Hello everyone. I praised my new Glacier Plow to everyone but have found it's first drawback. I recently noticed my winch cable was starting to fray since I started plowing. I never used my winch before, so it's not like it got week from pulling in the summer. It was starting to fray right on the last roll before it comes out of the roller fairleads, (the part that's always winding and rubbing while pulling the plow up and down) but it didn't look real bad yet. Anyway, I mentioned it to the wife while we were outside. I should have kept my mouth shut cause right as I got back on to put it away the cable snapped and down came the plow. (at least I just finished the driveway) I called my local dealer to get a new cable and they said they get cables made cheaper from a local cable manufacturer so they told me to go there. Anyway my question is I have a Warn 2500 pound and can I go from the stock 3/16" up a size to a 1/4"? Will the bigger cable fit and will it last longer? Anything I can do to prevent this from happening again? I asked the cable shop about going bigger and they were concerned about it being not as flexible and said it may want to keep the coiled shape after being rolled. They also said there is a fibre cored cable they make for grader wing blade lift cables that can take more shock load than the galvinized steel cable. What do you think? I need to go buy tomorrow (going to get a spare made too!).[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

 

I don't know about 1/4 inch. Even if it fit the winch, you would only be able to fit a lot less cable on the spool. I have noticed that my cable is also fraying. Some people just make a short cable they use in the winter for the plow, and just keep cutting it shorter as it wears. But that wouldnt work for me as i like to get stuck in the snow, and a short winch cable would do me no good.
Some people also use synthetic winch rope like this. I have heard nothing but good reports about that amsteel blue rope, maybe someone here has some experience with it. I think that is what i will get when my wire rope breaks. I also have problems with backlash with the wire rope; that amsteel is supposed to have litte or no memory and be quite flexible.

 

synthetics are good but the one draw back is that they can melt with heat. im not sure if this is a really big problem under noraml use but with the plow going up and down alot it might be a factor.

 

I think that some of them are heat resistant. I dunno how well they would hold up, but they say they will not melt. When I do a lot of back and forth plowing, my winch doesnt get too hot, even when I raise and lower it so much it kills my battery with my quad running and plowing. But it depends on your winch.

 

I have a friend that put three layers of 5 foot long of wire heat sink tubing ... he said it really increased the life of the cable ... he also uses a 8 foot cable for winter plowing.

 

The flexibility part is kind of bogus....I have used 5/16 and 3/8 on my jeeps winch. The difference is how much you can put on. 3000lb winches are physically the same size and use 1/4 inch wire rope. Are you using a roller fairlead? that minimizes wear on a wire rope. If you shift to synthetic rope, they use a polshed aluminum fairlead for that. Don't worry about melting it....most rock crawling events require the use of the synthetic rope now and I will guarantee our atv winches don't get as hot as the 9,000 and 9,500 winches.
One other thing would be does your winch have a mechanical brake as well as an electrical brake? on the Warn2500 it is the difference between a ci or ce designator...this might also determine how hot your winch gets.

 

Primus, don't waste your money on a new cable, just cut it back and use a u-clamp and you are all set.

also, you may try not lifting the blade so high. the higher you go, the harder the strain on the cable. i've yet to have any fray in my cable. i lift my Glacier maybe 6-7" and that's it.

no problems to date!

-MT

 

Mine is pretty worn from the past few weeks. But i pull my blade all the way up. I have a roller fairlead too. And my 3000# uses 3/16 rope, not 1/4 im 90% sure.
If i cut the rope and move it back, think a u-clamp would fit through my fairlead?
And finally, Superwinch sent me a free replacement rope when i told them mine was frayed, but the new one has a smaller hook (from their 1200# winches) and it has no realease pin- it is molded, and the cable was terminated around the hook. If i switch them, how hard would it be to cut that hook off? or should i stick with the small one?

TYLER

 

u-clamp won't go through the fairleed. you will want to stop it right before it goes in. that's the only difficulty with a u-clamp. plus if you bump it over the fairleed (is that the correct spelling LOL?), you will jam it in the spool and really have a problem!

be careful.

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lol i can imagine myself.. stuck in the mud, middle of nowhere. go to tap WinchOut to release pressure to disengage freespool... OOPS that was In, and pull the clamp thru the fairlead... then never be able to get the cable out to get unstuck.

On another note, i've been having problems with my winch since my dealer installed the handwarmers (which are also screwy: low is high and high is off).
If its below freezing, my winch wont go out. Just in. Unless i hold the Out button for about a minute or two. THen it unsticks and works fine until i let the winch sit still for a while. THen it freezes again.
I know i have to check the wires, but it seems like somthing else. Would water in the contacter do something maybe? I have no clue, it would make more sense if holding the bbutton wouldnt fix it until the next time.
Tyler711