what do you guys put on your skidder lines

[skidoo52]

i was wondering if anybody put oil or grease on there skidder winch lines to keep them from rusting and to keep them pliable.

 

[Gologit]

The ones I see usually don't have anything on them. Normal use wears the rust off and I don't think grease would make them more "pliable". If the machine sits for awhile it might get a little surface rust.

If it sits long enough, even in salt air, for rust to damage your lines you probably aren't using it enough.

 

[Driver625]

Have heard of slapping some atf on it and stretching out on a tree over night to get it to spool good. As far a rust free throw a chunk of rubber or something over it when parked.

 

[DavdH]

They last long enough to rust?

 

[Slamm]

No oil, you "use" the rust off, same for the butt or fenders of the skidder. If you don't use them for a month or more, they will all rust, and then use them for about 4 hours and they will be bright and shiny again.

Sam

 

[2dogs]

Let er rust!

 

[HorseFaller]

Mud, blood, and little bits of decomposing white ox keep it shiny.

 

[RMesickJR]

I run a cable skidder everyday and I dont think you'll find it very fun grabbing your cable with it loaded with grease. Plus I dont think it'll make it any more pliable either and as far as the rust its only surface it'll be gone after the first hitch. Dont worry about it, it'll eventually break anyways!

 

[Hillbilly Rick]

I run a cable skidder everyday and I dont think you'll find it very fun grabbing your cable with it loaded with grease. Plus I dont think it'll make it any more pliable either and as far as the rust its only surface it'll be gone after the first hitch. Dont worry about it, it'll eventually break anyways!

+1

 

[palogger390]

We have a couple of grapple skidders with winches that we don't use daily. So we usually wind the slides to the winch and pour a little motor oil over the cable if we aren't going to use the winch for a while. It seems to help. I have heard of guys dumping a little fuel on the cable too, but that sounds like a stinky way to go. If you aren't going to run the skidder for a while throw a tarp or chunk of rubber over it. Daily use is the best thing. It seems all of the preventitive maintenance still doesn't seem to keep them from getting brittle and wickering.

 

[056kid]

#### a greasy winch line. .

 

[lindblomrj]

If you add grease or oil to the cable you will attract dirt, which really can't be good. Running it through dirt un-lubed won't hurt a cable.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Cables are like dozer blades, a little use will get them shiny again.

 

[axeman73]

When I operated crane in my early 20s the pendent lines that hold the boom and other lines that were stored at the time were sprayed with a mix of oil and fuel mostly waste motor oil and fuel put in a garden sprayer and lightly coated not good if exposed to dirt the dirt gets in between the strands and wears them out but if they were stored in a clean area the oil seemed to dry and absoarb the oil over a longer period of time

 

[logging22]

Mine wear out before they rust. No problem.

 

[Slamm]

Use Amsteel Blue, its a synthetic rope that is stronger than steel and doesn't rust.

Sam

 

[logging22]

Use Amsteel Blue, its a synthetic rope that is stronger than steel and doesn't rust.

Sam

Checked on that stuff. Pricey.

 

[Slamm]

Checked on that stuff. Pricey.

After you use it and know and understand its advantages you will learn that it is more expensive to not use it, but that is a hard figure to get most loggers to understand, and therefore I have more or less given up on the project.

Sam