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Advice on synthetic rope fairleads

StarCruiser

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In case I actually get round to fitting my winch, I’ve started looking at the parts I’ve accumulated and have noticed the fairlead I have is somewhat shorter in the letterbox department than my winch drum is wide.

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Specifically it’s around 24 mm shy of each end at around 110mm from the point where it will be spooling on the first layer to around 80mm on the third.

The question is, in anyone’s experience, does this affect the spooling of the rope at each end of the winch drum? In other words, do I need a fairlead with a longer opening, or will this one suffice with a slight angle into the drum at each end. Maybe it’s actually of benefit in starting the next layer and designed that way?

Comments and experience appreciated.
 
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I don't think it matters Rich and given most bumpers come with pre-drilled holes for fairlead or roller guides finding an alternative option might prove difficult .

Besides the rope/wire guides itself into a tidy coil so long as you keep weight on it while spooling in .

Fairleads are sacrificial but do the same job as rollers which is simply to save sharp edge wear on the rope .

In an ideal world we will never use the winch we spent a small fortune fitting .
 
I don't think it matters Rich and given most bumpers come with pre-drilled holes for fairlead or roller guides finding an alternative option might prove difficult .

Besides the rope/wire guides itself into a tidy coil so long as you keep weight on it while spooling in .

Fairleads are sacrificial but do the same job as rollers which is simply to save sharp edge wear on the rope .

In an ideal world we will never use the winch we spent a small fortune fitting .
Not wrong Shayne.. I fitted a new Rhino winch to my Tri axle trailer.. Never used it. The last 3 Jobs have been Craned on or Driven up.. Annoying!
 
Answer is yes and no. When winching it makes no difference. You can't dictate where the line will lay. Really, you should winch in a bit, stop, let the alternator catch up with the battery loss (please let's not have that argument again) and pull the rope off the drum and lay it on evenly before going for another pull. That's in an ideal world. As we know, the more layers you get the less advantage you have so layering the rope to keep the diameter as least as possible the better - but I'm being purist. When you come to lay up the cable at the end of this, you won't be able to get across the whole of the drum face with a narrower letterbox which I find hugely frustrating because I like things to be neat. But if you don't care how tidy your cable is when you're not using it, it really doesn't matter.
 
Hmmm, do I feel a custom fairlead coming on?

Thing is, my thought are that there’s only going to be a certain amount of tolerance for sideways pull caused by the 24mm narrower letterbox, before the rope climbs up onto the next layer and rapidly traverses to the point where it begins spooling neatly again. This would when under load, I guess, then allow the rope to dig into the layer underneath as it can displace it towards the gap made at the end of the drum. With a tightly packed drum, surely it’s more likely that the rope will coil better and not get pinched into the layer underneath as readily?

The alternative is to limit the length of the drum which means less rope on it and more layers. Hmmm, of the two, a custom fairlead at 48mm wider is the way to go, if anything.
 
Rich, does the phrase 'over-thinking it a bit' mean anything?

You know I mean that in good spirit. Were you planning a winch challenge or something extreme?
 
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No, neither as it goes, but if it bugs you that the rope doesn’t get to the ends and can dig in then it will certainly bug me. The point is I have the opportunity to do this once and iron out the things that would bug me.
Overthinking it, maybe, but in truth it hasn’t taken much thought at all.

I’ve seen a winch that’s ingested it’s own rope and I know it takes a fair bit of faffing about to unstick it and could probably result in damage to the rope. It certainly damages steel ropes, I can only guess that it may do.

The other thing is, have I ever been in a situation where I needed a winch. No. But then it’s like an insurance really.
 
It does Rich. I end up shoving my arm down there to get the rope up against the end of the drum. I like it tidy.
 
just walked past my good winch and measured the fairlead. its bang on 12".

the synth rope is thicker than wire, so things can get pretty cramped in there. imo you want as much real estate as you can get.
or, running shorter rope is a option, but its guaranteed youll be two foot short of that tree stump...
 
It does Rich. I end up shoving my arm down there to get the rope up against the end of the drum. I like it tidy.
Not an overthunk too far then on my part?
 
just walked past my good winch and measured the fairlead. its bang on 12".

the synth rope is thicker than wire, so things can get pretty cramped in there. imo you want as much real estate as you can get.
or, running shorter rope is a option, but its guaranteed youll be two foot short of that tree stump...
Is that the slot length Mike?

I think the synthetic rope compacts down when under tension more than a steel one would, hence is probably easier to get stuck?

Isn’t that tree stump always two foot away?
 
that's the overall length.
lol. yes your right. if you had 200 foot of rope it would still be short..
 
that's the overall length.
lol. yes your right. if you had 200 foot of rope it would still be short..
Mine’s about 10mm short of a foot but I’m guessing the same as yours as they seem pretty standard.
 
probable so rich. if I can ill have a look at mine tomorrow to see if the drum extends about a inch past either side.
one thing I will say about a hidden away, infrequently used winch is keep an eye on its condition. mines turned to dust with corrosion.
 
Thinking about it winched rope gets stuck when it stacks and falls over (a backturn we call it in fishing i.e not paying attention) so possibly a slightly narrower fairlead might actually assist a tidy stack under stress :crazy:
 
This is kind of what I’m thinking, however I’m beginning to think that a fairlead to match the width of the drum is better, whereby not getting the rope fully to the ends of the drum means room for it to fall over into. Does that make sense? Or does leaving the room allow a rope jammed into the layer underneath to be more easily pulled out?

I can see I may need to give this more thot! :)
 
Rich the rope happily goes right to the end of the drum no.matter what.

The only time you get a issue if you not pulling straight then you get bunching.

In the last 10 years how many times have you needed your winch?

I am sure once you answer that you will see factory standard is fine
 
I think it's a bit of an insurance policy if your out on your own.

I know you shouldn't but I do a lot of tracks solo. We came across a chap yesterday completely bogged solo. Water up to the seats of he had a winch in the winch bumper his life would have been much easier
 
Sorry Stu, but it simply doesn't. If the fairlead is narrower than the drum, the rope stops short. You know how much winching I've done. Silver Phoenix had two winches remember so I'm not a novice at this.
 
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