Melton Martin

I am using braid on braid 10mm polyester rope as recommended by the manufacturer. Yes, I pulling(!) hard to get the friction on the drum, and I have been using the recommended number of turns, which is 3 to 4 wraps around the drum - However, I will try more, but with too many turns around the drum I find the rope jams under itself then locks....... I'll give it another go tomorrow and let you know the result......

Hi All, thanks for your replies. I have tried more than the recommended 3 wraps around the capstan drum- not much changes.Also have tried pulling harder, again no joy,

Morning All, I have a portable two stroke capstan winch which is used for light forestry work on the farm, (it's also useful for large game extraction and moving stuck vehicles). However, I cannot get the capstan to pull once the light tension is put on the rope. I am using the manufacturers recommended rope, 10mm Braid on braid Polyester rope, but once I start to take up the slack to engage the "friction" the capstan drum initially talks purchase, but once the load comes on it just rotates. i.e. takes no purchase on the rope. I am sure I have threaded the rope onto the capstan drum correctly and I have tried wetting the rope, putting a bit of leaf mould on the rope and drum in an attempt to increase the friction coefficient, with no result.The winch is rated to pull 1,000 kgs and I have tried pulling much less than that, so it can't be overloaded. I have tried non recommended ropes with stretch and low melting points, still same result-no purchase! Very frustrating as all the youtube clips never have this problem...... Any thoughts out there ? It seems such a simple problem, that I am sure I doing something stupid. Many Thanks.