The wire rope located under the drill floor substructure to which the drilling line is secured. It measures the tension on that end of the drilling line. It also allows new lengths of line to be run into the system in order to relieve the worn parts of the line by moving them from critical wear points on the pulleys of the crown block or the travelling block.
After a certain amount of usage, the hoisting line is moved 30ft through the deadline anchor to prevent wear in any one particular spot along the drilling line.