ATV Winch - Synthetic or Steel Cable

Ha gotcha...nope I'm not putting an ATV winch on my truck like that other guy.

But I do have an ATV with a winch on it and the steel cable it came with is pretty frayed after years of use and is starting to scare me more and more every day. So it's time for a new cable and I was looking for some input on steel vs. synthetic. Its main use is for raising/lowering a snow plow which gets used several times a winter as well as a few times during the summer to regrade our gravel driveway. Other than that is sees occasional use (a handful of times each year) for forestry related activities like moving and positioning logs and acting as an anchor point when felling trees.

Attached is the model number, I'm actually not sure if it's the 2500 or 3500lb because the winch is buried in the bumper and I can't see the nameplate.

 

If synthetic gets wet it may freeze to itself. Also, the drum probably isn’t smooth enough for synthetic without expending some effort on it. Wire rope sized for an ATV isn’t nearly as heavy as 3/8+ for an 8k+ winch and it sounds like most use is for the plow.

 

The worry is more so wear resistance over weight savings. The constant cycling of raising/lowering the plow causes the steel cable to fray from rubbing on the fairlead. I've read that in plowing applications synthetic can be more resistant to wear caused by constant cycling, just wanted to see if anyone had any input. Also I'm in central NJ so it gets cold when it snows but it's not COLD cold so I'm not sure frozen line would be an issue or not but interesting point, thanks. Winch sits right in front of the rad too

 

if you replace the Cable with Synthetic line you usually have to also install a new fairlead and make sure there is nowhere that the cable wore or caused any sharp edges/burrs. Otherwise it can quickly cut through your new synthetic line.

 

Yup I've also seen that... a hawse style fairlead instead of roller is better correct?

 

Correct. But their are also some roller fairleads made specifically for synthetic line. The rollers have a plastic coating of some sort, or maybe are some sort of plastic like material throughout.

Also, in digging around online, I found KFI has a strap made to replace your winch line, specifically for running a plow. KFI uses a roller fairlead with at least some of their synthetic line winches. Maybe it would be worth it to swap your cable over to this each winter.