Newbie questions

[Abuse]

Hi guys,

I am going to build my first winch and I have some questions:

1) Is tehre big difference between original Comat TAV2 and clones esp. bulletlines?

2) What kind of rope should i use? Dynamic or static? Which thickness?

3) Do you use brake? I am wandering what will happen when rider goes down and spool will spin by momentum?

4) Do you have favorite material for building spool sidewalls?

I am looking forward your answers:)

[flixmaster]

We use this line on our winch:

http://www.boardstop.com/product_info.php?products_id=4690

We had the coated line but once the coating started to get cut up from the rocks, trees and other stuff the line became a big pain. We switched the the amsteel and have not had any problems.

I have never used the brake when I have operated the winch. Our brake gets very little use if any.

Our spool is aluminum. If you can find a prebuilt frame and spool that would solve two of your biggest problems. I think a guy is selling frames over in our classified section.

[GnarShredd]

1) Is tehre big difference between original Comat TAV2 and clones esp. bulletlines?
Not a huge difference as far as I know. I managed to get a Comet but the clones should do you well. Just make sure to check that it will fit your motor & the HP rating.

2) What kind of rope should i use? Dynamic or static? Which thickness?
Flixmaster's suggestion of the amsteel line is spot-on. It's what I have and it's fantastic. I had a buddy with a coated line and it was super heavy/a pain to deal with once it started to wear. I ended up giving him leftover amsteel and he hasn't had any problems since.


3) Do you use brake? I am wandering what will happen when rider goes down and spool will spin by momentum?
Me and my friends don't have brakes on any of our winches and we've never had a problem. The spool pretty much stops when you cut the throttle. The only time I can see it being useful is if you make a free-wheeling spool that disconnects from the axle to pull the line out. Sometimes if the rider pulls hard the spool will spin too fast causing the line to get snagged up. We overcome this simply by having the operator pay attention and put their hand on the top of the rope on the spool to add some tension while the rider is walking out.


4) Do you have favorite material for building spool sidewalls?
Aluminum! Same for the frame. I have an all steel frame/spool and it's made everything ridiculously heavy and impractical to get the winch to some areas. I wish I had saved up the extra cash/was more patient and gotten aluminum parts right away.

[Abuse]

Thanx a lot for replies.

ad 1) Ok, i hope clone will be Ok:)
ad 2) I am sure amsteel is very good, but I live in Czech republic and Amsteel is not available in here. So I have to get something similar. Thats why I am asking on rope characteristics. Well I am going to get some uncoated line, but still don't know what <b>thickness</b> it should have and if it should be <b>flexible</b> or not.
ad 3) Break is redundant and will not be incorporated
ad 4) I would like to use aluminum for both spool and frame. Bud I am not sure if our solder guy has skill to sold aluminum. Aluminum will decrease weight a lot. I counted how heavy winch will be when I use steel Phoenix frame and 13HP engine and it is going to be about 100Kg (220 pounds) heavy, what is a little crazy:)