There are a lot of benefits that you can enjoy by picking synthetic winch rope instead of steel winch cables. However, one problem that you might encounter is that they break off a bit more than their steel counterparts.
But this doesn’t mean you have to replace your synthetic winch rope every time this happens.
If you know how to fix broken synthetic winch rope, then this is not an issue at all.
That being said, not many know how to splice synthetic winch rope properly and end up making the situation worse than it was in the first place.
Don’t worry, in this guide, we will go through a step-by-step process of how you can fix your synthetic winch rope.
Repairing Broken Synthetic Winch Rope: Step-by-Step Guide
There are a lot of options that you can go for broken synthetic rope repair. But most of them aren’t optimal, and just tying up your winch rope will take away more than half its total strength.
That’s why you need to go with the looping options because in this case, all you will be losing is a few inches of your rope without losing any of its strength.
For that to happen, here are the steps that you will have to follow:
Step – 1: Examine the Damage
The first thing that you should do for any winch-related damage is to examine the overall damage. Most of the time, winch ropes will only get cut by an inch or more.
Once you have confirmed the damage, go ahead and clean the winch rope if possible. If you are not in an environment where that is possible, then you can skip this process.
Step – 2: Get the Necessary Tools
You will need to get a few tools before you can start fixing your synthetic winch rope. Don’t worry all of them are the tools that we use on a regular basis and the exceptions are optional.
The tools that you will need are:
- Extremely Sharp Blade or Scissors
- Medical or Electrical Tape (Electrical is preferred)
- FID or any type of rope splicing tool or a pen
As there will be times when you might have to fix your winch rope in the wilderness. We will go with a normal ballpen as our rope splicing tool.
But the process is similar to every FID tool out there. So, you don’t have to worry about getting anything wrong.
Step – 3: Cut the Winch Rope
If the damaged end of your winch rope isn’t messy then you can ignore this step. But just to be sure, cut off the damaged area with your knife or scissors. This way you can be freer and use your FID more optimally.
Step – 4: Attaching the FID or Pen
Take out somewhere between 8 to 10 feet of your synthetic rope, this will be later important when you start to work on the loops.
Make sure that the pen doesn’t have any ink in it, as this can make the process a bit complicated. Just take out the ink, if you plan on using the pen for writing.
Now, take your FID or in this case ballpoint pen and attach it to the end of your winch rope.
Use the tape to perfectly secure it with the rope. Otherwise, you will have a lot of problems when you are working on the rope, and your splicing will become undone.
So, don’t be afraid to use a good amount of tape to attach the pen. In most FID, you don’t have to attach it with tape, but there are some in which you have to.
Therefore, make sure whether your FID needs to be taped or not beforehand.
Step – 5: Looping the Winch Rope
If you know how to make a loop in a synthetic winch rope, then you know two-thirds of the winch rope fixing process. But this is the trickiest part of the fixing process, and even trained veterans sometimes make mistakes.
So, be extra careful before you start working on this step.
Take 2 feet or more of the rope, you will be using this part of the rope to make loops.
Depending on how big you want your loop to be, you can either increase or decrease the rope amount.
After that, start off by making a loop and putting the FID through the rope. You can make the loop as small or wise as you like. It completely depends on you. Make sure that you are pushing it through, as it will make your life a lot easier.
Synthetic winch ropes are quite similar to Chinese finger traps, it is hollowed inside the center. That’s why you shouldn’t have any problems running your FID through it.
You might meet a bit of resistance, but if you can maneuver around it, you will be able to easily put your FID or pen through. Just make sure that you are not stabbing through the middle of the rope because this will undo the rope’s core strength.
Next, go about an inch or so and put the pen through the rope once more. The process is similar to the previously mentioned one. Upon completion, you can move to the splicing part.
Step – 6: Splicing the Winch Rope
Now, you need to join or splice the FID-connected part with the rest of the winch rope.
Similar to the loop, you will have to put the FID attached portion inside the rope. But this time, instead of going through it, you should go push the FID or pen up the middle.
As the rope is hollow, you won’t face many problems. It can be a bit tricky to get it in at first, but once it’s in, the rest of the process is quite simple and easy.
A trick you can use to speed up the process is to bunch the rope up and then push the FID through the opening created by the bunching.
Now how far you should be putting the FID through depends on how far the winch rope was damaged in the first place.
In most cases, the damage takes around a foot or so. Therefore, you should put the FID through one inch or 1.5 feet at max. Remember, this can be higher depending on the damage to the rope.
Once you have figured that out, you need to get the FID out. This is fairly easy as you can easily spot where the FID is, and through the hollow rope, you can get it out quite fast.
Step – 7: Finishing Up
Now, remove the tape or cut it down and then grab the end of the loop and start to pull up. This way the excess rope will be exposed.
Once you have cut that out, pull it one more time and you should find that there is no trace of excess rope and it has completely disappeared.
And that’s it! This is how you can easily fix a broken synthetic winch rope.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to fix broken synthetic winch rope is very useful. But knowing the right method is very important if you want optimal results. The mentioned method in this guide ensures that you will get 100% strength of your winch rope, minus a few inches.
But that’s it. There is no decrease in power nor do you have to fix it after a few uses. That being said, this can only happen if you have followed and executed all of the mentioned steps properly. Best of luck!
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