Spanish Whiplass
Submitted: Saturday, Feb 18, 2006 at 23:51
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F4Phantom
Does anyone remember the post about the Spanish whiplass. I do, and thank goodness as it saved my bacon today. I did a short run up to toolangi this arvo to
test out my laptop moving map GPS. All I wanted to do was do was a few easy smaller tracks, get a good feeling about my GPS working and go
home (we had a tea date at friends, the wife said I had to be
home in 2 hrs, I said "no probs, will be
home in 2 hrs easy!" does this sound familiar to anyone else?) so I started seeing myself in the map along pauls range, I noticed a little cut through track and it was steep as, so I go down, head for a
creek crossing and then the plan was to go right
home. All was
well except the mud at the
creek crossing and the very deep ruts. I jacked the car, packed timber, rolled in mud till it was everywhere, incuding all througout the car. It was getting dark and I remembered the SW. I did it up, put the car in reverse without a driver and the damn thing had that much power it pulled the car out the first time I got it rigged properly 2nd attempt over all. Mate, this site taught me that and it woked perfectly. Anyway I dont want anyone to point out all the mistakes I made, and yes I ruined the evening with the wife - again.
Reply By: Member - Allan M (ACT) - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 00:34
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 00:34
F4Phantom,
Good to hear that you didn't have to spend the night in the boonies. That would have made the wife very happy, I bet.
Did you mean Spanish Windlass? There's a pretty good description and diagrams of it at
http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/skills/b-p/windlass.htm .
I remember as a teenager (30 years ago) pulling a 4wd out of a
mud hole at
Lake Eildon using a Spanish Windlass. It was very effective.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Ray Bates - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 01:28
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 01:28
Yes. Spanish Windlass
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Follow Up By: F4Phantom - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 08:54
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 08:54
yes thats what i ment, i only read the thread once a while ago. anyway, top little trick, massive mechanical advantage when you think one man can pull the weight of a car up a 25 degree incliine in mud.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Jimbo - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 09:03
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 09:03
Great Yarn. Glad to see that some of these things do actually work in practice. Sounds like a fair alternative to a hand winch.
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Reply By: Footloose - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 09:30
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 09:30
Sounds like hard yakka to me !
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Reply By: Mike Harding - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 10:25
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 10:25
What type of rope did you use, hemp, nylon etc and how long/thick was it?
As you were on your own how did you support the upright pole and turn the winder at the same time?
You did
well :) I really, really, hate being bogged in mud.
Mike Harding
AnswerID:
155816
Follow Up By: F4Phantom - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 13:31
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 13:31
I will explain a little more detail.
I used 2 tonne tape like a thin snatch strap, doubled up so it gave 4T. Ideally you need a longer winch stick for more leverage. I had a fairly short lever which was not ideal but still gave me a lot of power. A bit longer rope would have helped to get the winching started before it was under load, my rope doubled up was loading up as soon as the log was hitched, this did not help. It was very difficult to keep the upright pole upright as it wants to spin over and unwind, I thought of digging a hole. Basiscly, a hand saw or chainsaw, plenty of rope and 2 or more people will be able to recover a 4x4 no problem from almost anything I would say. Also you get a fantasic feel in ratio for the weight of the car, and can feel it grabbing which feel you dont get with a real winch. The feel gives you a very good idea as to how bogged the car really is and how hard it will be to get out. Lastly the ropes line it takes as it loops through the timbers is the key way to make it work(obviously), the first time I ran it the wrong way, it gave the same power but the wind (wiindd, not wind) was making me have to put the log in an over under fashion which is really hard under load. The second attempt was easy, less effort and the car came straight out,
well straight out after 6 hours of other stuff.
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Reply By: Member - Matt M (ACT) - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:16
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:16
F4Phantom,
I'll bet your wife wasn't any happier when you explained that you were late because you had been mucking around with a Spanish Whip Lass!
Matt
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:23
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:23
Matt - Now _I_ didn't notice that typo until you pointed it out...!
Oh... You're a bad boy!
Mike Harding :)
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Reply By: F4Phantom - Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:51
Sunday, Feb 19, 2006 at 20:51
no problem, I told her it was a kind of "winch" I used to "help" me out.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: nickoff - Monday, Feb 20, 2006 at 08:21
Monday, Feb 20, 2006 at 08:21
"Winch" or "Wench"?
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