How do you decide when to change your rope?

[Horton]

I posted the below images in another thread. When I see ropes looks like this I change them. This is NOT scientific. How do you decide when to change a rope?

 

[Jody_Seal]

Shoot! we would throw that rope in a 40 ride tournament....if the rope company's want to help the sport, they could build ropes that allow for replacement of sections that show excessive wear..

Wait! Just suggesting for a friend!!

[skibug]

It looks like those were used primarily on non-swivel pylons (i.e. Nautiques). I get about 300 sets on my rope and change it out every year. My loops never look like that. I ski about 75% of my sets on boats with swivel pylons...and on the Nautiques I ski behind, they all have a modified, sacrificial nylon strap fit around the pylon. So the rope loop sits against the nylon strap and the strap is what wears versus the loop of the rope.

[dave2ball]

I change out my ropes when they start to feel stiff and the loops are starting to wear. It usually is twice a year. Another $100 or so is not worth breaking my ribs or any other bones.

[RichardDoane]

Yearly. My life depends on it.

[bishop8950]

Similar to @Horton , when they look like that it’s time. Also, at that “age” is about when the rope starts to feel dry and tight. Lastly, it’s once per year minimum, but I ski a lot.

[bishop8950]

If you ever have one break, you will not have any hesitation to replace them proactively going forward

[markn]

Just FYI, you can buy individual sections from MasterLine rather than replace an entire rope due to premature wear on a section or two. Must confess, I have done it numerous times to get a few more sets from an older rope.

[ScottScott]

Seems to me that if one loop starts showing that kind of wear, even tho the unused loops look good, the rope is probably more stretched out than is worth continuing to ski on with one or 2 new sections.

[Deanoski]

All the money we spend on skis bindings and Boats a new rope once a year seams cheap since I only ski 5-6 months a year. I only need one if I skied year around 2-3 or a year.

 

 

[Chef23]

Usually every spring unless they start to look like that.

[klindy]

Trying to be a bit more scientific about this, AWSA rule 8.04A has the towline technical specifications. In there is says the towline "Elongation at 115 kg (250 lbs.) tensile load = 2.6% (+/-0.4%)." So wouldn't the rope be effectively "worn out" when it no longer was able to stretch to the minimum amount per the specs?

 

So ideally a rope at 22 off would stretch approximately 1'-4-3/8" when stretched with a 250lb load. At a minimum it should stretch 1'-1-3/4". If you can't stretch it 1'-1-3/4" it's effectively to stretched out to be within specs. (At 35 off the min is approximately 10-3/8"),

 

Of course if the loops show wear and tear the rope may be worth replacing earlier.

 

I've never measured a rope for elongation when it was felt the rope was too old to use. But it would be interesting to see how the elongation dynamics change as the rope wears.

[KRoundy]

@skibug Can you show a photo of the “sacrificial nylon strap fit around the pylon”? Where do you get them from?

[The_MS]

Keep out of the sun as much as possible. I also notice a big change in how a rope feels when the air and water are warm.

[jayski]

@The_MS you mean the days when there is no ice hanging off the rope?

[The_MS]

You are correct

[skibug]

@KRoundy I will have to get a picture. They are home made by a ski partner of mine. They are just a piece of nylon strap webbing material that is sewn together in a loop and slid over the top of the pylon onto where the rope sits; then the rope fits over the nylon strap. The strap wears, not the rope.

[KRoundy]

@skibug Does he want to make an extra and sell it to me? ?