Which and Why? Hawse or Roller?

[cruiserpilot]

I see all the new winches seem to have hawse fairleads. Now I have always 'upgraded' to a
roller. I have a roller fairlead with my Warn 9500 Compressor winch. It has wire rope.
What has come to be a norm is hawse fairlead for synthetic rope, as it doesn't seem to bunch and
have the same issues as wire rope piling up on the end of the drum.
So is there a reason to use a hawse fairlead over a roller fairlead? Do the manufacturers sell winches with hawse fairleads as they are cheaper or are they preferred? So why then would they sell a roller fairlead?
Anyhow, just for discussion. I am curious if there is a viable reason for either.

 

[Mudder]

You can use a roller fairlead with synthetic rope, but you have to be careful of it not catching in the corners were the rollers meet.

 

[TheForger]

The hawse fairlead is designed to help with extreme offset pulls. They can accommodate almost any angle and won't cause you're line to pinch or bind. Roller fairleads are larger and since they involve moving parts you do need to keep an eye on it and maybe keep the rollers oiled.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I thought the roller was better for the extreme offset pulls. Huh.
So the hawse is more effective at greater angles to the side?
I've never had a problem with the rollers except a harmonic rattle on occasion.

 

[1911]

Roller fairleads put less stress on your line in an angled ("extreme offset"?) pull. They stick out further and weigh a tiny bit more than a hawse. I have both (on two different trucks) and prefer the rollers myself. Synthetic line on both too. I have never ever had the synthetic line pinch in the corners of the rollers, but the protective sleeve on the end will bunch up on the hawse fairlead every time, if you're not really careful.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I would think the roller has larger radius so that would favour the wire rope during high angle pulls. My rear winch has synthetic line, primary reason I kept the aluminum hawse was so I don't and my knees on the roller, but there seems to be a recommendation too that hawse is better for synthetic line. I've been lucky and only had straight rear pulls so far.

 

[Warn Industries]

For what it's worth, all of our winches with synthetic line use a hawse, and that's so people don't get their winch lines caught in the corners on a roller. We also suggest switching to a new hawse if you're converting from wire rope to synthetic to minimize abrasion from nicks/scrapes that may be on the previous fairlead. This minimizes abrasion potential on synthetic.

-Andy

 

[cruiserdan]

Andy do you have a preferred material for a hawse/synthetic combo?

 

[Warn Industries]

Andy do you have a preferred material for a hawse/synthetic combo?

As in a preferred hawse material?

We use both aluminum and cast iron. So long as it's smooth and radiused.

- Andy

 

[cruiserdan]

Correct, hawse. Thank you.

 

[73fj40lc]

For what it's worth, all of our winches with synthetic line use a hawse, and that's so people don't get their winch lines caught in the corners on a roller. We also suggest switching to a new hawse if you're converting from wire rope to synthetic to minimize abrasion from nicks/scrapes that may be on the previous fairlead. This minimizes abrasion potential on synthetic.

-Andy

Or keep the roller fairlead and replace the rollers with composite rollers. I have had this setup on my 40 for years running synthetic line with no problems. To each his own but on a full sized heavy vehicle I prefer the roller fairlead setup. There is a lot less friction and wear on a rope using roller fairlead. Friction is heat. Heat and wear are enemies of synthetic rope. Add in that you will have mud and sand imbedded in the synthetic rope. Then you run it over the hawse under a lot of pressure. Now you have basically created sandpaper for your rope. It will start cutting your rope and fraying it on the outside and inside. I run an aluminum hawse fairlead on my ATV and UTV because there is not anywhere near the weight and pressure being placed on the rope to allow the sand and mud to cut into to rope.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Or keep the roller fairlead and replace the rollers with composite rollers. I have had this setup on my 40 for years running synthetic line with no problems. To each his own but on a full sized heavy vehicle I prefer the roller fairlead setup. There is a lot less friction and wear on a rope using roller fairlead. Friction is heat. Heat and wear are enemies of synthetic rope. Add in that you will have mud and sand imbedded in the synthetic rope. Then you run it over the hawse under a lot of pressure. Now you have basically created sandpaper for your rope. It will start cutting your rope and fraying it on the outside and inside. I run an aluminum hawse fairlead on my ATV and UTV because there is not anywhere near the weight and pressure being placed on the rope to allow the sand and mud to cut into to rope.

I've seen pics of black rollers, but didn't know if they were composite or not. So where do you source the composite rollers?
Are they available from Warn?

 

[Warn Industries]

Are they available from Warn?

We do not sell these. Daystar Products does, however:

Daystar™ - Driven by Design

- Andy

 

[73fj40lc]

We do not sell these. Daystar Products does, however:

Daystar™ - Driven by Design

- Andy

No mine are not the Daystar crap. I bought mine years ago and I believe that mine are made out of hard durable delrin plastic. I don't remember where I purchased them from. I thought that they were still being offered. I have looked online and it doesn't look like they are offered anymore as I can't find them online. I will look back in some of my receipts and see if I can find where I got them. The Daystar rollers have bad reviews and they are made out of soft plastic or rubber that pinches, binds and tears. I would use aluminum rollers or new steel rollers before using Daystar rollers.

 

[cbpeck]

No mine are not the Daystar crap. I bought mine years ago and I believe that mine are made out of hard durable delrin plastic. I don't remember where I purchased them from. I thought that they were still being offered. I have looked online and it doesn't look like they are offered anymore as I can't find them online. I will look back in some of my receipts and see if I can find where I got them. The Daystar rollers have bad reviews and they are made out of soft plastic or rubber that pinches, binds and tears. I would use aluminum rollers or new steel rollers before using Daystar rollers.

My apologizes for resurrecting an old thread. I'm wondering if you ever figured out what you had. My guess would be Viking rollers from a company up in Washington State. They are out of production, and I haven't been able to find anything comparable. If you do know that you had a different product other than Daystar or Viking I'd certainly be interested. Thanks

 

[73fj40lc]

I do believe that mine are the Viking Delrin rollers that aren’t offered anymore. If you are still looking for a substitute I would use aluminum rollers if I ever had to replace the rollers that I currently have.

 

[cruiserpilot]

As in a preferred hawse material?

We use both aluminum and cast iron. So long as it's smooth and radiused.

- Andy

I am pretty certain that my roller fairlead from Warn is steel. Does Warn offer aluminum rollers
for their fairleads? I can't see a reason to switch and I don't think unless the aluminum alloy was
really hardened to prevent knicks and possibly losing structural integrity it would really be worth it.

 

[Fj81]

Hawse, because the winch I bought came with one. I also like that they seem to take less space.

 

[Warn Industries]

I am pretty certain that my roller fairlead from Warn is steel. Does Warn offer aluminum rollers
for their fairleads? I can't see a reason to switch and I don't think unless the aluminum alloy was
really hardened to prevent knicks and possibly losing structural integrity it would really be worth it.

Our rollers are made from steel.