Vehicle Recovery

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CowboyKyle

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Vehicle Recovery
When you stop respecting it, it becomes deadly.

This is for people who do it the wrong way.

Quote from Billavista's Tech Article @ Pirate 4x4:

I first off want to say I got this information from other web sites, and have simplified it to where most people can understand. There are 2 common types of recovery that most people use; Jerking and Winching. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages. I will explain to the best of my ability the safe and proper way to extract a stuck vehicle.

Jerking is probably the most common type of recovery because most people have a tow strap in their rigs, although a “tow strap” is not what you need to recover a stuck vehicle. Tow straps are for flat easy towing of a vehicle, not jerking of a vehicle. You need a recovery strap, because its ability to stretch helps rebound a stuck vehicle with its stored energy when it comes back to its normal state. Use a strap for the amount of pulling you plan using it for. You need to calculate the weight of your rig and add other variables; only you can determine this as it is vehicle specific. Do not use straps in combination with chains or wire rope (tree savers exempting) and do not fasten 2 straps by knotting them together. If it is absolutely necessary to join two straps together, use a square knot to join the two. Here is a square knot and how it's tied.

Easy to join and easy to separate without fear of forever tied straps

Square.gif

Make sure the strap has a label stating its strength and manufacturer's information stitched in the webbing. Your rig has to be able to handle all these pressures of being ******. Use suitable tow hooks that are properly fastened and can handle the load. Do not use a trailer ball as a recovery point as it can break and become a deadly projectile. I recommend a “D” ding shackle/clevis of some sort in the receiver hitch as a suitable recovery point. See bottom of page for load ratings.

Do not rig to any suspension or steering components as failure of these components can cause harm. Take care of your straps by keeping them free of water, dirt, or harsh chemicals. Prolonged storage in direct sunlight can also cause premature wear. If your strap happens to become soiled, wash it out with water then allow dry completely, and store it in an appropriate location. As you use your strap it may develop cuts and tears in it. It will be up to you when to deem it unusable. If there is any doubt, the strap probably should not be used on your next outing.

Some people also like to use big rope for recovery which is fine too, so here is what you need to know. How to make an eye splice, and the ropes strength. A knot reduces breaking strength by 40% while a splice retains 95% of the ropes strength. Most people say the rope will break before the eye splice will come apart.

Here is a picture of the splice, literature will follow.

SPLICE2.jpg


Step 1--Tape the ends

Cut rope will have been sealed with a hot knife to prevent the ends from unraveling. To make a splice, you need to unravel a short length of one end, but you do not want the individual strands to unravel. Put a couple of wraps of masking tape around one end of the rope and slice through it with a sharp knife to cut off the melted end. Untape the rope and tightly tape the ends of the three individual strands.

Step 2--Unlay the strands

Pick one strand (it doesn't matter which) and unwind it, making eight revolutions around the other two. Tape the rope tightly just below where this "loose" strand joins the others. Now untwist the other two strands.

Step 3--The first tuck

Form a loop in the rope the size you want the eye. The splice begins at the wrap of tape on the rope, so this marks the closing point of the eye. If you are doing an anchor line, make the loop tightly around the thimble. I generally secure the thimble in position with a wrap of tape on each leg. With the loop formed and the unlayed end on top of the standing part and pointing away from you, fan the unlayed strands naturally, i.e., with the center strand leading directly away from you, the right strand spread to the right, and the left strand spread to the left. Commit to memory that the first tuck is always the center strand and you will avoid confusion in the future about the start of splice. Lift a strand on the standing part of the rope at the point where you want the eye to close and tuck the center strand under it. On smaller and/or soft-lay rope you will be able to make the tucks just using your fingers. Large, stiff, or old line may require use of a fid or marlinespike to open the strands in the standing part of the rope. Pull this first tucked strand all the way through so that the eye is closed, but don't pull so hard that you distort the lay of the line.

