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winch cable like a spaghetti

Started by teakwood, October 16, 2014, 08:40:24 PM

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teakwood

I have a new 9/16 swaged cable on my 540skidder. I just used it for a month and the first 6' already have like 7 loops. So every time i pull the chokers the first foots of the cable gets stucked in the winching tower roller, because of the loops. its very anoying and make me work harder to get it out. Is there anything i can do to straightening the cable up, like hiting it with a hammer to desapeare the loops? thanks for any help
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

snowstorm

hook it to a tree very night run most of the cable and stretch it. a little bit of oil on it helps it last longer

treeslayer2003

only thing i can think of is to hook to a tree and pull it off and wind back on keeping pressure on it both ways.
i would try it several times, it may get the twists out.

ga jones

Keep it oiled make sure it's not freespooling to fast. Hook it to a tree at night when your done. Stretch the cable all the way out pull tension on it and leave it till the next day.
380c timberjack c4 treefarmer international trucks jonsered saws. Sugi hara bars d31 komatsu 350 tj grapple

snowstorm

for you cable skidder guys there is an ad on criags list maine for winch cable. came off a bridge crane. 1500' spool 250

bill m

If it came off of a crane it most likely is the wrong type of cable. Won't last very long on a skidder.
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redprospector

I've never had any luck trying to stretch the kinks out of a main line.
My recommendation would be to pull it out just past the kinks, take a large cold chisel and a BIG hammer, or better yet a cutting torch and remove the kinked up end.
The mainline generally gets curled up like you're talking about by using a stump or tree to pull logs around a corner. Sometimes if you get too far one side to the other hooking logs and pulling the line through the sliders it will cause it to curl up like a pig tail. Don't do that!
Cut the end off and start over. Pull as straight as possible, and remember it is a winch line being used in adverse conditions. It will eventually become useless, but it should last more than a month if you're using it right.
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

snowstorm

would it matter at that price? it sounded like it was on a bridge crane inside a building

treeslayer2003

i got a spool once at a sale that was made of really fine wire, lots of fine wires. i never could break it but it got like a porcupine to handle. i finely took it off n threw it in the junk pile. i thought that it was for a crane.

bill m

Most crane cables are made up of many smaller diameter wires. It makes the cable more flexible but is not very abrasion resistant.
NH tc55da Metavic 4x4 trailer Stihl and Husky saws

thenorthman

Reds got it right, cable gets coils in it from being misshandled, usually from pulling around to tight of a bend, like ribbon on a present, can also be caused by getting the line twisted say by using a snatch block incorrectly, or when pulling multiple logs and not paying attention to how the main line is routed.  It should be a nice zigzag with no twists or crossing itself.

To fix it you can try the heavy load overnight thing,or just find a big stinker of a log and try to winch it up hill between stumps, usually works for me...

If none of this helps lop the end off and start over, eventually it will get worn and break anyway so no big loss there.

Granted I use a cut off saw or my trusty horrible freight 4" angle grinder rather then a chisel, but if you don't have any of these, an axe head stuck in a stump and a sledge hammer works good too.

As for crane cable, I have a few lengths of it around I sometimes use to extend my skid line, works fine through a snatch block but not so much for full time skidder use, and yes its extra flexible but its not so happy about really sharp corners, like a shackle/clevis... its also 8x27 so splicing it is 1/2 again more fun.
well that didn't work

teakwood

Thanks alot for so many replys. I will try that with the tree and also oil it. I have 160' of cable on the spool, thats the absolut max because deere spools are so small. on some slopes its already to short (i would like to have 30'more cable on it) so cuting every month 6' isnt an option for me as i would need to buy a new cable every half year.
What did redprospector mean with that? Does he mean that the line is like zick zack?
Sometimes if you get too far one side to the other hooking logs and pulling the line through the sliders it will cause it to curl up like a pig tail. Don't do that!
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

treeslayer2003

some one good with puters post him a pic of how not to run the line on multible hook ups. basicaly don't hook two in such a way that the line has sharp angles...........gentle angles only.

thenorthman

dijya ever wrap a present and run the ribbon through some scissors to make it curl, cable will do the same thing. works on paper too. literally not you know a drawing... In other words try to keep your sliders at say less then 45deg bends, and never use a stump, rock, log or any other stationary object to turn the cable, get a snatch block and use it.

