Towing out snowed in cars - a cautionary tale!

I would like to know how they got stock in the first place on an otherwise clear street and driveway. Maybe the same guy working the clutch in that Nissan truck was driving the car.

|| || I would like to know how they got stock in the first place on an || otherwise clear street and driveway. Maybe the same guy working the || clutch in that Nissan truck was driving the car. ||

Yup - a two-foot pull to the left and they could have pushed it out. What struck me was that no-one (even the owner) seemed terribly concerned. Perhaps the "wacky-baccy" theory has something to do with it.

Does the Mini have recovery hooks? Even on my little Acura, with its "hold down" hooks. I'd be very cautious about using them for pulling the car out. __________________ Note: To reply, replace the word 'spam' embedded in return address with 'mail'. N38.6 W121.4

On or around Sun, 01 Feb 2004 23:09:15 -0800, Barry S. enlightened us thusly:

they're mostly fine for pulling the car on a hard surface, free of obstructions.

If they weren't, they'd be pretty useless for hold-downs.

I suspect that anything more than a hand-winch would be excessive.

But that's why they make those bow-shackles that fit a tow-ball.

Those bow shackles that fit a tow ball are setups for a Darwin award.

You don't ever want to be around when some fool uses a tow ball for a recovery point!

The balls shear off and turn into cannon balls.

They seriously go ballistic.

Mike

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

Look, we've seen people pulling the back end off a vehicle.

I don't want to be around when some idiot with a winch pulls _anything_ too hard.

Ask yourself which end of the tow rope you ought to be worrying about.

Well, that's one opinion on the topic. I doubt it's a popular one on the "uk" side of the pond, though.

Huh?

So when a snatch strap snaps a tow ball off over on that side of the ocean what happens to it?

Do you have some kind of Druid magic or something that is going to make that round steel shot drop to the ground rather than sending it ballistic like it does over on this side of the ocean?

No, not an opinion, I have seen it happen more than once.

Same deal with metal hooks on the end of snatch straps. Those are banned on any organized off road event for this very reason.

Mike

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

Apparently, we chose to involve metallurgists in designing towballs. European 50mm towballs are rated for a 3.5-tonne load.

if you don't believe me.

In article , Mike Romain writes

So why on earth would anyone want to harden a towball or the supporting lug so as to make it brittle?

Likewise with anything metal used in this way, surely you want visible distortion, not traumatic failure. It's like carabiners used for caving/climbing - they do bend and distort but that's infinitely preferable to snapping with shock loading. And, given the huge potential to cause serious injury (heck, I have Kevlar kite lines that could decapitate!), why is USA equipment apparently used way beyond its design limits?

The idea that you've seen this happen "several times" is the scariest thing of all.

Regards,

Simonm.

Haven't been off road much eh?

Being able to pull 3500 kg (the link states that) that is on wheels has absolutely nothing to do with an impacting shear load.

Crap, my winch is rated to pull 19,000 lb (with block) which is about

8636 kg and I have had it stalled more than once.

That means I have 'full' load on it and the stuck vehicle is glued into the mud big time.

Where is you puny 3500 kg ball going to be in this situation? Gone like a shot, literally.

Note, that is from a standing pull, 'not' a snatch pull where my vehicle is moving before the strap comes up tight. This 'snatch' pull did pop the sucker out when the winch stalled but it uses a stretch strap.

This stretch strap can put an amazing amount of force on a pull which is why you don't want metal ends or something tiny like a tow ball anchoring it.

Mike

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

There are a lot of fools out there that think like QrizB and David and figure it is safe to use a tow ball as a pull point.

It is not safe at all!

They seem to be from your side of the ocean too....... ;-)

That is why I said something in this thread.

Mike

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

Had to google around to find it, as that link's 404. But does anybody else smell a "funniest home video" setup here? Like somebody's Geo Storm was depreciated down to just about $0, so they decided to have some fun with it? There are just too many things wrong there for me to take it at face value.

bw

[x-post trimmed, so you may never read this...]

Just my humble opinion, but I believe you're talking bollocks.

I have recovered vehicles with a strap from my NATO hitch onto various tow gear - including putting the loop of the strap over the towball (no other option as it happened). I would not snatch like this, but standard gentle recovery is fine, and quite safe.

Bollocks. Using 16mm 12 strand plasma as a kinetic rope is not safe at all...

Martyn

Where is this thread getting confused? You're mentioning winches and snatching - both different recovery techniques. I really don't like to snatch anything, mainly because 'per se' it isn't safe and partly because I'll usually pull the back (or front) off anything if I snatch it with my 101...

Martyn

Exactly why I like wiregates - although others disagree, I've had a standard gate break when the gate locked. Bugger, off topic...

Martyn

And you think the two bolts holding that are rated for 3.5 tonnes?

Tow balls are subjected to impact forces from being backed into trailer tongues, old ladies and brick walls. You don't want them to bend and distort every time that happens. Also, a tow ball and trailer are basically a ball joint, if I wanted a fast wearing ball inside a ball joint I'd just buy a F-150 front end.