Step 4--The second tuck

The second tuck is always the left-hand strand. The strand on the standing part it goes under is the one above the one you just tucked the center strand under. I remember "left-above" to keep me straight. Again, pull all of the loose strands through.

Step 5--The third tuck

This is where you are most likely to go wrong, so be careful. If the left strand goes under the "above" strand, then the right strand must go under the below strand. The confusion is not which strand, it is which direction. All tucks go right to left. The easy way to avoid doing this wrong is to flip the eye over to tuck the third strand. Once this third tuck is made, pull on all three strands in turn to snug the closure of the eye evenly.

Step 6--Over and under

The rest is easy. Pick one strand and tuck it under the strand on the standing part that is two above the one it is already under. In other words, each strand goes under one strand, over the next one above it, then under the next above that. Tuck each loose strand in turn, one tuck at a time. Turning the rope counterclockwise about a third of a turn after each tuck will help you keep the sequence and the strands straight. Give each strand a total of six tucks. Once all of the tucks are completed, place the splice on the floor and roll it back and forth under your foot to smooth it. Then loop the eye over something and put a strain on the line. Cut off the projecting "tails' of the strands and the splice is finished.

Literature from Don Casey at BoatUS.com: BoatUS Home Page

Finished product tested.

PICT0826.jpg
 
OP
OP
CowboyKyle

CowboyKyle

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Winching is another commonly used recovery tactic. This consists of an electric or hydraulic motor that turns a set of gears on a drum to pull or hoist a load. There are many ways to rig your line to increase pulling power of your winch, when needed. Make sure your equipment can handle the load your winch can. If not this could cause harm. A quote from Billavista's article on Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading website in the world. about wire rope, “The minute you stop respecting this, it kills you”. If you want all the glossary of terms on wire rope read Billavista’s tech article on Pirate4x4. Common tools in winching are winch, wire rope (cable), clevis’, hooks, chain, snatch blocks, and tree trunk protectors. All of these combined can make your winching extraction easier.

Here are the required calculations you should do before winching.

Know the weight of your rig fully loaded on the trail, because there will be times when the pull you have to make will exceed the pulling power of your winch. Most winch manufacturers will recommend 1.5 times the weight of your rig but frankly sometimes it’s not enough. There are 4 things you need to consider before winching.

LW = Loaded Weight of Vehicle

SURFACE RESISTANCE:
A pull of 1/10 LW will cause a free wheeling truck to move on a hard, level surface.
A pull of 1/3 LW will cause a free wheeling truck to move on a softer surface, such as grass or gravel

DAMAGE RESISTANCE:
A pull of 2/3 LW will be required to move if the wheels cannot rotate (as if the brakes were fully applied), the pull required to overcome the resistance (drag) the truck id 2/3 or 67% of the LW. Damage resistance includes surface resistance (i.e. you only use one or the other)

STUCK RESISTANCE:
A pull of 100% of LW will be required if the truck is stuck to a depth of the sidewall on the tires.
A pull of 200% of LW will be required if the truck is stuck to the hubs.
A pull of 300% of LW will be required if the truck is stuck to the frame.
Mire resistance includes damage resistance (i.e. you only use one or the other)

GRADE (SLOPE) RESISTANCE:
Upgrade (vehicle has to be recovered up a slope or grade)
15 degrees - add 25% of LW
30 degrees - add 50% of LW
45 degrees - add 75% of LW

Vehicle recovery on level ground - no correction

Downgrade (vehicle has to be recovered down a slope or grade)
15 degrees - subtract 25% of LW
30 degrees - subtract 50% of LW
45 degrees - subtract 75% of LW

With these calculations you can see how much weight your winch will need to pull. Here is how to calculate it:

Add surface or damage or mire resistance and grade resistance, and this is your final figure or rolling resistance. This is the amount of pull the winch must apply in order to recover the stuck vehicle. For those who didn’t get this here is an example:

My trail rig fully kitted out weighs in at 5000lbs.
I get stuck down a rock ravine that's about 45 degrees steep, and there are big rocks up to the frame hanging it up.
Rolling resistance is 5000lbs x 3 + (5000 x 0.75) = 18,750 lbs.

