Re: quick quesstion on winches


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Posted by D Sherman on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 20:25:16 :

In Reply to: quick quesstion on winches posted by copey on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 18:44:25 :

I agree with Jerry about simplicity. A fairlead doesn't do a thing to keep the cable from getting snarled or piled up on one end of the drum. Only a level winder will do that. Winches without fairleads still have plates on the sides to make sure that off-angle pulls will still get the cable on the drum. Theoretically, a roller fairlead will be easier on the cable and will last longer than rubbing on a stationary steel plate. In reality, I think fairleads on winches light trucks are kind of frilly and silly. My M37, M43, M35, and M543 all have front winches, all of different models, and none has roller fairleads on it. Neither does the big Carco winch on the back of my D4. The only winch I have with a fairlead is the 40,000 lb unit on the back of the M543, and it has a level winder and tensioner too because there's no way that a mere human can put enough tension on that heavy cable to get it to wind straight.

At least when it comes to front winches on military vehicles, one thing we should keep in mind is that even though we all want them on our trucks and we want to use them for all kinds of extra things like A-frames, gin poles, and dragging logs in from the woods, the military only bought them on something like 1/10th of their trucks and they were intended only for emergency recovery of themselves or their 9 winchless companions. They weren't intended to be used very often, so there really wasn't any issue with the cable or guide plates wearing out from repeated heavy use.



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