Putting synthetic winch rope on the drum

[streaky]

I changed my steel winch rope over to a synthetic one last year and haven't had the oppertunity to use it much since.

But on one of the occasions that I used it I found that the bottom few windings of rope were not as tight as i'd like..... so when I wound the rope in under tension it started to dig into the bottom layers. This made it quite difficult to pull the rope out again.

I heard that if you zig zag the rope onto the drum in the first place this will prevent the rope from digging into the previous layers...is this true?

What about putting a new synthetic rope onto the drum under tension in the same manner as you would with a steel rope....is this still the correct way to do it?

Thx.

S.

[BogMonster]

All the experts say you should zig zag it across the drum but I've never done it that way. Most of my pulls are fairly short using only 20-30ft of rope (no point in carrying anchors further than necessary...).

What I do is to wind the whole rope onto the drum really tightly under high tension (winching against the brakes) so it packs tightly onto the drum like a good new wire rope - an even cotton-reel look. I've never had any problem with the rope pulling down through the layers with doing this and from time to time I pull the whole rope off and re-spool it tightly if its been used and criss-crossed. I guess it depends on how you use it but it works for me anyway. Only time I have ever had a problem is if the rope has been wound on loosely and then I do a short pull on top of loose layers.

[bishbosh]

Put the first wrap on in standard fashion with a bit of tension (I usually just pull on the rope as it winds on).

Then zig zag the rope back and forth across the drum.

I don't think putting it on "steel fashion" even under tension will stop wraps pulling down under load.

Even when you do the "snakes nest" way you will still get the occasional pull down.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Plasma is 100% different to wire

With wire you pratice getting rope on "Cotton Reel Neat" Stylee

With Plasma You wnat the rope to cross over rather than line up to the previous coil.

In simple terms say your going left to right on the drum, - try say 8 coils rather than the 12 you'd

get with wire, have each coil have 2x the space between it vs rope thickness, then at the other end

as you go right to left same again, you'll then see each coil and the layer under it forming an 'X'

which is what you are aiming for, as then when you winch the coils don't tighten and drop through each other

Also use a mates car / tree with LR ties to it handbrake off or maybe 1 click on as to tension etc

to ensure the rope goes on tight and under tension

HTH

Nige

[streaky]

That seems to have answered my questions thanks.

One think I should add that might be of interest to others.

When I first bought the new synthetic rope I thought I'd be a clever clogs and put a few 5 meter indentification marks on the rope by way of white PVC insulation tape. This way I'd have a visual indicator to warn of the last 5 meters on the drum as I was spooling out from inside the truck.

The PVC tape made a right mess of the un-tensioned rope on the drum and very nearly caused a wraparound on the drum. Luckily I spotted it in time and avoided a potencial disaster that could have mean't cutting the rope to remove it from the drum.

For my 5 meter marker I have now used a dark red water based marker pen which seems to do the job quite nicely.

Thanks for the pointers.

S.

[BogMonster]

I don't think putting it on "steel fashion" even under tension will stop wraps pulling down under load.

Well I had the rear wheels of the 90 hovering off the ground trying to pull something out of the ground that was below and just in front of the winch and it didn't cause a problem even then... depends on what you call tight I suppose

[Turbocharger]

Good thought Streaky - I wove a red ribbon into the last 8ft of my rope to indicate that I should stop spooling. It doesn't work so well now the rope's muddy but the theory was good. In practice, it's been pretty obvious so far when the rope's on about 6 turns on the drum.