Anyone else using Factor55's Hawse + Flatlink?

[Neal]

When I designed the Safety Thimble, it was due to seeing a video of a guy winching in a competition in the PNW and his hand got sucked through the fairlead. My initial thought and experimentation was to make an aluminum wheel just like the one you have but obviously in aluminum as a stop collar. Standing there holding it my hand after installed it, I could see that it wouldn't be difficult to make the thimble and stop collar into one piece since the design objective was to create something that would stop the winch dead and not let the hook or thimble go through the fairlead under any conditions. You do what you're comfortable with, I've been around too many idiots on the trail doing recovery to leave much to chance.

I get what you are saying and I agree 100%. As with all things of this nature, careful testing is imperative, and I am trying very hard not to make assumptions based on what I think I know. In my own mind this whole setup is experimental and I probably should have said something to that effect in my earlier post. After assembling the parts of my project I spent quite a bit of time running the last few feet of line in and out repeatedly (80-100 cycles over a couple of weeks. I lost count...) and I can assure you that, so far, the only thing getting through that fairlead is the winch line. The "stop collar" as you put it - nice choice of words, BTW - has shown itself to be very durable and I haven't yet found an pull angle that will allow it to be pulled into the fairlead sideways, which was a concern of mine initially. I will admit that I was pretty nervous for the first few test cycles - not that I would get my hand pulled in, I was VERY careful about that, but that the polyurethane wheel material would fail under compression or be cut by the edges of the thimble. That hasn't happened to date, although I am curious to see how the material holds up over time and sun exposure. Another concern I have is that the Warn tube thimble, as installed, is open in the front and exposes the synthetic line to possible abrasion damage. I'm not sure about a fix for that (that I can produce in my garage, at least) if it does turn out to be an issue. I may well decide in the end that the design is unworkable and end up purchasing a Safety Thimble anyway, but at least I will have learned a few things along the way.

 

[mrblaine]

I get what you are saying and I agree 100%. As with all things of this nature, careful testing is imperative, and I am trying very hard not to make assumptions based on what I think I know. In my own mind this whole setup is experimental and I probably should have said something to that effect in my earlier post. After assembling the parts of my project I spent quite a bit of time running the last few feet of line in and out repeatedly (80-100 cycles over a couple of weeks. I lost count...) and I can assure you that, so far, the only thing getting through that fairlead is the winch line. The "stop collar" as you put it - nice choice of words, BTW - has shown itself to be very durable and I haven't yet found an pull angle that will allow it to be pulled into the fairlead sideways, which was a concern of mine initially. I will admit that I was pretty nervous for the first few test cycles - not that I would get my hand pulled in, I was VERY careful about that, but that the polyurethane wheel material would fail under compression or be cut by the edges of the thimble. That hasn't happened to date, although I am curious to see how the material holds up over time and sun exposure. Another concern I have is that the Warn tube thimble, as installed, is open in the front and exposes the synthetic line to possible abrasion damage. I'm not sure about a fix for that (that I can produce in my garage, at least) if it does turn out to be an issue. I may well decide in the end that the design is unworkable and end up purchasing a Safety Thimble anyway, but at least I will have learned a few things along the way.

There was a picture I should have saved of a winch on POR that was spooling in and the solenoids stuck so the winch kept spooling in. When the hook and thimble went through the rollers and kept going, they exploded the tie bars that separate the two winch halves and that completely destroyed the winch. Had there been an appropriate stop collar, the fairlead would have stalled the winch and saved it, or increased the chances of saving it. Also something that a very large number of bumper designers overlook. The fairlead mount has to be strong enough to handle enough force equal to what it takes to lift the front of the rig off the ground and also be able to handle the winch being stalled out on the top layer. The mount can give and let the mount move back somewhat into the winch body, but it needs to be sturdy enough to stop the winch.