The Utility Winch and Its Relation to Cable Fatigue

The Braden CL winch was built as a result of a discussion with transportation superintendents of utility companies in 1956.

Recently, Braden Winch conducted an extended experiment on cable fatigue utilizing a CL winch and sheave sets then being used in rotating derricks. The results proved that a small sheave in the derrick fatigued the cable much sooner than the sheaves of the winch.

One cable tested was a herringbone type composed of two regular and four lang lay strands. Its fatigue life was no greater than the life of a regular cable but wire breakage always occurred first in regular lay strands.