Jammed winch cable

[AndyVT]

I went to replace the winch cable on my Norse 450 and discovered the old cable is deeply buried in the lower wraps
and when I tried using the tractor to pull it free, it just about stood the tractor up on the rear wheels. So it is truly buried/jammed on the drum.
I have both winch covers off and can see the mess but can't get any type of tool in there to try and free it as there is too much in the way.
Anyone have an idea of a game plan to get it off; remove the drum?

[DMcCoy]

The only thing I have ever done is roll the drum, and lock it, at the point where the cable is bent backwards in a 'U' and then pull.  Your situation sounds tighter than anything I have experienced.

[mike_belben]

Torch it off. 

[BargeMonkey]

Torch it off.

 ☝☝☝. Just want to be a little cautious when you burn thru that a piece doesn't have memory and whip back around. 

[mike_belben]

definitely safety first.  full ppe.  safety sandals and 2 masks incase the prior owner had the covid.  liberally sanitize the hands after

[beenthere]

definitely safety first.  full ppe.  safety sandals and 2 masks incase the prior owner had the covid.  liberally sanitize the hands after

:D :D :D
But good to know that there can be some memory in that twisted cable.

[AndyVT]

I got it out ;D.
I  removed the vertical strut that was blocking the side of the spool and had enough room to pound, pry and lever on the "looped over" cable until there was slack that enabled the trapped kinked cable to slide out.
Then I was able to unspool the rest of the cable with a bit of a fiddle to get the kink through the rear pulley.
New cable went on smoothly and I am heading back to the woodlot.

[Al_Smith]

Many times they use no swivels on the hooks which will really snarl up the cable .A torch would be the easiest choice .

[mike_belben]

dump a bit of old motor oil on the drum now and then and youll have much, much improved cable life.  rust is the death of them. 

[ehp]

I get knots in the cable all the time and I mean all the time as I run a long cable , most times its 175 ft cable to skid out of the deep guts I get to cut in . I carry a crow bar and 3 pound sledge right on the skidder to get them out and lots of times just by bending the cable abit and pounding on the bent end and driving it back into the drum will loosen the cable up enough you can get the knot out but I have seen where I ended up cutting the cable with my battery powered 4 1/2 inch grinder , Alot less chance of fire with the grinder than using a torch .

[g_man]

dump a bit of old motor oil on the drum now and then and youll have much, much improved cable life.  rust is the death of them.

Be careful !! Better check first.  I don't know about Norse but on my Farmi winch they say to never oil the cable or the drive chain because the oil will migrate onto the clutch face and ruin it. You will get plenty of life from a dry cable.

To limit or eliminate rats nests in your cable make sure there is some tension on it when you winch it in. Especially if you have a lot of cable out. On a new cable I usually hook the cable to a stump up hill from the tractor and let the winch pull the tractor up hill as it winds in.
gg

[thecfarm]

I've had to remove the mast twice in 25 years to get at the drum on my winch. I have the same winch as you. I try to keep the drag adjusted so I don't get a lot of slack. But it still happens. I also try to look inside each time to make sure the cable is tight against the drum. Note the "try" word.
Each time I removed the mast I could get at the problem and has it fixed in minutes, but worth it, because I could not get it.
Helps out to run the cable all the way out and pull a log towards you every so often. When ever I do this it unwinds easier too.

[AndyVT]

My Norse manual also says don't get oil on the clutch.
Fair warning on keeping tension on the drum. 
Already caught the new cable and frayed some of the wire :(
I spool out with lighter tension and sock it down when I spool in .
Good idea on unreeling it all out occasionally and watching it as it reels in.

[g_man]

When I reel it all out like that to get it back on the drum straight what ever I hook to for tension I use a slider rather than the hook. That way it lets any twists that have built up come out easier. Also once in a while I string it all out then put it in high tension so it is off the ground and leave it over night to relax. Again using a slider. Helps Take some kink out too. In the morning go over the cable with your gloved hand and any wires you find sticking out nip them off with a pair of diagonal cutters.

gg

[Al_Smith]

You'd probably have better luck if you used crane cable instead of normal lay wire rope .Crane cable is made with the inner layers going to opposite the outer layer which would tend to cancel  the forces from fouling  the line .FWIW the same forces on a winch drum are present on a capstan drum .
I have little experience winching big logs but years of pulling heavy armored electrical cable some weighing 14 pounds per foot and 1600 feet long .One reason I suggested using swivels on heavy pulls .

