Michigan Jeepers Loose member to strapping accident..

Umm, the strap was wrapped around the cross member and I only needed one length....

Mike

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:

Next time I am doing a Paul Bunyan and yanking out a stuck jeep with my bare hands, I'll remember your analogy.

actually...for the forces typically asserted during 'yank' pulls...that IS a small piece of wood.

there's the argument of hardwood versus softwood.....sure....but still.

Was he trying to show you guys that a dowel COULD be used to stop the straps from getting cinched too tight together? It is a bit of a pain to setup the straps JUST to illustrate that a dowel can be used to keep them separate.

Regardless of how he showed you guys....do it as the image from Steve (the other one) shows....el fini!

well....you can do whatever calculations you want on paper and give the chance and probability of what may happen....but why risk it!!

I think everyone here knows whats the proper way to do it.....tell ya what...if you get stuck and want to do it your way...then have the courtesy to ask everyone else to step away while you yank it yourself. That way, IF anything does happen, it won't hurt/injure anyone else.

I just performed a quick, unscientific test using some scrap wood I had in the garage, 3/4" x 1" pieces of pine. I attached one snatch strap to a tree in my backyard, 6" tree-saver to my Jeep (my other snatch strap was too worn to be safe, it went into the garbage). Connected the two straps using the toggle method. Couldn't get it to break after several hard tugs against an immobile tree.

I wanted the wood to break to see what it would do. I took the piece and scored around the middle with a saw, about 1/8" deep. Took about three tugs but it did break. The pieces flew clear of the straps to at about a 60 degree angle to the straps, away and to the right of the Jeep, about 100 feet away.

Tried it again with another prepared piece of wood. Took about four tugs, when it broke, the pieces cleared both sides of the strap, this time somewhat toward the Jeep, but not in the immediate direction. It seemed the direction the pieces would take depended on which strap was the "toggle" strap.

Tried again, and this time the pieces shot straight down.

On every test, the straps did snap back to each attachment point but the wood cleared the end of the straps before their motion stopped. On the last pull the strap attached to the Jeep landed on the hood.

My conclusions:

(a) Assuming the first, unprepared piece is not as strong as a 2" hardwood dowel, I think the dowel in toggle formation would be adequate for extractions like hi-center or mild stucks. Very hard extractions (deep mud) would require more than a snatch strap anyhow.

(b) The wood would probably not follow the same trajectory as the end of the strap when the dowel breaks, though it might land much further away, but generally not in the vicinity of the towed vehicles. This is my the basis for my advocation of the toggle method...the dowel does not "hook" onto the strap when it lets go, but rather it is thrown clear more or less sideways by the force of the break itself. Of course, the stronger the dowel, the more force is required to break it.

Like I said, this was an unscientific test. But based on it I will probably reconsider using the toggle method, after all. While I still think the toggle method is viable, better safe than sorry.

I think we can all agree that no matter what you use, every extraction technique has its risks and every precaution should be taken to minimize the danger.

Bingo. That says it all.

Even taking the time to toss a coat or a floor mat over your joint would make a difference or a difference in the tragic pull this thread is about likely.

'I' will only ever loop the straps though.....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

No!

He is blow>

So, basically....either drive is safe from this flying debris....but anyone nearby would become a target!!

How ginger were you on the pedal? ACtually, I'm not going to question your test methods at all.... Guys....just be smart!!!! If you want to play with your own life...fine...we'll get you signed up for a Darwin award... But don't f*ck with other people's lives!

No, the toggle method is pulling the end of one strap through the end loop of the other, then inserting a dowel through the loop of the first strap, using the dowel as a "toggle" to lock teh straps together.

Steve

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:

Depends on the trail. Most of the trails I go on are narrow, wooded, and very few people are standing around, usually they were up or down the trail. In an open area, there would be more risk.

I was tugging pretty hard to get those pine pieces to break. Harder than I normally have to be to tug out a moderately stuck vehicle.

Beats having a rear crossmember flying down the trail :-)

ballistically

Well....if this is the technique you, or anyone else, are going to use....PLEASE!!!! be sure you control the area around you!!

Not really.

My friend who was off to the side watching is still alive....

Mike

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:

It takes the Nova Scotia to pull out the diagram! Way to go Steve!!! lol That is exactly how we were taught in our club and at The Jeep Jamboree Canada in Nova Scotia... Jeff