How to fix a torn steel cable

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A tree fell on my fence made of horizontal steel cable and tore one. What's an economical way of fixing it that's not too ugly?

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If the solution is to replace the entire cable, what is the end piece called and how is it crimped onto the cable?

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Best Answer

You are looking at a swaged cable end, specifically a threaded tensioning type of end. Special tools are needed to perform the swaging, especially if the part is stainless. I've used hand swaging tools for aircraft cable, but the fittings are far more malleable than stainless.

But you're in luck, as my searches found swageless cable components specifically made for cable railings, or as in your case, cable fencing.

From the above linked site:

The one thing all of these Swageless Wire Rope Fittings have in common is that there is no crimping. The swageless fittings that you’ll find on this page are designed for cable railings. There’s two reasons for that, one is that they’re Type 316 SS and the other is they’re designed for normal working load limits needed to tension cable railing. The push-lock and pull-lock designs are the fastest to install because you insert the cable and it self-locks with the internal springs. The other designs utilize a plug (sometimes called a cone or wedge) which must be manually placed on to the center wire(s) prior to securing the outer fitting housing. These swageless wire fittings designed for wire rope fittings are field installed.

You may get away with using a joiner:

swageless cable joiner

or any number of various terminators, including the quick attach stud version:

quick attach stud

All images from the linked site.

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