As you can see, this is significantly more than the 5000lbs x 1.5 - 7500lbs the manufacturers would have you believe.

You may be wondering how one could ever possibly recover the vehicle in this example, given that the largest commercially available 4x4 recovery winch is 15000 lbs and that most are in the 8-9000lb range. The answer is by using multi-line rigging, which we shall explore in a moment.

Multi line rigging is what increases your pulling power. This requires the use of snatch blocks to increase mechanical advantage. There is double line and triple line rigging for times when needed.

Double line rigging:
Consists of using (1) snatch block at a recovery point and having wire rope go to recovery point and back to stuck vehicle.

Triple Line Rigging:
Consists of using (2) snatch blocks, one at recovery point, and one at vehicle. The wire rope goes from winch to recovery point, back to vehicle, and back to recovery point.

For more information on winching techniques please visit Warn’s website at this link: http://www.warn.com/corporate/images/90/UserManualSRC.US.readers.pdf

I hope you can take this information and add some common sense and make your vehicle extractions safe.

Note: all credit was given to people who actually wrote some of this information. I did modify some information to make it user friendly. Information was resourced from Billavista’s Tech article @ Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading website in the world.. Please refer to it for further detail but this the most critical info I thought we could use.

Shackle Information Chart. From http://www.chicagohardware.com/catalog/09_10_shackles.pdf

Here is a pic for those who do not have Adobe reader.
shackleloads.jpg

All credit for article assembly goes to Marcus Meche. I only tweaked the formatting and corrected the grammar.
 
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MJockey

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Looking to get snatch block to use with the Power Wagon winch. Anybody have any suggestion? Preferably one not made in china. Thanks
 

Nick@GotExhaust

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Looking to get snatch block to use with the Power Wagon winch. Anybody have any suggestion? Preferably one not made in china. Thanks

We offer

Crown RT33017
images.ashx


Warn has some nice ones like the WAR92188
images.ashx


also offer ARB, smittybuilt, superwinch, rugged ridge, and some others.
 

Danno

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Tractor supply has a recovery kit with a 14k snatch block, tree saver strap and shackle for $40. I have used the kit alot and I'm very pleased with it.

Someone put to much thought in this. I just use the snatch block along with anchor if needed and pull out who ever needs it. Sometimes it's tree in the way. It isn't that hard. Also carrying a come-a-long on top of having a 12k winch comes in handy.
 

MJockey

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For the heavy Power Wagon would you want recovery equipment with a WLL (working load limit) of 4.75T or 6.5T?
 

3TV

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This is an interesting thread, with lots of good information. But it looks like it kind of died on the vine 1 1/2 years ago. I just had to use recovery gear on my Power Wagon, when it was all of two days old. It was an unusual recover in that any nearby trees were not substantial enough to not get pulled out of the ground by the winch, and I needed several hundred feet of recovery straps to extract the truck. I had cell phone service, so would not have been stranded if I had not had enough recovery gear, but this could have just as easily happened in the middle of nowhere. Now I take this a little more seriously, and I have some questions.

We have plenty of room in the RamBox's, so it isn't like in my Jeep days, where finding a place to put your gear was the biggest limitation. So, first of all, what recovery gear are other people carrying in their Power Wagon? Secondly, what capacity straps, shackles and snatch blocks do you use? And third, what about a land anchor? Anyone find a good one that isn't too big or heavy to be practical?
 
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McBroom

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Maybe we can get this thread revived. Possibly some updated info that’s not 9 years old.
I know the OP was in the Air Force and was deployed to Afghanistan. And no posts since 2012. I pray that he came home under his own power.
I thank him for his service and again for the info he shared with us here.


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Tumbleweed

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Soft shackles are nice. Light weight too.

Crosby screw pin shackles are made in America.

Factor55.com is also a made in America brand. They do destructive testing with lots of YouTube videos to verify their claims.

