how i selected my a synthetic rope

[weeds]

i had a lengthy discussion with a couple of guys here at work...we are wanting to convert our steel wire winches to synthetic and were mulling over which rope to buy and whether we are getting value for money. i.e. braking strain, SWL, WLL, 8 strand v 12 strand, cheap, expensive etc etc.

i read and click all the links on DB's thread than hopped on the phone.......

i jagged chatting to an australian manufacturer of synthetic rope....and to his credit he didn't bag any of the ropes on the market. he was a wholesaler so he couldn't sell to me even though spend at least 30min chatting to me......he was mainly interested in getting to right info out there, he only put me onto one of the re-sellers right at the end of the conversation.

Synthetic rope is UHMWPE Fiber rope (Ultra-High molecular weight polyethylene)

Dyneema (Europe) and Spectra (America?) were the first to produce this product, each were given a market share years ago due to some sort of court ruling........now there are around 8 or 9 factories producing UHMWPE fibre (mostly in china)

just because your rope is labelled dyneema doesn't mean its from the dyneema factory........no real cause for alarm but everybody is using the name

Spectra and Dyneema are known brands and you would assume can be trusted, the other manufacturers have come on board with varying level of product.

• looks like i am going to chase down a rope that uses spectra or dyneema fibre.....not sure how many supplier know which factory the fibre comes from.

8 v 12 strand, no real differences here it just the way the rope is constructed apart from the 12 strand does not deform as much as the 8 strand. the biggest thing to check is actually measure the thicknes of your rope i.e. are you only getting 9.8mm of rope instead of the 10mm.....9.8mm will break before 10mm.

• 12 strand is for me
• oh and i might just take my verniers along to see if i'm getting all of my rope

hawse or rollers - most of the ebay seller advertise hawse only......but why?? rollers look after the rope way better than hawse i.e. no friction = less heat build up. the only risk with roller is the pinch point in the corners, if its a quality roller where they are nice and close with enough overlap than the pinch point is not an issue. hawse fairleads biggest risk is after a long winch with the rope going over the one point is the heat build up esp. if you stop the winch and keep it under load. by doing this all the heat on the hawse is not going through one point on the rope.....you have now decreased the strength in the rope at that point.

• a custom hawse from nugg_t for me only because i cannot be botheres making rollers to suit my winch

what size rope.........all my research today confirm you will not get a SWL or WLL with your systhetic rope........the best you will get is a breaking strain. a rule of thumb used in the industry is what ever the the rating of your winch is in pounds select a rope that has a breaking strain arond the same figure in kilograms i.e. 9000lb winch = 9000kg breaking strain rope

• i have ditched all online seller that do not state a breaking strain of there rope
• i'm going to use the rule of thumb above

metal eyelet or not. he indicated there was not much differance i.e. its a personal preference, if it doesn't have a metal eyelet and it should have a protective sheath around the eye. he also indicated the bigger diameter of the pin going through the eyelet (metal or not) the better. the biggest issue with damaging the rope near the eyelet is those who drive the eyelet in between the roller or hawse, this not only damages the rope but also damages the roller or hawse i.e. small nicks which will cut the odd fibre here and there

• no metal eyelet for me

in the wash up he asked what my rig was set up for, comp work or touring......mine is a tourer so he basically said any of the 10mm ropes on the market where they are prepared to state the breaking strain would be fine

this guy is in and around the 4wd comp scene, i really liked how he didn't bag any of the products out there on the market....the perfect guy to speak at a 4wd club meeting

anyways, i have decided to go with an australian manufactured rope by Whittam Ropes, funny how good service gets a sale.......my local supplier is dobinson springs. i am going with the Auz12 10mm x 40m (which is not listed on there website) 9000kg braking strain. they do have a comp spec rope but i don't think it.......

Winch Accessories - DSS

Whittam Ropes – Manufacture of high quality rope and cordage

hopefully that helps others out......i'm sure there are other views for and against

[Pedro_The_Swift]

you must be great at picking gifts---

I'd buy your choice after reading that Weeds.

[roverrescue]

Only comment I would make weeds would be to consider going to a larger diam rope for the winch drum.
Depending on where and what you winch 10mm will get fluffy pretty quickly and thereby reduce its BS.
It wont be too much more to spool the winch drum with 12mm for long term fray protection. I have had 12mm chinese special rope on for >5 years now. It would have winched kilometres in that time. It is terribly frayed in places but still has not failed.
In its frayed state it is still thicker than much of the 10mm stuff I have layed hands on.

Definitiely 10mm for winch extension sections though - they dont seem to get as hard a time as the spooled rope.

S

[goingbush]

Great info.

I changed my roller fairlead to alloy hawse when I changed from Steel wire rope to synthetic because of the knurling that had worn into the rollers from the wire, that could soon damage your plastic rope.

How do you hold its shape to measure it with a vernier ? it would be like measuring a piece of soggy macaroni

I ordered mine from China about 12 months ago just because its was so cheap & free post, 40m x10mm 9.5t w thimble & 2m rope cover

I had to winch a Dyna tipper with a full load of screenings back onto a driveway , single line pull thru a snatchblock on a tree with a doubled over 8 ton tree protector , broke the tree protector , winch rope looks ugly where is squashes into itself and bunches up on the drum but I find it dosent get damaged anywhere as near as much as steel.

As prev post , yes my 10mm rope is getting fluffy, I will take that advice and swap to 12mm when due.

