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Winch Rope need advice


SolihullBeast

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I'm new to the whole forum thing so please forgive me if I have placed this in the wrong section or done something else wrong! Just looking for some advice about winch rope, i have decided to change from steel wire to rope for strength reasons and so on. Which is best plasma rope? I have been told Marlow Dynaline is pretty good? I would be grateful for any advice!

The only rope ive never had a problem with is 14mm apart from it getting stolen at Billing :angry:

I would never go back to wire EVER the 2 guys i team with break them a regular as i do with plastic rope .

Mind you i do take great care of mine & only winch in a straight line on falt ground & wash it after every pull ;)

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Cheers everyone for your advice all very helpful, well I guess its now between Plasma and Cable...

Easy decision, if you can afford plasma, for it's ease of handling and safety benefits it's no contest over wire.

Cheers

Steve

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You'll scrap the wire rope on the first pull you do that's not straight inline. I feel much happier around recoveries being done using plasma just because it is so much safer and if it does break it won't whip and can be easily respliced :)

Mo

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i've been able to pick up lengths of wire rope, unused, from Sodbury Sortout for as little as £5. But that is the only redeeming feature it has. I've managed to totally knacker two wire ropes on two consecutive outings, mainly by winching with drive to the wheels at the same time. It goes slack on the drum as the wheels bite, then tightens up as drive is lost, resulting in a badly crushed and kinked rope only fit for the bin.

If I could afford plasma I would buy it like a shot, no hesitation.

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  • 1 year later...

It's time for me to decide wich rope to use.

But becouse I winching 5 month a year through the snow I should take to consideration weather conditions - Mainly ambient temperature. Easy It can be minus 25- 30.

My question is: Ok, steel rope will work at this condition for sure, but what about synthetic Plasma or Marlow ropes will they survive cold winter?

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I used to use steel rope on challenge events but i was given the chance to try Plasma and have not looked back, ive never tried any other make of synthetic rope but i do know people who have and they get on ok with it but it wouldnt be my choice

the one thing that i am really fussy about is after each outing i wash the rope and hang it up to dry and it does make a hell of a difference

but as i said at the top 11mm Plasma 12 strand all the way

Nobby

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  • 3 weeks later...
The sythetic ropes are used heavily in the fishing industry

in arctic conditions in the King crab industry so cold inclement weather won't cause it to many issues.

Yap, right, but this kind of synthetic rope will hurt at high temperature.

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I have used all the above and found them all to be the same. The trouble with just seeing a rope break is that only the user really knows how abused it is and not the spectator. I now use Marlow Extreme 12mm not the normal stuff and have found this to be the best in terms of strength and life span but i am running out of limbs to pay for it!!! Rob WILL BE seen carrying the new replacement rope over any muddy puddles to stop it getting dirty when i take the plunge and get it back from cash converter :D

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Maybe, I have been lucky and unlucky;

Lucky - Done quite a few challenge events with wire ropes on 'standard' 8274s (XP Motors on some) and only seen one rope break and miraculously, beyond belief, against all the odds, unlike everyone else, no one was maimed, injured, killed.

Unlucky - Did one event with a Plasma® rope and found it to be the biggest PITA. It didn't break so we never had to see how good they are at not killing people. But while clmbing up slippery banks and other such terrain, if I didn't keep tension on, I soon found myself headed back to wards the truck, as the rope snagged and started winding the wrong way. And yes we did try to have it criss-crossed on the drum.

In addition, the constant worry about 'is the rope touching anything that might damage it' had me going close to the rope to check/re-rig a lot more than with a steel wire, so I reckon that's a negative safety point (Wire - Rig once and stand well clear!)

Just my thoughts, now I'll wait to get flamed

AD90

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Valid points but they mostly come down to inexperience with the rope I'd have said.

If you can't keep tension on the rope as you pull it out then wind it out before you climb, unlike wire you can easily unwind a load form the drum while you're at the front of the motor and then throw it up the slope leaving you free to climb with your hands free. With practice you get a feel for it and learn to keep the tension on, if only to make your own life easier :)

One thing we do on really steep stuff is that I will wind the rope out while my navigator climbs up, I can then throw the rope up to them when they're sorted. That way they only have to carry a strop and can choose the easiest route to get up to the top rather than having to go up the direct route.

The bit about the rope getting damaged is something you start off worrying about but, again, it becomes second nature after a while. If you can protect the rope when you rig it by throwing a winch blanket over rock edges etc... then do so but don't worry about it too much, especially with the 11mm stuff.

If you change to Plasma and use it the same as wire you're not getting all the benefits from it. I say Plasma because I mean Plasma, having changed to 11mm Plasma 12 in 2005 I wouldn't use any other brand. The rest are just a pale imitation of the real thing IMV :)

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Thanks Dave,

Points to note for next time out.

"I will wind the rope out while my navigator climbs up" That would mean the Driver geting out of the cab! His Tartan Baffies would get very messy! (Sorry Rob) :-)

AD90

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  • 1 month later...

What about heat. I've heard and read people speaking about syntethic ropes being sensitive to heat. None of these rumours are first hand though. What are your experiences?

Will a plasma rope cope with the heat produced by an in-drum winch? For example the Tabor 9k I use on my LR.

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What about heat. I've heard and read people speaking about syntethic ropes being sensitive to heat. None of these rumours are first hand though. What are your experiences?

Will a plasma rope cope with the heat produced by an in-drum winch? For example the Tabor 9k I use on my LR.

It depends on what you do. If the brake is working correctly it should only engage when paying out under power so the only time you should get a problem is in prolonged lowering out under load. Pulling the rope off with freespool, and winching in, should give no problem. If you want or need to do lots of lowering out then you need something with either no brake (Milemarker, Husky worm drive for example) or an external brake (8274 and I think the Superwinch EP range, possibly others) where the brake getting hot doesn't mean the drum gets hot.

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It depends on what you do. If the brake is working correctly it should only engage when paying out under power so the only time you should get a problem is in prolonged lowering out under load. Pulling the rope off with freespool, and winching in, should give no problem. If you want or need to do lots of lowering out then you need something with either no brake (Milemarker, Husky worm drive for example) or an external brake (8274 and I think the Superwinch EP range, possibly others) where the brake getting hot doesn't mean the drum gets hot.

Sounds good to me. I did have some problem with this before. The Warn winch, engineered like a sponge, had rusted up inside and stuck the brake. I burned my hand on the drum. ;)

Now with a new brake I might just give plasma a go, it's a front winch and I very seldomly winch out.

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