Electric winches

Actually my plasma is white, but i do remember a time many moons ago when it was purple :-)

We (Matthew and me) bought 1000ft on a drum at Billing and that's still purple at the moment.

cheers

Dave W.

This year?

Was Grumble sat on the stand at the time?

Martyn

Yes and yes :-)

Paid on Saturday and picked it up on Sunday.

cheers

Dave W.

Ah yes... Andy thought you were a smashing chap ;-)

Say hello properly next time (LRO Spring do I guess).

Martyn

In article , richard. watson writes

No because you are overloading it is why it will burn out.

Funny, mine never did - that battery went flat though!

In article , richard. watson writes

But you were not using a 2000lb winch

Battery going flat is a different thing ;-)

But mine doesn't

As I have just purchased a 1997 Disco SD I am now trolling on this group and will probably be asking for advice at times.

This discussion on "Plasma" rope for winches interests me as I am not aware of rope being used on winches in North America. A couple of questions:

-what about UV degradation? always keep the winch covered?

-how much stretch is in this rope? I can see you winching for a long time before actually moving

Without wishing to be padantic trolling is not something that you may want to be associated with, lurking is the term that you may wish to use instead, as trolls are considered something of a nusiance on Usenet.

Do you mean 'Trawling"? :-)

Pretty much most of your questions may be answered here:

Simon Buck, Lee Argyle and (as Dave White mentioned) most of the serious people in the game use it. I was looking at Simons 'used' rope at Billing and - again as Dave mentioned, it had faded, but not degraded. Simon won the Malaysian Rainforrest Challenge - using Plasma.

I've not seen any need for this.

It has no give - which is good and bad really (bad because it means it's no good as a climbing rope).

Well... I've only seen a cable break twice in 20 years. On each occasion it scared the brown and sticky out of me - and everyone else. On the second occasion it took the front corner off a Defender - as clean as a hot knife cutting through butter. It would easily have cut a person, cleanly, in half.

I have only even seen Plasma break once (well, I've only been seriously comparing it for three years). When it broke, it dropped, flat, on the ground.

There's so much more I could say - but as the UK distributor is an old mate of mine, I may be thought of as having a vested interest ;-)

Martyn

I was!! I sarted using one because...

.....my OX flattened that National Grid, never mind a battery or two!!

Richard

In article , Gordon Wedman writes

Correct me if I am wrong. But don't we in the UK import Plasma rope from the USA?

Yup - that's right. Plasma 12 Strand was originally developed for marine applications (which is why it's also fine to use on a capstain winch). The popularity of the product has only really taken off in the vehicle recovery sector over the last 4 to 5 odd years.

Puget commissioned extensive independent tests before developing the market for vehicle recovery (this was probably prompted by their insurers) and as a consequence, it is the only product of its kind to have been certified fit for such use at the present time.

Warn have recently given it the thumbs-up too, which means it'll grow in popularity in the States as much as it has here IMO.

Martyn

Masterpull were among the fore runners and the use of synthetic ropes really sprang from North America.

Ideally you should but I have to confess that my own rope has sat in the open for a couple of years. Other than the colour fading I've not noticed any degradation.

None that is measurable. this is not "rope" in the sense of a lump of

I have had a rope snap on me during a competition... I was trying to winch the front of the Range Rover sideways, pivoting on a tree stump that was wedged under the side bars and spinning the wheels. My navigator, my team mate and his navigator were all out of the vehicles within a few feet of the rope when it went. The rope didn't exactly drop to the floor but it only flew a few feet at low velocity before stopping. My navigator said afterwards that it scared him silly (polite version) but he was glad I was using synthetic rather than wire !

Another plus point was that, following the breakage, I spliced the cable back together again using a wittled down twig, finished the section and on the next challenge had to winch the front of the Range Rover into the air using the spliced rope. I now carry a purpose made "fid" for splicing.

The first time I was really convinced of the synthetic rope's prowess was a year earlier. The Range Rover's petrol tank filled with water while crossing a small lake. 30 feet from the bank with a dead engine I paid out some cable, my navigator stood on the bonnet, coiled up the cable and threw it to the shore where my team mate attached it to a suitable winch point so I could winch myself out. Try that with a wire rope at the beginning of March in Scotland !

Strangely my navigator seemed reluctant to swim to the shore carrying the rope ! They don't make navigators like they used to :-(

cheers

Dave W.

Thanks David and everyone else that commented. I am now more educated and will be lurking rather than trolling . I checked the Ruftraks website and I see this Plasma rope is Spectra. I am familiar with Spectra as I have been a sailing enthusiast for many years and Spectra is quite well known for its strength and low stretch. I have never Plasma in a boating application though. As I mentioned in my first post, I've never seen rope on a winch around here but if this Plasma rope originated in the USA I guess it must be used there. I don't regularly read the US offroad magazines so I may have missed it. I suppose to use this rope you really need a good smooth fairlead, rollers or?, to avoid abrasion.

Most people use their standard fairlead, although there is a replacement designed specifically for use with Plasma which has a smooth stainless steel finish.

Martyn