After reading this I went out and saw what you are referring to. Somehow I had overlooked that, in my hurry to get back to work. I measured my remaining cable today and have just 100' left on the spool from what was originally 230'.
You could be right about not going over backward, I was never about to try it. As soon as the front starts to come up I hit the clutch. You're picture brings back memories. I had a pre-2800 Fransgard that I rebuilt, worked the crap out of it and sold 10 years later. In the first few years that I had it I took the drum down to Brake Service and had the clutch side turned, replaced all 8 bearings and put new cable on it. The organic part of the clutch could be replaced, and while I never changed it I did need to reattach it with brass bolts as the rivets had rusted or broken. I also replaced the chain, although it really should have had new sprockets. Mine didn't have the block which you mention to hold the cable; instead it went into a piece attached to the drum, and worked similar to the cable end which we discussed earlier.
Another poster just pointed out to me that on my new one there is a window to access the spool, so changing won't be as bad as I thought.
I'm glad that I am not the only one who breaks cable; a couple years ago I picked up a very used Farmi down in Belfast which turned out to be way too heavy for my 275; yet the very first time that I used it I broke the cable. I took the winch off, leaned it up against a tree, put it on Craigslist and sold it for what I paid for it.
