Ask the Editors: Untangling a Winch Cable
It happens.
Well we have good news and bad news. The good? It can be done. The bad? There aren’t a whole lot of shortcuts. Winch cable is made ridiculously strong so that it doesn’t fray or snap in the critical moments that it’s all that is supporting the weight of you and your machine.
We have witnessed successful cuts with a Dremel tool and a metal cutting bit. However, if you’re looking at dozens of cuts, you’re likely going to find yourself using a lot of energy. And bits.
What we usually recommend is putting on the heaviest work gloves you own, putting your winch into neutral, setting the brake, lubing the entire spool, and tugging out the cable until each knot.
Instinctively you’ll want to put a lot of pulling pressure on the cable but that only tightens the knots as you encounter them. Instead you’ll want to do the time time honored tradition of working the cable, hook and all, into each knot to undo it. And if you encounter snags too tough to undo this way, maybe it won’t be a bad idea to pick up a few cutting bits to have at the ready.