[thecfarm]

The Norse cable does come with a hook on the end. I run 6 slides on my cable. I hardly ever use the hook. Sometimes all 6 are used, sometimes only one.
I also made up some shorts chains, Seem like now I haul out small stuff. This way I don't have to run 5 feet of chains through a keyhole. When I bought mine winch it came with 6 eight foot chains. Won't need many 8 foot chains in use with a 40 hp tractor.  ;)
I have no idea the expense of a crane cable, but with a 3 pt winch the payback may not be there.  

[Al_Smith]

Crane cable is far more costly than lay type steel cable .Which makes the cost of a swivel seem inexpensive by comparison .However even with a swivel unless you used a choker as a point of attachment  it would not do much good .Doubling back and hooking the line would still make a rats nest of the end 20 feet of the cable .What a mess that could be .
Rigging is just the practical  application of high school physics .On a heavy pull the use of snatch blocks takes the strain off the pulling mechanisms just takes a little longer .

[Ed_K]

 When just spooling the cable to get it straightened on the drum, I used a 2' piece of 2"-3" branch and put it over the cable on the ground and step on it and real the cable in.

[johndozer]

Angle grinder (preferably cordless) with zip wheel when all else fails. If it is really badly pinched the cable is often compromised anyhow. Hopefully the end piece will be long enough to be workable

[mike_belben]

cable scraps make good expedient forest gates.. for those who will obey a gate anyways. 

[Wudman]

cable scraps make good expedient forest gates.. for those who will obey a gate anyways.

Run them through a piece of PVC or ABS (better - it won't shard) plastic pipe to increase visibility if you use cable.  Hang some netting or something on it to make it visible.  I am aware of more than one lawsuit from a 4-wheeler driving through one.  It will keep them from cutting someone in half.  I had a buddy that drove through a cable back in high school with a CJ-7.  It was after dark on what had been a public road (CCC Forest Trail here in Virginia).  New landowner had hung a cable.  He had a nice brush guard on the Jeep that prevented catastrophic damage.  It deflected the cable upward.  Full roll cage in the Jeep sent it on over the top.  Without that full cage, somebody would have been killed.  A new hood, windshield frame and soft top was needed.


Wud  

[mike_belben]

I just put neon flagging tape

[dougtrr2]

Due to my own inexperience, I bird nested the cable on my pretty new winch.  It took an angle grinder to get it loose.  I only lost 5 feet of cable.  Unfortunately, it was almost exactly in the middle.

Doug in SW IA

[thecfarm]

@dougtrr2,You want the hook, be it a chain or a strap on the bottom of the log. Chain has be a certain way to make it roll. One way won't work, the other way will work.  So when you pull the chain-strap the log will roll and not lift. You want the hook on the back side of the log to make it roll. Very hard to explain, very easy to figure out how to do it.
I do the same thing when I am skidding logs with my 3 pt winch. I put the hook on the bottom of the log, hook is on the ground, so when I winch it it, the log will roll. What was touching the ground, the bottom, is now on top. This roll also will show any limbs or stubs that I missed because that was on the ground.
I also run 6 slides. Sometimes all six are used, sometimes only one is used.
I made up 6 short chains. Took three 8 foot chains, bought 3 hooks and cut the chains in half. Much easier to pull 2 feet of chain through a keyhole instead of 5 feet.
Watch what is winching in towards you too. I had a bunch of dead stuff down in an area and one of those dead trees came in with the log and almost took me off my feet. Got to watch out for those 4 inch dead trees.  :
I like to put about a 4 inch piece of wood, about 4 feet log under the logs before I release them from the winch. This keeps the ends of the ground and I can unhook and get the chains out easier.
Do not pull at a sharp angle. The log might stop and if you keep winching in, the tractor will come up on 2 wheels. 

[dougtrr2]

Appreciate the input thecfarm, but I found a much more creative way to bird nest my cable.  We had a near miss with a tornado.  I had several trees that snapped 20-30 feet from the ground but were still attached.  If you hook up to the hanging part;  get a safe distance away; then pull/release, pull/release with an improperly adjusted brake; you will create an impenetrable birds nest inside your winch.


Doug in SW IA