Winches and wire cables - Help

**travelrover** · 24th March 2022, 05:30 PM

Hi team

I have an el cheapo Super&^%$p 'no names' winch (which looks suspiciously like a Ridge Ryder) on my 300Tdi Defender. This is my project vehicle so lots of work in progress activities going on. Those include fitting a deep cycle battery and charge splitter of some sort. So the winch has never been used.

Anyway, this vehicle is now completely bogged to the diffs in very very soft ground, a result of 500mm of rain on already soaking ground (and heavy rain forecast for the next ten days). I have tried numerous approaches to get it out but the ground is just too soft, the more you dig the more it turns to the consistency of porridge. We managed to get an excavator bogged trying to get to the Defender to pull it out.

My latest plan was to use an old cranking battery and wire up the winch to this and jumper that battery to the cranking battery in the vehicle to keep some charge up. This has worked well. My problem now is as I said the winch has never been used so never had the cable run out/in properly. I was pulling the cable out on freewheel and there was a banging sound each revolution and on inspection the tail end of the cable (the red end) was flapping around on the drum and whacking the controller sitting above the drum. I had only pulled out about five feet of cable at this stage. Peering at the drum the red painted cable was all over the place so maybe was never run on properly at the manufacture. I really couldn't see any other option but to pull the whole 28 meters off the drum and try and feed it on correctly. Got it off with a lot of jiggling to avoid damaging the unit. The inside end (the red end) has an eye on it like a large electrical connector that would go over a bolt or post. I couldn't see anywhere were this would have connected to the drum, no bolt holes, and my google research has not suggested anything like this either on vehicle mounted winches. I tried unsuccessfully to secure this end tightly to the drum with cable ties until i could get enough rolls on the drum to grip sufficiently. Well the cable ties worked just not the securely bit.

My dilemma is how on earth are you supposed to get a wire cable on the drum in-situ? I am sure it can be done I just cant see how. What is the trick?
Or should I just not waste my time and go for a synthetic cable? What issues will I have spooling that on to the drum?

Oh and there is another Defender, my Td5 bogged behind this one. The winch on that has a dead solenoid but either way the 300Tdi has to be moved first...

Appreciate any guidance!

**RobMichelle** · 24th March 2022, 05:41 PM

They normally have a counter sunk screw into the drum maybe it has smeared the head off and the shaft of screw is sitting flush with drum ? Then you would still have to drill it out and start again.
Could you cable tie the lug to the drum to get a start maybe

**RobMichelle** · 24th March 2022, 05:43 PM

Sorry just reread ya post I missed the cable tie that you tried, I’d persist with that unles you have a metal self tapper and a tek gun

**Hogarthde** · 24th March 2022, 05:47 PM

Perhaps try a clove hitch on the drum, steel wire rope is usually good so stay with it.

**travelrover** · 24th March 2022, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by RobMichelle

Sorry just reread ya post I missed the cable tie that you tried, I’d persist with that unles you have a metal self tapper and a tek gun

Thanks Rob.

I'll try and have a better look on the drum. that would make a lot of sense, it just very difficult to see in place.

Cheers - Simon

**trout1105** · 24th March 2022, 06:05 PM

Dump the steel rope and replace it with synthetic, Much easier to handle than a steel cable especially in your siituation.
The thing about winches is IF you don't check them and use them every now and then (even simply pulling 10 to 15m out and wnding it back up again egery few weeks) they WILL let you down when you really need them.

**travelrover** · 24th March 2022, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by Hogarthde

Perhaps try a clove hitch on the drum, steel wire rope is usually good so stay with it.

Thanks Hogarthde

Thats a smart idea... not sure there would be enough clearance between the grill/winch but will have a look at that.

Cheers - Simon

**travelrover** · 24th March 2022, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by trout1105

Dump the steel rope and replace it with synthetic, Much easier to handle than a steel cable especially in your siituation.
The thing about winches is IF you don't check them and use them every now and then (even simply pulling 10 to 15m out and wnding it back up again egery few weeks) they WILL let you down when you really need them.

Thanks Trout1105

You are correct of course, they will let you down. This winch wasn't high on the list of things to finish off just now (I bought it as it was on special) but may be the only option to extract the vehicles until the ground dries out sufficiently which will be along time!

The winch on the Td5 is a Warn and I used it only a month ago to remove a tree that had come down but now a solenoid has died.

Cheers - Simon

**trout1105** · 24th March 2022, 07:01 PM

I have had a few different winches and the retaing screw is usually just a small bolt with eithef a flat or Phillips head.
The winch relies on a few wraps of rope on the winch to be able to work, pull too much rope off the drum and that piddling little screw will fail every time.
The same applies for a winch that hasn't had the rope wound onto it under tension.

Have you checked to see if that retaining screw is either sheared or simply missing?
If the screw is sheared tie a rolling hitch onto the drum, damn near impossible with steel cable but an easy task with synthetic rope.
If that screw is missing use a tech scew to anchor the end of the rope, easy as with either steel or synthetic.

**V8Ian** · 24th March 2022, 07:07 PM

If at all possible, leave the vehicles where they are until the ground is dryer.
My mate's neighbour got a body truck bogged in his driveway, it didn't end well, with multiple 4x4s, a 4x4 wheeled loader and a backhoe, all bogged in the retrieval attempt. Each try resulted in the truck sinking further. It took an eight wheel tractor to remove all the rescue vehicles, then a heavy recovery truck to extract the rigid truck out, when the ground had dried out.
Glad I wasn't footing the bill, or repatriating the driveway.

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