Unbind my winch cable (6 Viewers)

[shromani]

No good deed goes unpunished

Any tricks out there I could use to prevent me from having to remove this winch from my truck?

While winching some guy from some soft snow, like a newbie, I allowed my cable to spool outside of my cable drum. Of course it bound itself up tight while spooling in under load; the motor now only clatters either way, like some clutch has engaged.

I am unable to pull the cable out as the tension on the spool prevents me from shifting the clutch lever to free spool. And no amount of chiselling with screw drivers or metal bars seems to release me enough slack to do anything.

This is a factory Toyota winch and I'd hate to remove it as the bumper would come off first.

 

[Gold Boy]

maybe cut the hook to release tension... you can always re-attach a new hook.

 

[shromani]

Oh the hook is slack, I removed it and have about 6' of slack, it's the binding in the pics above that is keeping tension on the drum preventing me from moving it forward with the motor, or moving the clutch lever. (

 

[shromani]

Hmm, the guy I pulled did give me a tug, but he's in snow stuck in 2wd so it's was that much of a tug. I could alway attach it to my big tree and tug it myself a bit harder but.... I don't want to break something either.

 

[Gold Boy]

use a come-a-along and chain.

 

[eleblanc]

It hapened to me a few time, i hook up the winch cable to my other truck and give it a tug. But if your brake is engaged and you are unable to have the drum turn one way or the other, you have no choice but to put it apart.

 

[Dieseler]

Try cutting it from the spool side leave enough slack to reattach the the hook or a loop then tug from that end it should slide out from underneath if not pull the other end of the cable,if all else fails take a sawsall with a long blade and cut out the wrapped cable.

 

[amaurer]

you should be able to tug it out, as others have said. if the shear pin broke (which might be what you hear clattering) then you may be unable to release the brake - in that case, replace the pin and then tug the rope with the truck while trying to drive the cable out with the winch motor. you've gotta be driving the rope outwards while you tug or the brake is going to hold the drum tight.

 

[CruiserGord]

Try to run the remote on slack mode and at the same time have it tugged on. This will at least let the spool turn if it comes loose and not yard the whole winch. I have a factory winch on my HDJ and its fairly easy to remove if you have to, about 6 bolts hold that front piece on: 1 bolt each by the tires at the front of the wheel wells and 4 bolts near the winch. That clacking sound did the same thing on mine while pulling a huge tree out of the yard but once I got slack back on it worked fine so I don't believe your sheer pin is pooched yet... Good Luck man.

 

[shromani]

well solved my problem for now... gave the winch a few gentle tugs attached to a tree and the cable snapped 4' from the hook. . I'll have to remove the winch and either reloop the end, or just go synthetic

I'm surprised how easy it snapped too, so either the binding really damaged the cable, or it's 19 years behind my bumper has compromised it's strength.

 

[roalco]

That really shows how much strength is lost when a cable (wire rope) is pinched or kinked (or internally corroded). Just out of curiosity have you been lubricating your cable while it's on the winch? Water and road salt are killers on wire rope cables!!!!
Don't forget these winch cables are running right up to their rated ultimate strength when new, ie. a 3/8" 6x19 wire rope, best quality grade 110/120 improved plow steel has a safe working load of 1.28 tons (2560 lbs) at a safety factor of 5 (normal use), therefore its breaking point is 12,800lbs (5x2560), and this is what comes on a lot of the bigger winches...... that doesn't leave any room for damage factors....scaird yet?
And 19 years for a winch cable?? Time to spring for a new one my friend, it may just save you a whole world of hurt!
Wire rope is really good stuff, it just needs to be maintained and used properly.

 

[shromani]

Yes agreed, i was looking online after I my post and read up on a thread about synthetic. I like what I read but will pass due to cost. I'll get a 3/8 steel wire rope and was thinking of keeping my length down to 50' or so. I have tug straps and chain if I need to pull from afar. That way I am closer to my cable drum and less likely to go over the edge.

I haven't unspooled my winch since I bought the truck, this was my first pull. I strongly feel that the PO hadn't done much maintenance. The winch has been used as my fairlead has wear marks on the rollers, but I think this truck was a Tokyo Pavement due to the condition it was in when delivered.

BTW, athough these cables don't like to be shock loaded, my tugging was at idle with about 4' slack.

Is there a grade of cable I want to ask for other than 3/8 in size? You mentioned "grade 110/120", is that what I'm asking for?

 

[Ron R]

I don't know about the grades you're talking about at the other side of the big pont , but look for a cable that is braided (?) from many individual thin strings. These tend to be the more expensive kind, but they are not as 'stiff' as the cheaper type with less but thicker strings.
Because of the many individual strings this kind of cable will more easily wrap around the drum, bend and stretch more easily and therefore the thinner strings will live longer. All in all you'll have a cable that's more easy to handle and lasts longer.

 

[shromani]

Thanks for the tips. Steel cable, it appears, is priced well for what it does. I'd like to get the "good" cable for the 50' I need. Synthetic is more quality than I can justify at this time. 3/8" will give me the strength for the OEM Winch I have.

So, I'll look for cable braided from the thinner strands, and "110/120 improved plow steel". I'll search what that means.

 

[roalco]

Hey Ken,
Western Equipment has a branch in Vernon,

Vernon Branch
1046 Middleton Way
Vernon, BC, V1B 2P1
Tel: (250) 545-5499
Fax: (250) 545-8177

They seem to be a reputable rigging outfit, I'd give them a call, tell them what you want (3/8, or maybe 7/16 if it's only 50') a nice flexible cable for a vehicle mount winch, and get them to do a nice thimbled eye on it for you.
One of the problems of super fine strands that Ron is talking about is that although they are very nice and a bit more flexible, they have a less resistance to corrosion (higher surface area to cross sectional area) damage.
Good idea on carrying extensions. I have a 35 foot length of 1/2" Spectra dyneema (same as amsteel)with an eye at each end, it is super light weight (way lighter than a comparible nylon strap), rolls compact, virtually no strech, makes an ideal tow line (35,000 lb strength) and winch extensiton, double it and you have 70,000 lb. It doens't rattle and it floats.... what's not to like? Not as abuse friendly as chain, but with a bit of care and thought in rigging it, light years ahead for most applications! It'll run you about 5 bucks a foot, and learning to splice it is easy.
best regards
Ross

 

[KOOTENAY KRUZER]

If you are going with wire rope (aka cable) you want 7x19 aircraft cable, you probably want 3/8" (9.5mm) for your application. This is what usually comes with a winch, the stuff with fewer strands and fewer wires per strand is too stiff and will fatigue faster.

7x19 is 7 wires per strand and 19 strands per rope.

EDIT: I might be confused, when I look at your pics it looks more like 19 wires per strand and 7 strands per rope. I do remember it is 7x19, though.

 

[shromani]

Sweet, excellent info. First time buying wire rope, glad to get it right.