"Dave Martin" wrote in message
...
Various methods such as hot wire and laser beams have
been suggested, but with the way members treat club
equipment I suspect the life of such things would be
minimal.

Dave Martin

Why should a hot blade be fragile? The winch engine starting battery has a
lot of power to heat a robust blade very quickly. You only need to get the
blade to Spectra's 265F melting point - far below the blades melting point.
I would just mount the blade in a strong frame near the path of the rope and
push the rope against the stationary hot blade with a rubber block. If well
built, it should last nearly forever.

Bill Daniels