Winch or snatch recovery

Thanks Baz that was the train of thought my only concern was my lack of winch experience but the confidence has just edged up a litle

Gday leroy i cant say for sure but yep it looked weak as p it was a new looking pajero exceed we used the hole they use for tieing them down on the trucks so i doubt it was a rated recovery point but there wernt too many choices cheers

No towbar i assume.

Gday redback yes mate it had a towbar but i was led to beleive the tow bar was not a good recovry tool and should only be used if nothing else is available

The towbar can be used (not the TOWBALL) the best way is to use the pin that holds the towball tongue in as a recovery point.

those tiedown point are very dangerous as recovery points.

Baz.

Gday navaraman winch cable not bunching up one one side is a great tip cheers but why not drive the stranded vehicle surely this would aid the recovery

(pls excuse me hopping in here navaraman)

G'day Barney,

there may be occasions when the vehicle being recovered (by winch) may need to be driven, but this should be avoided if possible I believe. The 'haphazatd' taking up and releasing of tension on the cable, by a recoveree vehicle could present heavy shock loads to the cable which could damage its integrity. This damage may or may not be visible on inspection. Flattening or binding may occur. A steady winch with attention to duty cycle (for electric, winch on/winch off) is going to be safer and "gentler" on the recovery gear I reckon.

also, very importantly, there is the environmental side of it. if you are being recovered and you are spinning your wheels trying to get out, track repair may be necessary but long term damage may already have been done.

Hi Navaraman, Have you considered mounting an old truck rear vision mirror on bull bar so you can see what's happening on the winch spool from the drivers seat.

depending on the recovery you will probably find it immposable to stop the cable from winding on unevenly. as long as it doesnt get too big for the spool its ok just sort it out after the recovery

I have seen a winch cable destroyed on a recovery where the vehicle being recovered was trying to drive to assist the winch.

The vehicle gained significant traction, overtook the cable (actually driving over it), the cable now without tension became tangled on the drum, vehicle lost traction and the cable whipped tight with a significant shock load and the tangled cable scrunched onto the drum. This all happened in a couple of seconds. Not pretty.

I was just a spectator and the operators involved wouldn't listen to me.

Hi Baldrick, Never say never :-))

Caution is required but it is (in my opinion) standard practice to 'assist' the winch by gently driving the vehicle being recovered. If someone ran over the cable they were probably using to much boot.

Yeah I agree you have to be careful and it's a technique that's really for the experienced (although inexperienced people probably shouldn't be using winches anyway).

The problem in this case was that the vehicle gained traction unexpectedly and leapt forward suddenly.

(although inexperienced people probably shouldn't be using winches anyway).

How would you be expected to gain the experience??

Cheers Luke

G'day Luke,

training my man, training :)

winching (hand or electric) one can be so "not in touch" with the loads and forces involved that, because safety is paramount, training is the first part of preparation for such a job. get in there and do it in a "controlled and staged" environment first.

otherwise, one may not only endanger oneself, but others also.

cheers.

Exactly!

My first use of snatch strap, when I didn't know what I was doing, involved dropping it over the towball and driving away at high speed!

I was lucky to get away with it. Some suitable training or even advice (no forums like this around then) would have been invaluable.

I often read this advice but I do wonder if a taut wire rope with enough stored energy to smash windscreens and cause severe damage to metal would even notice the presence of a blanket were it to snap?

Mike Harding

I know of 2 people who have snapped winch cables (a former place of emplyment) as i was curios i asked what happened.
in the first instance it just dropped to the ground and in the second it recoiled a little on itself sort of looping as it retained memory from being on the drum - neither case was even close to endandering anything

G'day Davoe,

do you know what the mitigating factor was in those cases? Was it a case of poorly maintained equipment? overload? bit of both? Yeah I have never seen one snap but I believed the dampers are there to keep the snapped cable low. Ive used anything from a calico bag full of spare belts and hoses, to a drag chain.

I am with you on this one Mike, A so called 'rope damper' just doesn't work. Still, if it makes people at least consider the possibility that metal or rope may fly through the air then I guess it's worthwhile.

While I wasnt there I saw the photos both vehicles were severly bogged one neede a grader to come and pull it out. Winches and cable SHOULD have been regulary inspected and i think this fairly likely to have hapened - so i guess i just dont know