P1000 I have a wire rope kink and would like advice

[StewB]

I used my winch (a Superwinch Terra 45 - two machines with this winch, one customer support issue, and am a Superfan of the winch and the support) to pull fallen trees through underbrush to a road where I could load and haul out.
It was at a necessary side angle and there was no way to guide the wire rope across the spool, so it stacked on one side.
Sure enough, it jammed and kinked to where it unwound and flattened the strands to about a 1", 90 degree angle flat spot.
I kept working and could pull other trees out in a better line, and the original kink eventually straightened out quite a bit (which is shown in the photo).
The kink is about 10' in on a 50' line. I'd be okay cutting and losing 10' if that's the thing to do to make sure I don't snap it under critical stress. But if I can keep using it I will.
FYI: 90% of my winch work is to lift and lower a snow plow and that means I wind up cutting off about 5' feet every other year due to wear from short repeat use.
Should I cut it and move on, or is it good enough to keep using?

PS: Don't want this to fall into a wire v. synthetic debate. I chose wire. If necessary, I can dig up a photo of a serious flat spot on my 3/8" Dyneema rope from the very first recovery use that couldn't be perfectly aligned. Equally, I use my rig all around, everywhere and all year long. I don't have the time to swap out a short pull strap for plowing (which I acknowledge is the best plow-lifting solution).
And yes, there's clickbait in the tagline so behave (you know I'm talking to you).

 

[Admin]

 

[Gohonda2]

I’d run it.

 

[JenElio]

I used my winch (a Superwinch Terra 45 - two machines with this winch, one customer support issue, and am a Superfan of the winch and the support) to pull fallen trees through underbrush to a road where I could load and haul out.
It was at a necessary side angle and there was no way to guide the wire rope across the spool, so it stacked on one side.
Sure enough, it jammed and kinked to where it unwound and flattened the strands to about a 1", 90 degree angle flat spot.
I kept working and could pull other trees out in a better line, and the original kink eventually straightened out quite a bit (which is shown in the photo).
The kink is about 10' in on a 50' line. I'd be okay cutting and losing 10' if that's the thing to do to make sure I don't snap it under critical stress. But if I can keep using it I will.
FYI: 90% of my winch work is to lift and lower a snow plow and that means I wind up cutting off about 5' feet every other year due to wear from short repeat use.
Should I cut it and move on, or is it good enough to keep using?

View attachment 349372

PS: Don't want this to fall into a wire v. synthetic debate. I chose wire. If necessary, I can dig up a photo of a serious flat spot on my 3/8" Dyneema rope from the very first recovery use that couldn't be perfectly aligned. Equally, I use my rig all around, everywhere and all year long. I don't have the time to swap out a short pull strap for plowing (which I acknowledge is the best plow-lifting solution).
And yes, there's clickbait in the tagline so behave (you know I'm talking to you).

I'd run it, doesn't look like the wires were frayed. Worse case you can always swap it out for a different wire rope if it doesn't seem safe to ya 👍

 

[SaltwaterSlick]

Ain't no big thang! The more you work it, the straighter it'll get and it don't look compromised to me.

 

[JenElio]

......Ain't no big thang! The more you work it, the straighter it'll get......

.................... 😉 NoMo!!!

 

[NewHere2]

Ain't no big thang! The more you work it, the straighter it'll get and it don't look compromised to me.

He’s Right You Know !!

As long as no cut wires are sticking out, it will be OK with no loss of Tensile Strength.

A snatch block can really help with most of those bad angles.

 

[Dirtstiffs-1000]

I used my winch (a Superwinch Terra 45 - two machines with this winch, one customer support issue, and am a Superfan of the winch and the support) to pull fallen trees through underbrush to a road where I could load and haul out.
It was at a necessary side angle and there was no way to guide the wire rope across the spool, so it stacked on one side.
Sure enough, it jammed and kinked to where it unwound and flattened the strands to about a 1", 90 degree angle flat spot.
I kept working and could pull other trees out in a better line, and the original kink eventually straightened out quite a bit (which is shown in the photo).
The kink is about 10' in on a 50' line. I'd be okay cutting and losing 10' if that's the thing to do to make sure I don't snap it under critical stress. But if I can keep using it I will.
FYI: 90% of my winch work is to lift and lower a snow plow and that means I wind up cutting off about 5' feet every other year due to wear from short repeat use.
Should I cut it and move on, or is it good enough to keep using?

View attachment 349372

PS: Don't want this to fall into a wire v. synthetic debate. I chose wire. If necessary, I can dig up a photo of a serious flat spot on my 3/8" Dyneema rope from the very first recovery use that couldn't be perfectly aligned. Equally, I use my rig all around, everywhere and all year long. I don't have the time to swap out a short pull strap for plowing (which I acknowledge is the best plow-lifting solution).
And yes, there's clickbait in the tagline so behave (you know I'm talking to you).

No sweat until it frays.

 

[bumperm]

You might consider changing over to synthetic line. You'll need to change the fairlead also*, to an aluminum one without rollers. Synthetic does have drawbacks, doesn't deal with abrasion as well as wire rope and is subject to long term UV damage, but it's lighter, doesn't kink and is considered to be safer.

*Unless your roller fairlead is brand new, and that ain't the case!

 

[JoeyL]

Should I cut it and move on, or is it good enough to keep using?

So in the end its really up to you and what you are comfortable with.

I was a crane mechanic for a while and have done a lot of wire rope inspections. In that world, deformation like this is not tolerated and would be immediately put out of service and replaced. So if you want to be as safe as possible, it should be cut off or replaced.
However a winch on your sxs is not the same as crane in an industrial setting.

You will surely have some loss of strength, but I doubt the cable will break under the load of your winch just based on this deformation.

Wire ropes can break with or without visible damage, so you should always treat them as if they could break. I dont like standing anywhere near wire ropes under load. They can get violent when they break.

My suggestion would be to make a quick test. Keep yourself in a safe location and pull on it. I think you will find that it doesnt break before your winch stops pulling. Also remember that the winch pulls harder when you have more cable out. So testing it with a small amount of cable out wont give you the max force on the cable.

 

[Nvrgiveup]

I was expecting a completely different conversation when I first read the title of this one!