If you regularly run out of room with 130' of cable, I'm thinking you need to find some different equipment. Granted I'm all for run what you brung, but 130-160' plus is just rediculous, just my oppinion but a shovel, cat, or maybe a yarder would be better suited for that
well that didn't work

BargeMonkey

 Like everyone else said, leaving it strung up overnight helps. I welded 2 nuts onto the butt plate of the 440D, and keep the cutter in the truck. Bolt the cutter right to the plate and holds the cable so your not fighting it when cutting off 5-6'. A bad operator can ruin a good cable quick. Im on job #4 with this cable, she is down to about 30-35' and owes me nothing.  :D  your making pulls of over 150' ??? Over a bank or ravine ? Rarely do I ever have to pull 100', and it better be something real nice or it stays there.  ;)

teakwood

Thanks, now i understand. My land is pretty steep, so sometimes (maybe once a day) i cant back up more with the skidder because of the slope and than sometimes cable is to short. I would like to have 200' of cable on it. On some slopes i hire a guy with oxes and he haul the logs to the point where i can get them.  when i walk the way downhill with my cable i fix the chokers on the logs one after an other (8 chokers) zigzaging, sometimes packages of to or three logs per choker, and than bring the whole cargo uphill with one pull.
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

teakwood

National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

redprospector

Ok, let's see if I can make this work.
Please excuse my crude drawing skills on the computer.


  

 
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

redprospector

You may not be able to keep your main line as straight as the bottom picture, but if you have sharp turns in the cable, pulling through the slides you will curl up your cable.
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

teakwood

Thanks for explaining. its almost imposible that i can put the cable like this, but at least the logs werent that heavy, maybe 200-300kilos each. How do you oil up a cable? with a old shirt dipped in oil? and whats the sense of it? does the oil goes into the cable to lube the fibers or its just for the outside?
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

thenorthman

First off the oil does two things, one lubes the various wires that make up the cable and two protects its from rust.

The easiest thing for lubing the cable is splash some diesel on the full winch drum now and again, second is use some chainsaw bar oil, usually the dregs of a nearly empty bottle and let it drip on said drum.

There are commercially available Cable lubes, most of them are some form of kerosene or diesel blend, unless you get the kind meant for motorcycle brake/clutch lines, then they get kinda a sticky and pointless.

Good ole WD-40 is really just diesel with some wax and fish oil... but it does work good.

Also when running an extra full drum like that you need to be extra careful about how the winch winds up, get the line off to one side and it will eventually work its way through the side of the case, kind of the reason most folks will run less then 100 feet on said winch, makes it harder to over spool.  To help I'll smear some grease on the side of the case where there is already a groove started, and some on the fair lead.

Back in the old days crews would have a box full of a heated grease looking stuff and run the lines through it now and again to pack the line full of grease

To sum up any light oil is fine for cable. And the diesel is right there when your filling up.
well that didn't work

lopet

Those winch cables sure aren't what they're used to be. My last one i bought of a well known supplier and he told me it's the best he can get. :o  Well  I have trouble too keeping my winch line straight and yes it starts to coil up after a while . But I normally don't have to cut the last 10 or 12 feet as is is my breaking point.  ;D   Using a cordless drill with a cutting disc to cut the end and re thread my hook  can be done in 10 minutes.  I am down to 100 feet again from 200.
Maybe I am not much of a help, but I would try all those things as recommended.
Make sure you know how to fall properly when you fall and as to not hurt anyone around you.
Also remember, it's not the fall what hurts, its the sudden stop. !!

teakwood

I had to do something to that groove you mentioned, it was geting so deep that the cable gets stucked in it. Still have to try the repair, hope that it will hold up.

  

 
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

Kodiakmac

Quote from: bill m on October 16, 2014, 09:06:43 PM
If it came off of a crane it most likely is the wrong type of cable. Won't last very long on a skidder.

I bought a big spool for $175 about 3 or 4 years ago.  You're right about it not lasting as long - and it does tend to get kind of prickly - but it works out to only $17.50 for a hundred feet of mainline.  So I don't begrudge the fact that I'm spending an hour or so twice a year to change it.
Robin Hood had it just about right:  as long as a man has family, friends, deer and beer...he needs very little government!
Kioti rx7320, Wallenstein fx110 winch, Echo CS510, Stihl MS362cm, Stihl 051AV, Wallenstein wx980  Mark 8:36

oldseabee

The right type cable is important. Standing behind machine, if the rope anchor is on the left, use right lay cable, also use regular lay cable which means that the wires are wound in the opposite direction of the strands so if you are looking at the cable the wires seem to be going in a straght line with the cable, the other type has the wires wound in the same direction as the strands and they go in line with the strands. cable should be 6/26 meaning there are 6 strands with 26 wires in each strand.

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