Retired operator swore by rope drums, I laughed until I tried one

Back in March I ran a job near Pittsburgh where the site super insisted his old latticed crawler had a rope drum retrofit. I thought he was nuts, all the newer guys run grooved drums and that's what I learned on. He let me run a few lifts with it and the line lay was way smoother, no crushing on the second wrap. I've done 14 years on grooved drums and now I'm seriously considering changing out my main hoist. Has anyone else made that swap and noticed a real difference in cable life or just placebo?

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claire_davis319d ago

Honestly, is it really that serious though? One smooth wrap and suddenly rope drums are the second coming? I've run grooved drums for over a decade and the only time I see crushing is when guys let the load bounce or they spool too loose. That Pittsburgh super probably just had his tension dialed in perfect that day. I'm not saying you're wrong, but 14 years of habit is hard to beat with one good afternoon. Cable life depends more on how you run the brake and if you're overloading the thing, not just the drum shape. I'd borrow that rig again for a full week before I spent my own money swapping stuff out.

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