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Hi Folks,
It's about time for some winch cable as I have had to do some chopping over the years as I'm sure everyone would know.
I'm keen to get synthetic rope this time round as I've heard good stories about them.
I'm concerned about the hydraulic winch heating up under pressure and effecting the rope?
Has anyone done this and is it ok to use synthetic rope?
Do you have any idea how hot the winch gets? Does it get so hot that you can't touch it? You could always sticky tape a thermometer to it when hot and record the temperature, then cross reference that figure against the specs of the rope (assuming you can get that info).
I can't see why it wouldn't be fine. It would only get hot when you're using it, and that won't be all that often. But I'm only speculating. If it were me and I was concerned I'd be doing the little test that I mentioned above.
G'day Minx
The Dogman from Western Patrol Club in WA has got 'rope' on his winch. Pop the question to him. He's a regular on here.
Take care out there.
Ross
DX grunt
Also ask The Evil Twin (ET) - he used to own The Dogman's GQ.Quote:
Originally Posted by DX grunt
Hydraulic winch will not generally tend to build up a lot of heat in the cable drum it self cos the braking is done by the hydraulics as a rile & hydraulic fluid temperatures can be controlled by cooling if required.
Where as with some electric winchs that have the braking hub inside the cable drum itself these tend to get very hot & this is where the issue is with synthetic winch rope as you know its not good with heat.
Other electric winchs have the brake on the side which keeps the heat out of the cable drum thus making it safer to use synthetic winch rope.
The Fire Brigade in Vic due to changes made to the OH&S guide lines are in the process of changing over to synthetic winch rope on there fire trucks which all use hydraulic winchs where fitted. But the D.S.E on the other hand who also come under these OH&S guide lines have had to make some changes & any of there vehicles fitted with a drum brake winch has been changed to a winch with a side brake due to the heat issues associated with the the drum brake type to enable them to have synthetic winch rope fitted as well which is now a mandatory requirement.
Given the fact that these are fire trucks & synthetics hate fire I hardly see the logic in this but none the less some pencil pushing boob brain decided that steel winch cable is now unsafe & that synthetic winch rope would be a safer option.....
So in conclusion I guess its safe enough as long as you don't run a drum brake type winch where the cable drum gets very hot & you don't us it in situations where theirs to much heat involved. ......ie. A FIRE TRUCK................... stupid bureaucrats.
I hope this helps
Cheers Paul
Helps a lot, thanks Paul.
@ Ross, thanks mate, hopefully EvilTwin and Dogman see this thread.
Ill pop it over to them as well...Cheers guys, good stuff!
Good to know, I'm getting low on my cable too.
I'm being lazy here but does anyone know retail costs of synthetic?
Go to OK Offroad.com It's in Oklahoma USA. I bought mine from them and saved HEAPS! They are used to shipping to Aust. Got it in less than a week. Cheers.
G-Unit, it doesn't get overly hot, I was just concerned with the syhthetic rope, after reading all this I'm more confident now. :)
Portal Pat, cheers for the tip, I'll look into it. Quick turnaround too!
Let us know what you find out. It would be interesting to here there take on the suject.Quote:
Originally Posted by Minx
Cheers
Paul