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Pro tip: Ditch the wire rope lubricant spray cans for a brush on method
I used spray cans on my lattice boom for 2 years but switched to brushing on grade 2 grease last month because the spray was missing the core strands. Got a full extra 3 months of service life out of a 50 foot hoist line after the change. Anybody else notice a difference between application methods?
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piper7791mo ago
I read a rigging forum where a guy said brush-on grease cut his rope replacement costs by half.
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ray_martinez821mo ago
Huh, I'm not convinced it's that big a deal. I've been using spray lube on my boom for like 5 years now and I haven't seen any broken wires yet. Maybe you're just using a crappy brand? I just hit it from two angles and it seems fine.
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Yeah I had the same issue with spray on. The overspray just misses the valley between strands no matter how careful you are. I switched to a stiff brush and grade 2 grease about a year ago on my crane cables. The difference was pretty obvious after the first month or so. The brush pushes that grease deep into the core where it actually needs to be. My old spray cans would leave the middle dry while the outside looked coated. After switching I got about 4 extra months out of a 60 foot cable before the first broken wires showed up. It takes a little longer to apply but you use less product overall cause it stays in the rope instead of flying everywhere.
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