Can someone tell me why a steel rope uses a fair-lead with rollers but a synthetic rope just has an alloy guide?
It would seem that people have the roller fair-lead but do not keep it when they change to synthetic.

Thanks
Steve

Synthetic gets damaged by getting caught between the horizontal and vertical rollers when you pull at certain angles... Alloy guides don't have this issue- obviously steel wire can't be used with an alloy guide as it would cut through it rather quickly...

You can still use a "Std" Roller fairleader with Synthetic Rope, I have been for 5 Years Plus without a problem, I personally don't like the Alloy Guide type as if you have a muddy rope pulling against a a "Stationary" alloy surface the resultant abrasive action must shorten the life of the winch rope.

Lyndon

Yep !

And a Ali hawse fairlead can get grooved hugely as a result - a nice quality Stainless steel hawese is far superior

nige

In the belief that the original qustion has been answered by at least one example of 3 different solutions, I'll throw in a side note.

In the days when effective long distance movement of bulk transport meant using horse drawn canal narrow boats, this business of dirty ropes abrading standing structure was a significant problem. The most common occurance was when the tow rope rubbed against the corner of a bridge over the canal, and the common response was to fix a strip of cast iron to the bridge. Some of these remain in place, and if you use a boat, or walk the canal towpath, it's sobering to see the depth and quantity of the grooves cut by the grit laden ropes. You, or at least I, begin to wonder just how many boat passages it took to do that much damage.
Remember, the ropes were natural fibre, not steel or plastic.

Occasionally vertical rollers were used, and near Marple there is a horizontal one along the top of a bridge wall, where the rope went over the bridge. This meant it also went across the main road, any traffic on which had to stop while the boats exited the lock!!

Truly, a different age.

Totally agree with Nige, Stainless all the way, alloy ones are too soft and end up leaving bits of metal in your rope as well as wearing away grooves...

+1, only SS for me.

Can't see any grooves in mine...

I would say it depends on where and how you use them - lots of angled pulls and gritty mud then I am sure you are right. Relatively straight pulls and on boggy grassland where the rope stays relatively clean - alloy is no problem

Mine is cast iron ;-)
But that is for a steel wire until a plasma comes along, and then it will be a stainless steel one for me

some of the alloy ones are made from very soft alloy (chinese) so wear very quickly, quality ones wear ok

Mine is made from Dural which I think is a good compromise. It has been nicely polished by the rope but there are almost no signs of wear in roughly five years.

Si

My Alli one doesn't have any grooves in it either !

Mo

I just took the stainless one of the front of my truck because im making something better and i was quite suprised to see that its showing signs of wear in the corners!

If you got an Alloy fairlead take if off and check the back of it, the one i use on the back had some sharp edges from wear. it looked fine from the front.