[weeds]

@ roverescue, we all started out looking at 12mm, I have the room on my PTO winch but the standard electric winches would loose a fair bit in length with 12mm fitted

@ goingbush lol will see what happens with the vernier

[roverrescue]

Ideally you want a short rope on your drum so you are always low down on the 2nd or 3rd wrap to maximise pull.
Then have copious lengths of extension to get you from goop to solidity.

I have 25 - 30m of 12mm on a 12000lb winch and then carry up to 3 hanks of 30m in length of ropes.

In some cases I have used just under 200m to get to solid anchor.

S

[Tank]

i had a lengthy discussion with a couple of guys here at work...we are wanting to convert our steel wire winches to synthetic and were mulling over which rope to buy and whether we are getting value for money. i.e. braking strain, SWL, WLL, 8 strand v 12 strand, cheap, expensive etc etc.

i read and click all the links on DB's thread than hopped on the phone.......

i jagged chatting to an australian manufacturer of synthetic rope....and to his credit he didn't bag any of the ropes on the market. he was a wholesaler so he couldn't sell to me even though spend at least 30min chatting to me......he was mainly interested in getting to right info out there, he only put me onto one of the re-sellers right at the end of the conversation.

Synthetic rope is UHMWPE Fiber rope (Ultra-High molecular weight polyethylene)

Dyneema (Europe) and Spectra (America?) were the first to produce this product, each were given a market share years ago due to some sort of court ruling........now there are around 8 or 9 factories producing UHMWPE fibre (mostly in china)

just because your rope is labelled dyneema doesn't mean its from the dyneema factory........no real cause for alarm but everybody is using the name

Spectra and Dyneema are known brands and you would assume can be trusted, the other manufacturers have come on board with varying level of product.

• looks like i am going to chase down a rope that uses spectra or dyneema fibre.....not sure how many supplier know which factory the fibre comes from.

8 v 12 strand, no real differences here it just the way the rope is constructed apart from the 12 strand does not deform as much as the 8 strand. the biggest thing to check is actually measure the thicknes of your rope i.e. are you only getting 9.8mm of rope instead of the 10mm.....9.8mm will break before 10mm.

• 12 strand is for me
• oh and i might just take my verniers along to see if i'm getting all of my rope

hawse or rollers - most of the ebay seller advertise hawse only......but why?? rollers look after the rope way better than hawse i.e. no friction = less heat build up. the only risk with roller is the pinch point in the corners, if its a quality roller where they are nice and close with enough overlap than the pinch point is not an issue. hawse fairleads biggest risk is after a long winch with the rope going over the one point is the heat build up esp. if you stop the winch and keep it under load. by doing this all the heat on the hawse is not going through one point on the rope.....you have now decreased the strength in the rope at that point.

• a custom hawse from nugg_t for me only because i cannot be botheres making rollers to suit my winch

what size rope.........all my research today confirm you will not get a SWL or WLL with your systhetic rope........the best you will get is a breaking strain. a rule of thumb used in the industry is what ever the the rating of your winch is in pounds select a rope that has a breaking strain arond the same figure in kilograms i.e. 9000lb winch = 9000kg breaking strain rope

• i have ditched all online seller that do not state a breaking strain of there rope
• i'm going to use the rule of thumb above

metal eyelet or not. he indicated there was not much differance i.e. its a personal preference, if it doesn't have a metal eyelet and it should have a protective sheath around the eye. he also indicated the bigger diameter of the pin going through the eyelet (metal or not) the better. the biggest issue with damaging the rope near the eyelet is those who drive the eyelet in between the roller or hawse, this not only damages the rope but also damages the roller or hawse i.e. small nicks which will cut the odd fibre here and there

• no metal eyelet for me

in the wash up he asked what my rig was set up for, comp work or touring......mine is a tourer so he basically said any of the 10mm ropes on the market where they are prepared to state the breaking strain would be fine

this guy is in and around the 4wd comp scene, i really liked how he didn't bag any of the products out there on the market....the perfect guy to speak at a 4wd club meeting

anyways, i have decided to go with an australian manufactured rope by Whittam Ropes, funny how good service gets a sale.......my local supplier is dobinson springs. i am going with the Auz12 10mm x 40m (which is not listed on there website) 9000kg braking strain. they do have a comp spec rope but i don't think it.......

Winch Accessories - DSS

Whittam Ropes – Manufacture of high quality rope and cordage

hopefully that helps others out......i'm sure there are other views for and against

I can guarantee that if your rope breaks under load it will be at the eye of the rope (unless it has been damaged elsewhere on the rope), especially if you use a hook with the small pin. If you insist on not using a metal Thimble eye on your rope, then at least use a shackle (about 4T SWL) as it will have a thicker pin than a hook and will put much less strain on the eye of your rope.
Why dont you want to use a Thimble Eyelet on your rope? Regards Frank.

[weeds]

Why dont you want to use a Thimble Eyelet on your rope? Regards Frank.

main reason is because the pre-made rope i am buying does not have a thimble fitted.......

i did mention above its preferred to use the biggest sized pin you have throught the eyelet.....i must go and see what size my shackles are

as yes a good point which can be considered as part of your purchase...........the reason i researched the topic so much because i just wasn't sure about some of the ropes on the market. a few other lads here at work look at price only and brought the cheapest they could find.

look forward to other members input on rope selection......

[Tank]

It is simplicity itself to fit a thimble, just slip it into place and use some twine/cord to whip it to the rope, start an inch or so back from the eye and wrap up to the thimble or continue right arond the thimble, Regards Frank.

[SimonM]

Here is another manufacturer of rope using Dyneema®SK75 - Donaghys.

I recently purchased some 3mm rope for my hammock whoopie slings, but they have larger diameter rope to suit winch applications.

This is where I got it from Rope Galore.