Spooling Synthetic Winch Rope? (1 Viewer)

[Heffenoche]

What is the proper way to spool Amsteel Blue on a winch?

I spooled by holding onto the rope and leaning back to put pressure on the rope and spooled it in. I then pulled up several small stumps up to four or five inches in diameter with no problem. Then a week later I tried to pull up another stump about the same size and the rope spun on the spool and pulled the rope out of the crimped terminal end . There was some tight pulls because some of the rope was smashed.

Also the end of the rope was wrapped in electrical tape before crimping. When it pulled out it unwrapped the first layer of electrical tape but the rest was still in place.

Was this caused by the crimping not being tight enough, not spooling with enough resistance or something else?

If it was because I didn’t spool with enough resistance then what is the proper technique? It seems to me that if I spooled with more resistance after the first few wraps I would still risk pulling the rope out of the terminal end. I apologize if I’m missing something simple.

The terminal end looks like a battery cable end. Is this what I should use to replace the old one? I was thinking of maybe singeing the rope end and running the retainer bolt through the rope but I’m not sure that would be a good idea.

 

[Mark W]

I've seen friction tape applied to the surface of the drum to prevent just this occurance. Pretty commonly I believe. The rope doesn't grip the drum with as much traction as steel cable does.

I've got about 600 feet left of a 1500 foot spool of 5/16 steel that I have to wrok through before I can jusify buying synthetic.


Mark...

 

[CruisinGA]

It is an electric lug on the end.

There should never be any tension on that lug...ever.


I would just install a new lug.
Wrap the cable tighter- when I get a new winch/cable I hook to a tree and winch in under brake load with a friend guiding the cable.

 

[bsevans]

What is the proper way to spool Amsteel Blue on a winch?

I use Master Pull so I do not know what differences there maybe in the two lines. I'm not sure how many wraps you had on the spool when it slipped. I never go into the first spool layer. The electrical tape you refer to is a very poor choice to have in contact with the spool. It offers no resistance. How far up the rope was it wrapped? My Master Pull winch cable had the crimped fitting but no tape of any sort to, I assume, hold the rope from fraying prior to crimping. I would use a hot knife to cut the end and then crimp a lug on. You can go to any outdoor outfitter store that sell climbing equipment and they will cut it for you with their hot knife. If your spool is too smooth, then consider taking sandpaper and remove the shine. It will aid the spools bite on the first layer of rope. I spool it on by hand with firm resistance for the first layer and then increase the resistance for the rest of the line. You have to find the balance between stretching the rope to avoid a loose wrap and putting too much tension on the first layer and pull the rope out of the crimped lug. The only purpose of the lug is to hold the rope as you firmly get enough stretched rope wrapped until the rope can take the full load. Someone also posted about applying friction tape to eliminate the slippage.

 

[Heffenoche]

I'm not sure how many wraps you had on the spool when it slipped. I never go into the first spool layer. The electrical tape you refer to is a very poor choice to have in contact with the spool. It offers no resistance. How far up the rope was it wrapped? My Master Pull winch cable had the crimped fitting but no tape of any sort to, I assume, hold the rope from fraying prior to crimping. I would use a hot knife to cut the end and then crimp a lug on. You can go to any outdoor outfitter store that sell climbing equipment and they will cut it for you with their hot knife. If your spool is too smooth, then consider taking sandpaper and remove the shine. It will aid the spools bite on the first layer of rope. I spool it on by hand with firm resistance for the first layer and then increase the resistance for the rest of the line. You have to find the balance between stretching the rope to avoid a loose wrap and putting too much tension on the first layer and pull the rope out of the crimped lug. The only purpose of the lug is to hold the rope as you firmly get enough stretched rope wrapped until the rope can take the full load. Someone also posted about applying friction tape to eliminate the slippage.

I probably still had 50’ of rope on the spool so I had plenty of wraps on the drum so that should not be an issue. As you mentioned the tape was used to keep the tape from fraying while it was cut. It was only wrapped at the end, I don’t even think it was visible when it was crimped in the terminal end.

I’ll try the sanding on the drum because it is pretty slick. I took the wire cable off when the winch was new so it had never been used with wire cable. The grip tape sound like a good idea but I read one post where someone was attributing the grip tape as the cause leading to the breaking of their rope. I can only see this if the rope wasn’t spooled tight enough in the first place causing the rope to slide on the grip tape.

After sanding the drum I’ll try the spooling method you suggested.

Thanks

 

[dfmorse]

How about painting the drum with some kind of friction paint; duraback, or non-slip tape, and then rewrapping the line on the drum? I just installed Amsteel on my buddies Warn 12k and didn't think of this, doh!

 

[Heffenoche]

How about painting the drum with some kind of friction paint; duraback, or non-slip tape, and then rewrapping the line on the drum? I just installed Amsteel on my buddies Warn 12k and didn't think of this, doh!

I was thinking about painting and adding some floor grit stuff made to add to floor paint to make floors less slippery. Should add some grip but not to the point where it would be abrasive on the rope.

 

[bsevans]

After you spool the first layer you should have enough bite on the spool to winch your vehicle with the brakes on but not locked (on dirt you can lock the brakes). If it doesn't say yes master may I continue, then another solution needs to be tried. It would be a waste of your time and your battery to spool the entire length without testing a complete layer or the start of the second. This is where your winches’ rating is and why you bought it.