doesn't matter on that one, it doesn't get used enough to justify it, that winch is more for "emergency stucks" where as there are days in my Blazer that you go in knowing you'll need the winch. I wouldn't turn down a free rope, but not really worth buying on for that application IMO.
 
38377k5 said:
For my Blazer/buggy, it will ALWAYS have rope. Absolutely everything about it is better for that application. It's an 8274 with either 100 or 125 ft. of 3/8" rope on it.

For my tow rig and general camping rig, it has cable and I have no plans to change it. The weight doesn't matter on that one, it doesn't get used enough to justify it, that winch is more for "emergency stucks" where as there are days in my Blazer that you go in knowing you'll need the winch. I wouldn't turn down a free rope, but not really worth buying on for that application IMO.
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This pretty much somes it up for me, thanks gents.
 
I wouldn't have cable on my offroad rig ever again since going to rope 3-4 years ago. On a rig where you'll use the winch for utility work like dragging trees or something might be better to stay with cable
 
Digging this up, looking for more opinions. I just got a used Warn M12000 and the cable seems pretty rough, I might replace it if needs be with either cable or rope.
 
I would never go back to steel wire rope , good synthetic rope that is taken Care of will outlast and outperform the steel version.

The only disadvantage is price .
 
I was given a free synthetic rope and I don't think I want to put it on. How I use the winch on the blazer would ruin it in no time. First it sits in the sun 100% of the time. Second is when I winch, I'm ****ed. The cable drags or touches something every time. I have only winched a few times but when I did, I don't think rope would have survived.
 
I can tell you the winching we do up here is just as hard as anything you could throw at it , most rope kits come with a chaffing sleeve to protect the line from dragging . And besides that it's much tougher then people give it credit .

It will handle quite a bit of abuse with out any damage , I would even go so far as to say if you damage the synthetic you would also be damaging wire rope.

Another thing to consider is safety , during a failure the amount of stored energy in wire rope is deadly . Where a synthetic line will drop .

Synthetic rope does not Kink, Birdsnest , Or fray . It is easily trail repairable in the event of a line breakage .

Synthetic line is easier to pull off the drum , and easier to spool back on the drum when done winching .

Synthetic line also floats which is really nice for those deep water recoveries.

Not having to wear gloves is also a big plus!!

The only real downside is price.
 
I'm also struggling with which way to go, I have both new cable (150' with crimped eye) or rope (200' cut length, no eyes or sleeve) available to put on my 8274 but can't decide. @yellowK20 what about mud and such, in the past there has been talk that mud acts like sandpaper wearing on the cable from the inside out. Any thoughts on this? After muddy wheeling I guess you'd need to unspool all the rope and hose is off? What lengths of rope are you guys putting on winches, more or less than the stock cable lengths?

Factor55 makes a great looking product for splicing an eye thimble onto a rope without an eyelet, I'll be using it if I go with the rope - http://factor55.com/product/new-the-splicer/
 
We run a lot of mud , nasty silty shit that destroys everything. I do wash my winch line occasionally but I don't obsess over it .

I have a Gigglepin equipped twin motor 8274 with a 175' of rope , I also have a 100' extension I keep in the truck.


The Factor 55 stuff is way nice , expensive but worth it.
 
I broke my winch rope a while back. Thought I would save some money and just put the steel cable back on. As soon as I started messing with spooling the steel cable back on, I knew it wasn't going to stay on there. Ended up with Trail Gear Duraline Exoshield and I really like it. I also picked up a couple of their protective sleeves that use velcro so you can take them on and off. I found I often needed 2 covers to keep the rope from rubbing over a rock but you can't spool the rope very well with those sleeves on.
 
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