That's a lot better than my rope idea. No problems getting the strap to attach to the drum Don49?

 

No problem at all. I attached the very end of the strap to the winch drum with good duct tape, which is an idea I saw on these forums somewhere. After a couple wraps I don't think a truck could pull the strap off the winch. You might have to cut the strap to length depending on the size of the drum, but it works great & my cable gets the winter off, lol !

 

Thanks for more ideas Don49.

 

Yes, thankyou. I had more fun in the snow today, I'm sure glad I got the 3000# winch, I stalled it a few times pulling myself out of the snowbanks, I think I'd still be there if i had gotten a 2000#.

 

how do you "save" the other 48 feet of cable? in other words where can you buy the cable clips to make a new loop at the end of the cable to attach the hook?

 

I'll get a picture tomorrow if I can, but all I did was:

1. Cut off the frayed cable from the end.
2. Wrap the new end of the cable around that tear-drop shaped cable protector ("thimble")
3. Use two u-bolts to clamp the end of the cable back to itself, making a new loop
4. Reattach hook to the newly crimped loop.

The two small u-bolts I used seem to hold up fine, they held up through a nasty stuck I had when I tried to drive across the lawn (didnt see how deep it was, maybe 4 feet of snow there because of drifting, and about 10 different winchings to get out. Over an hour and a half lol). The cable didn't slip at all through the clamps.

I'll grab a snapshot tomorrow if I can.


EDIT:


Or, if you had the right tools, you could do it right using these.

 

OK, here is the kind of clamp I used, but I used the next size up. For some reason, I had two of the perfect size on my workbench.

u-bolt clamp thingy

 

dont take this the wrong way. Winches are not made for snow plows! they are made to pull you out when you might get stuck. Do county trucks or private snow plow companies use a winch on there F-250. No they dont. The short distance you move a winch when using a plow not only hurts the cable but is tearing the winch apart little by little. By a plow with a acuator like warn uses that lets the cable use a straite line instead of a 90 deg angle your forcing the winch cable to turn in freezing conditions. As far as warranty you voided it as soon as you hooked a plow to it. Read the fine print. What happened is you listened to a sales man and he made some money. The worst thing that is going to happen is some day you will need that winch for what it was made for and it will break. then youll go to the dealer crying warranty. The dealer will say sorry but thats not covered and you get mad. Think about it when a baseball goes through a window do you cry warranty, no you dont its called abuse. Im sorry i had to tell you this. If anyone has had a cable fixed under warranty. Its was GOOD WILLED and you should thank your dealer for that.

 

Could'nt some of these issues be addressed by us snow plowing guys mounting the winch higher so that it does a straight pull up around the drum instead of bending at the fairlead and trying to make a 90 degree turn?

 

Check out my pics & you'll see that my winch is tipped down & for snow I use a nylon boat winch strap rather than a cable. I attach the end of the strap to the winch drum with duct tape & after a couple wraps it can't come unwound. I suppose the short up & down movement of the winch isn't ideal , but we are plowing in cold weather so winch life shouldn't be a problem if it's the motor you think is taking a beating.