Wire Rope Clamps

Wire rope clamps, also called wire rope clips or cable clamps, let you form an eye or join wire cable without swaging tools. On tree jobs they show up when guying newly planted trees to earth anchors or making temporary cable terminations. They are cheap and simple, but only work when installed the right way around and torqued.

Where wire rope clamps fit on tree jobs

In the planting world, wire cable clamps are the quick way to terminate guy cable on larger transplanted trees: cable from a collar on the trunk, down to an earth anchor, with a thimbled eye clamped at each end. They also come in handy for temporary cable work around the yard and shop.

For permanent tree cabling inside the canopy, preformed dead-ends are the usual termination. Pair clamps with duckbill earth anchors when you are guying from the ground.

Around the shop, clamps also hold a cable on a winch line or make a quick eye on a sling for dragging logs. Keep a few sizes in the truck with matching thimbles.

Never saddle a dead horse

The U-bolt goes on the dead end, the short tail. The saddle sits on the live end, the side that carries the load. Install a clip backward and the U-bolt crushes the loaded cable and cuts its strength a lot. Every clip on the run goes the same way.

Use a thimble in the eye so the cable does not kink around a tight bend. Put the first clip one saddle-width from the dead end, the next tight against the thimble, and any others evenly between.

Seat the cable fully into the thimble groove before tightening the first clip, and keep the thimble from rotating or falling out as you go. A loose thimble lets the eye collapse under load. Tighten the nuts evenly, alternating sides, so the saddle pulls down square on the cable rather than cocking to one side.

Use the right size. An oversized clip will not grip a small cable, and an undersized one will not close over the larger cable at all.

Count, spacing and torque

Each size has a minimum number of clips, a turnback length and a torque value published by the maker. Small cables usually need at least two clips and larger ones more. Follow the table that ships with the clamps rather than guessing.

Torque the nuts, put the cable under load, then retorque. Cable stretches and settles, and loose clips let the cable slip. Check guyed trees through the season and remove guying once the tree has rooted in.

Keep spare clamps dry and the threads clean. A rusty, galled thread will not reach the right torque, and that means a termination that can slip. Replace any clamp with a bent U-bolt or cracked saddle.

When you take a guy system down, inspect the cable where the clips sat. Crushed or kinked cable should not go back into service; cut it off and start fresh.

Ratings and overhead work

A clipped termination does not reach the full strength of the cable. That is fine for guying a tree. Do not use clipped terminations in life-support systems or as a substitute for rated rigging hardware.