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

[Home Cookin']

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.

Now you know why they call it an eye hook.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

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

If you like your current winch, you may not need to replace the hardware. One option is to try Amsteel Blue rope.

Main Advantages:
Lighter
Easier to Handle
Extremely UV resistant
No wire frays, no gloves needed to handle versus steel cable
If/When it snaps, it simply drops to the ground versus a steel cable which carries high energy and will recoil possibly causing injury/death.

You can get some good prices/lengths on Ebay.

I've been using this for years and am very happy with it.

 

[j_martin]

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

I've over stressed and broken all kinds of cables, straps, chains, and ropes. Always seemed to need to pull a little harder than the equipment I had on the wrecker. I have a length of chain you can hold out like a stick.

That said to establish my credentials. What's dangerous about a cable or strap is it's ability to store energy and deliver it to a victim, be it equipment or flesh. A chain stores the least, and usually just drops if broken. A steel cable is next, though it can store much energy and it weighs a lot so it delivers quite a blow. Nylon straps and ropes are another deal. In small diameters they are safe as long as they are directly tied to something that won't break off. They store a lot of energy, but are relatively soft at impact. I've seen a nylon strap break off a 2" trailer ball, and put it right through a bus driver's head. Not a pretty sight, but a good demonstration of what can happen. The strap itself was relatively harmless, but it delivered the energy to a very hard projectile. That's why you never mix up nylon and steel (chain, etc)

The biggest downer of wire rope in your application would be end of life strand breaking (fish hooks we call them) in the steel cable, raising heck with whatever flesh slides over it. I'd use rope or strap, and make it plenty heavy for the load so you are never over about 20% of breaking point and you'll be fine.

 

[dingbat]

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

The biggest downer of wire rope in your application would be end of life strand breaking (fish hooks we call them) in the steel cable, raising heck with whatever flesh slides over it.

You make a good point here. If there are broken strands in the cable it's structurally damaged and should be removed from service ASAP. I doubt anyone would continue to use a use a frayed strap until it broke. Why continue to use a compromised cable?

I've used a cable on my winch for the past 15 years and steel chokers at work for most of my adult life. I have never had a cable fail that I didn’t abuse or showed shows signs of being compromised beforehand.

Educate yourself on the safe usage of cabling and the probably of you being injured by a cable failure go to about zero.

 

[26aftcab454]

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


my old boat had a electric winch with a cable pully block system that i was totally confident in. plus it had a 12ft remote control!

 

[UncleWillie]

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

Rule #1 ... Never stand in line with the cable or strap.

You may be tempted to straddle the tow hitch to try and keep your feet dry.
That is the worst place to be. Always stand off to the side.