Assuming the rope/cable is taught... why bother with physics at all?  The winch with a coil that reveals (morph) and a stiff rope that gets shorter (morph).

One other important detail is that the solver frequency must be set high. The coiling rope is at 1200 to get suitable performance.

This was actually my first thought but the reason I am interested in a physics solution is that my implementation for this"winch" is a trebuchet (catapult) prop. That means the initial winding (to bring down the trebuchet arm) could be done this way but after the trebuchet arm is brought down it is locked in place (usually using a pin system) and the rope is unwound so that it can be disconnected from the winch. This prevents the winch from having to unwind the rope when the trebuchet is fired (which would reduce the firing velocity). Thus if I find a physics solution, when I unwind the rope, I should get slack rope on the ground without having to fake it. But I do appreciate the suggestion. 



"We often compare ourselves to the U.S. and often they come out the best, but they only have the right to bear arms while we have the right to bare breasts"
Bowser and Blue, Busting The Breast

Thanks. I was able to reproduce the winch part of the sample project but it only worked with one type of material (out of the preset materials). I'm guessing that if I adjust the solver it may work with more.



"We often compare ourselves to the U.S. and often they come out the best, but they only have the right to bear arms while we have the right to bare breasts"
Bowser and Blue, Busting The Breast

Thanks. That answers both the question about the separate winch objects and about why the locking is made from multiple objects. On a side note I also learned something new about rotation today. When rotating multiple revolutions, I would typically put in a few keys going from 0 to 360 and then starting over. But in you sample project I see you just added one key at the end with a large rotation value and that implemented the multiple revolutions using just that one key. Good to know. Thanks. 

"We often compare ourselves to the U.S. and often they come out the best, but they only have the right to bear arms while we have the right to bare breasts"
Bowser and Blue, Busting The Breast

If I may ask, what is the status of your tube and lock system that you showed in the sample project. I have some content that I am working on which I needed this for and while I eventually do want to make my own, I think it will take me some time. Are you okay with me using your version in some content or was this for educational purpose only and should not be re-used in any content? I'm willing to give you a copy of the content when it is done (its a trebuchet) and/or written thanks on the marketplace page (when the item is finished and uploaded to the market place). But if you do not wish me to use your version, I fully understand.



"We often compare ourselves to the U.S. and often they come out the best, but they only have the right to bear arms while we have the right to bare breasts"
Bowser and Blue, Busting The Breast

I don't mind at all Lord Ashes. Feel free to use it in your projects and items.
The only thing is, that you'd probably be unable to texture it. For the best performance with physics weight map I did the *minimalist* UV unwrap (a straight line).
You can try to redo the UV unwrap and maybe you'd have a better luck with performance and stability.

Thanks. I'll pull it into Blender and see what I can do with the UV. In terms of performance, if I can achieve the motion that you had in the sample project, that would be perfect for my needs. I'll let you know how it goes.  



"We often compare ourselves to the U.S. and often they come out the best, but they only have the right to bear arms while we have the right to bare breasts"
Bowser and Blue, Busting The Breast

A cylindrical unwrap, or unwrap following quads should work.

The double Bulge lock is really cool to stop motion in both directions. I found a way to more or less the same thing using just 4 blocks. Three around the cable and one as "cap" to stop back motion. The cable end is just the end edge loop widened at set at the same level as the previous edge loop. It's the sample frequency at 1200 that gives the holding power. Here is an exploded view of what I set up. I just put the top of the cable flush with the 3 blocks, and set the cap on top.

I was hoping I could have a weight that the cable help up by physics, but no dice yet. :(

I found a way to more or less the same thing using just 4 blocks.

Cool, I'll check it out!