Hello everyone. I have an update on my past post's about solving the steel winch cable fraying/breaking problems. If you remember Polaris contacted me and told me to switch to synthetic winch rope and to get the larger bottom fairlead roller for my roller fairlead from Warn. Well Warn emailed me back and said the reason I could not find this roller on their website is because it was just released two weeks ago. It should be available to dealers now and will be about $45.00U.S. They said they could not sell me one direct. They also recommended using the synthetic rope to solve the problems while plowing.
Here is the part number of the new roller: 69373.
The more I think about it though, Polaris and all the aftermarket companies that make plows I have contacted all know there is this problem of the plows being hard on winch cables and it costs so much to buy the winch rope and roller, I think I will just leave mine. I still have 48 feet of cable to break and repair lol! and when summer comes it will only cost me $40.00 Canadian for my local cable shop to make me a new 50 foot winch cable.
just a side note- Warn was very good at emailing me back quickly with that above info but when I phoned them the other day to find out how to get a roller (explaining my dealer had no info on them) the guy that answered the phone that day was a real ignorant u-know-what. It's unfortunate it only takes one employee to leave a bad taste in your mouth about a company.

 

how long is the warn factory warranty on their winches and winch cables?

 

one year on the winch ... but the cable?? i don't know if they have one, but i had send one of my in for repair and it came back with a new cable.

 

By that roller, do you mean that the bottom roller cylinder thing is bigger than the rest? Because that is how it is on my Superwinch, maybe theirs costs less. The bottom one seems like 1/4" bigger diameter than the other three, top, left, and right. I don't know if they have warrantees, but Superwinch sent me a new winch + hook for no charge at all when I frayed the first one. So I have another 50' cable on my desk for when summer rolls around. I think I may use the frayed/damaged one for the winter, so i can just keep cutting and splicing it. Also, I do not use the winch for recovery as much in the winter (although I had to use it 4 times today [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]), so i do not have to worry about the extended cable breaking and biting me. So I agree, keep ruining it and cutting, theres no point in destroying a new cable.

 

Neither Polaris, Warn or the dealer offered to do anything for me, even though the dealer knows I haven't plowed all that long with it. But they all have told me they know of many people having the same problem. They just say "yeah, that's the downfall to using your winch, here go buy these parts."
Then they say the rope and roller "will solve your problems", but when you ask if anyone has tried them or if it's a long term solution they don't have an answer.
So like I said before I'm kinda caught in a bind cause I hate to buy a rope (120.00$Can.) and the roller (45.00$U.S.) if they aren't going to last either. Still though other than that problem I am very happy with my plow. As far as pushing snow it kicks _ _ s.

 

Yep, its pretty fun. The snow on the lake got pretty crusty and thick and there was over a foot of it, so I literally spent all day today trying to plow off a rink. I went through TWO full tanks of gas lol. I just came in when i posted before, and I am waiting for the garden hose to thaw in front of the fire so i can go back out and resurface the ice so I can have a rink tomorrow. I have to do it tonight because it is cold enough.

If that roller is what i was talking about, it won't help the cable, I dont think. Mine only has a few strands broken after 1 season of use, and i realized it is broken where the wire enters the spool when the plow is all the way up. It happens because the wire rubs against itself when the force gets put on it, so it cuts itself.

What would be wrong with using like nylon rope in the winter?? The Polaris "Electronic" lift for the glacier plow is a 500 lb winch, so a rope with a rating of about that would work, and if it broke, so what, your plow would drop. Or braid three pieces together. You would only need like 4 feet to set it up, so a 50' roll would last you a lifetime. And instead of a hook, you could just use a caribiner at the end.

Like this, it says it is rated to 278 pounds. $25 for 125 feet, that could be 25 5-foot segments. So if you broke one, which you eventually would, you'd have a lot more, and for a lot less than one steel rope.

A final thought, if you still need your winch for recovery in the winter, maybe you could somehow put a few feet of real rope at the end of the steel cable, so when using the plow, the rope would be in the roller, but if you needed to use the winch, you would attach to the steel cable a few feet from the end.
TYLER

 

How's it going Tyler. I know what you're saying. The roller I'm talking about is just a larger diameter that replaces the stock bottom roller. Polaris and Warn say it puts less of a bend in the cable which relieves some of the crushing effect. I can't see it, cause how much bigger can it be and still bolt in there you know. They also tried to sell me the new 8 foot plowing rope but it's also about $45.00U.S. Why not spend a little more and get the 50 footer? Like I said I'll just keep fixing mine for the winter. You are right though, I totally agree with you. Before mine snapped you could see where it was fraying and it was those first couple wraps on the spool that are constantly going in and out and rubbing on each other.
Like someone else said Polaris should read these forums to see how their products are performing in the real world.

 

The bottom line is your still dealing with steel cable. It will only take soo much abrasion rolling back and forth over the rollers. Nobody will warrenty steel cable. Not even the big stuff on the cranes. A dealer might replace your cable for good business practices

 

Primus, that is the type of fairlead that came with my Superwinch, bigger on the bottom. But as we know, it is not the cable bend but the wrapping that frays the cable.

The only problem I have with using the cable until it snaps is that I still need to use the winch in the winter, and I don't want to get snapped. Today I just about stalled my winch pulling myself through a snowbank; the winch had to pull me and all the snow that was in front of me. If I had a frayed cable I'd be afraid. I still am considering that synthetic, maybe just for the winter, because I know I need both a pliable cable and the length to get my out of the snowbanks. I do want to hear some positive feedback from the atv community, as well as a report of how it does with the plows, though. But accordingto a lot of jeepers, it is beautiful stuff.

Its 2am and i just got in from resurfacing the ice. It is like glass now, I can't wait to show it off to the neighbor tomorrow before my family skates all over it. Goodnight all.

edit: Primus, if I get the chance tomorrow maybe i'll snap a picture of that fairlead and post it somewheres. I always wondered why it was like that, now i know.

 

Hi Guys,

I just bought a nylon boat trailer winch strap for winter plowing & I guess I'll change backto cable in the summer. I think it was $19 at Walmart.