winch ropes, anything new?

[Nigelw]

I was going to go to Mannington today after laning but found other chores to do, but I was just reading some of the blurb on the TV4x4 site http://www.tv4x4.co.uk/ and noticed they are banning steel winching cables and recovery chains from August.

Is this happening on other clubs nationally too or are they setting a precidence for others to follow?

[steve200TDi]

I did see this.

I know a lot of people now use the synthetic, but there are still people who only use there winch occasional/now and again or who still want to use steel cable, so I don't know where people stand with that!

Steve

[Nigelw]

Well I am weighing up the cost of new synthetic rope, but for the 5 times in two years I've used it, it is hard to justify the extra outlay, but then again, having seen some of the kinked and flattened steel cables being reeled out on many occassions I can see why from a safety POV.

Off to search youtube as I am sure there was a video on the pro's and cons of both.

[Nigelw]

This looks worth a punt?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100ft-10mm-Synthetic-Winch-Rope-Hawse-Hook-Dyneema-SK75-self-recovery-4x4-/261717837698?hash=item3cef994782:g:bI4AAOSwwTlUorVz

[steve200TDi]

Or one of Davids budget ropes:

http://www.goodwinch.com/shop/budget-bowrope/budget-bowrope-10mm-x-27-5m90-or-30-5m/

You can't go wrong with his products!

Steve

[mickeyw]

Unfortunately there are a lot of people that do not seem capable of making a sound safety assessment of their own winching equipment.

Both types of rope can break through abuse, but there is a greater chance to injure yourself on a frayed steel rope when rigging it. How obvious it is that a rope is ready to fail is largely down to experience, but it can still be hard to tell.

Although I use a synthetic rope due to club requirements as a recovery marshall, I am a firm believer that steel is perfectly up to the job when in good condition and used in a safe manner.

As I also use my winch for agricultural purposes I am often conscious that a synthetic rope is more easily damaged in that environment, and when you take the price difference into account it does make you think twice how you use the winch.

I think steel would always make more sense in a commercial application.

If you're talking about winch challenge events, synthetic is far nicer to use - it's far lighter to carry, doesn't tangle like an angry snakes, and is safer on the hands. It's also far more tolerant to poor spooling into the drum, and given the speed of today's competition winches, that is an area that is difficult to control.

Most badly damaged steel rope is caused by bad spooling where there is insufficient tension on the rope when paying in, and a loose loop gets pinched and damaged.

As ever it's one of these instances where any equipment can be highly dangerous in the wrong hands.

As Steve has linked to, Goodwinch is now offering a cheaper synthetic rope which is more likely to appeal to the play day or less frequent users.

I think I'd have greater confidence in this that those auction site specials ?

[miketomcat]

For me it's synthetic all day everyday I agree with mickeyw though. You can always keep the rope clean and off the drum in your motor it takes but minutes to spool it on. I snapped a plasma in Russia it A, didn't kill or injure any one and B, we tied it in a knot carried on and spliced it properly at camp. That rope has had much use since.

Mike

[Daan]

I use plasma rope (the expensive one) and never broke it. With your use, it may be worth considering shielding it from the sun or take it off when not in use, as it doesn't like UV light.

Daan

[Dave W]

I was going to go to Mannington today after laning but found other chores to do, but I was just reading some of the blurb on the TV4x4 site http://www.tv4x4.co.uk/ and noticed they are banning steel winching cables and recovery chains from August.

Is this happening on other clubs nationally too or are they setting a precidence for others to follow?

Not sure if it applies to the site you linked to as I have never heard of them but the MSA introduced regulations a few years ago that made it simpler to marshal and set out a challenge event if all competitors use synthetic ropes. From what I remember, without looking it up, if you have competitors using steel rope then any spectators need to be kept at least 25 metres away. That requirement can make life difficult on some sites when it comes to setting out so the easy option is simply to insist everyone uses synthetic.

This was something we included for the Muddy Truckers Trophy regs 4 or 5 years ago although for closed to club events we still allow steel ropes at our entry level challenge events to keep the costs down for competitors. Having said that only a small number still use steel anyway as most prefer to handle synthetic ropes.