dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

jtrom

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
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220
I need a new a hand winch for my 600 pound boat. I heard that the steel cable ones can snap and cause horrific injury. Is this true???????
 

Cheetah 210es

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Dec 4, 2011
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

YES!!! Got the scar too. But I wouldn't even consider a wire rope for 600lb boat anyway. I'd stick to a strap.
 

jtrom

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2010
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

How long do I need the strap?....It's a 15ft. alum boat on a tilt trailer.......
 

evolution1985

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 29, 2012
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

yep, thats why on 4x4 recovery winches and also on buggie recovery winches they recommend using a winch damper on steel wire rope, allot of guys doing 4x4 including myself have switched to dynarope for that reason. Its the same with boats, it the wire rope reaches breaking tension for what ever reason it'll whip out and could kill or main or seriously injure you. I have a strap winch on my boat and I wouldn't change to a wire rope winch If I was paid to
 

Cheetah 210es

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

Winch straps are usually 20' long.
 

Home Cookin'

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

For your rig, there's nothing to worry about (try to discern "probable" from "possible.") Just watch for rust through, which takes years of salt water use. Even if it breaks, it's not going to whip around, slice your head off, break your rear windshield and cut your hull in half. Worry about that when you get the 25' boat. Small boats like yours are not a problem.

I have used "wire rope" for decades in salt water applications where boats are winched on, not driven on. Nonetheless, I don't stand directly in the line of fire when I'm winching. I'll admit I recently replaced a rusted wire rope with a strap, mainly because it was cheaper, and for this trailer, I drive part way on (until I get my power winch).

As for length: You back the trailer in so the axle is an inch above the water. Unlatch the tilt latch. Pull the boat against the trailer; it will tilt down some, pull it in tight. At this point your bow eye is close to being over the axle--and that's as long as you need the cable. But may as well buy one that's 15'. Point is, you don't need one longer than the boat b/c you are always starting with the boat at the trailer.
The only problem with getting one too long is that you lose the efficiency of the winch as cable/strap winds onto it. IOW an empty winch spool cranks easier than a half full one--so try to start close to empty.
 

southkogs

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

... to add. How steep your load angles are play in as well. A relatively flat load with a 600# where the trailer submerges nicely on the ramp ... who cares what you use ;) Make that ramp a little more steep where you have to really make use of the ole' crank to get her on ... much different story.
 

haulnazz15

Captain
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Mar 9, 2009
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3,720
Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

I'm not sure I'd be terribly worried about the stress on the cable from a 600lbs boat, but it doesn't take much load to inflict serious injuries in regards to steel cable. The straps are cheap, and can be cut to whatever size you want. No real worries with them aside from them needing to be changed about once every 7-10 years. Cheap insurance against potential harm.
 

Mel Taylor

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Jun 25, 2009
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

I've used both cables and straps on small tinnies in your weight range. Either will work OK.

The stories about broken cables causing horrendous damage are true. But, I think that only applies to much bigger cables under much heavier loads. I once saw a cable snap when one diesel locomotive was trying to pull another one back on the tracks after a derailment. It crawled across the ground like a snake, snapping off cross tie-sized posts like they were match sticks. I doubt that's going to happen with a 600 pound boat and a hand winch.

Naturally, you need to keep an eye on the cable and replace it when it begins to show signs of wear and/or old age,

Having said all that, IMO the strap is the only way to go. Winds more evenly as a rule, don't have to worry about it getting kinked, easy to cut to length, and, no broken strands to stick in your hand when it does get older.

Same rule applies though as far as keeping an eye on the strap and replacing it when needed.

BTW, I keep my boat inside when not actually using it and I recently replaced the strap after getting at least fifteen years use out of it. It looked like the stitching at the hook was getting old and maybe ready to fail.
 

foodfisher

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Feb 18, 2009
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

Yep, steel splinters would be my biggest concern.
 

Scott Danforth

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

since the working rating of wire rope is 1/5th the actual tensile strength, I seriously doubt that properly maintained wire rope will fail in a proper winching situation. However kinks, birds nests and corrosion usually cause wire rope to fail, not to mentioning improper rigging of the bitter end.

Splinters in a wire rope are usually indicative of the rope fatiguing due to bending over a tighter radius than its designed for. as a rule of thumb, the diameter of pulleys and winches should be 20 times the diameter of the wire rope.
 

JB

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

Steel cables don't need to snap to cause painful injury. One wire out of that cable can puncture a hand like a snake fang and leave serious infection.

There is no benefit of steel cable over strap for your application.
 

5150abf

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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

stop and think, would you rather get whacked with a steel cable or a nylon strap, never dealt with either one but I vote nylon.
 

Fishing Dude too

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May 13, 2011
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

Ask the one legged captin how he lost his leg. Use a strap, use steel cable at work it broke tooke out $8,000 in equipment what is your eyes worth?
 

robert graham

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Apr 16, 2009
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

A 2" Nylon strap with a break strength in the 4000 to 8000 lb. range would make it the best choice over steel.
 

LilRedNeckGirl

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 25, 2010
Messages
184
Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

WE use a strap. our boat empty is over 3500 pounds. Aside from the splinters, breakage risks, etc, there is one huge advantage of useing a strap. They dont get all twisted and kinked, and thay dont get locked into the winch under other turns of the line. a strap lays in streight, as most are designed to just fit into the winch, unlike cable that has to spool in. There is no comparason to a good strap, based just on easy of handling.
 

bonz_d

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Apr 22, 2008
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5,274
Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

Was once flat loading a 17' plywood hull and the cable broke at the eye hook. Spend 3 days in the hospital with broken blood vessels inside my right eye. Eye filled with blood and lost vision for 2 of the 3 days.
 
Joined
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Re: dangers of a steel cable in hand winch....unfounded?

stop and think, would you rather get whacked with a steel cable or a nylon strap, never dealt with either one but I vote nylon.

I've been hit with a nylon strap, and it's no fun... but that's a story for another time. :)

I was at West Marine recently and checked. Their strap is 25 feet and the cost was about $25.
 
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