Synthetic rope is safer and easier to work with than steel cable. It does require more care and maintenance than steel cable.
 

IRSmart

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Good idea. Maybe share some recovery ideas as well. Such as, did you know a hi lift jack can be used like a come-along, basically eliminating a come-along as a required piece of equipment?

Example: last time I went out, I slid on a rock while going down an obstacle and got closer and closer to a tree on my drivers bed side with each movement I made. I finally stopped and hooked my hi lift to a tree and to my hitch shackle. I pulled the ass of my truck away from the tree and went down the obstacle with no further incident.
 

McBroom

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Another thing that y’all might consider putting in your recovery kit is a smallish shovel,folding bowsaw, and maybe a couple of short 2’ 2x8” boards.


I love my truck!
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Sasquatchtdg

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Some tips from my mud, hunting club, 2am stuck calls, dirt road days...

DON'T Hook to a bumper mounted ball

DON'T Snatch with chains or wire rope

DON'T be a ****, do what's necessary to get the stuck vehicle out, show boating and dragging for machismo will lead to fights or damaged vehicles. Unless you're out with the intention of mudding, most people are already highly stressed when in need of a tow.

DON'T trust someone else to hook up to your vehicle. Check it out for yourself, they're not insured or responsible if they rip your bumper off.

AVOID steel hooks or shackles to join straps or ropes - if/when they fail, they become fast, heavy projectiles

ALWAYS use a shirt, towel, floormat, something draped over the middle of your rigging to use as an energy redirecting device in the event of cable/strap/chain failure. This diverts the sudden release of energy to the ground, not the other vehicle or spectators.

ALWAYS try a straight tug first, only resort to snatching if necessary. Reduces stress on both vehicles.

ALWAYS communicate clear instructions to the other driver. I've seen many times people caught up in the moment, get freed and forget to hit the brakes, forget to put the vehicle in park, or try to drive away while still hooked up.
 

McBroom

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Some tips from my mud, hunting club, 2am stuck calls, dirt road days...

DON'T Hook to a bumper mounted ball

DON'T Snatch with chains or wire rope

DON'T be a ****, do what's necessary to get the stuck vehicle out, show boating and dragging for machismo will lead to fights or damaged vehicles. Unless you're out with the intention of mudding, most people are already highly stressed when in need of a tow.

DON'T trust someone else to hook up to your vehicle. Check it out for yourself, they're not insured or responsible if they rip your bumper off.

AVOID steel hooks or shackles to join straps or ropes - if/when they fail, they become fast, heavy projectiles

ALWAYS use a shirt, towel, floormat, something draped over the middle of your rigging to use as an energy redirecting device in the event of cable/strap/chain failure. This diverts the sudden release of energy to the ground, not the other vehicle or spectators.

ALWAYS try a straight tug first, only resort to snatching if necessary. Reduces stress on both vehicles.

ALWAYS communicate clear instructions to the other driver. I've seen many times people caught up in the moment, get freed and forget to hit the brakes, forget to put the vehicle in park, or try to drive away while still hooked up.

Such great advice Thanks for sharing this


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3TV

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Some things I learned on my recent recovery incident.

If you need to extend your winch line with several additional straps (4 in my case), don't hook the straps together by sliding one end of the strap through the loop on the other end of the strap, and then pulling it tight to make a knot. After you pull on that knot with a 12,000 lb winch that is maxed out, the knot becomes permanent, and you will never get it out again. Use a clevis to join the straps instead, but cover the strap with a coat to catch that clevis and redirect it if something breaks.

I personally think it would work better if you used a strap that is meant to be used as a winch extension strap, instead of a snatch strap The winch extension straps are designed not to stretch, instead of the 20% stretch in a snatch strap. If you have 150 feet worth of straps hooked up, that are going to stretch 20% before the winch is pulling at its max, you will be winding in a lot of cable before finally getting pulled out. If you are pulling at an angle, all of that winch cable will get wound up at one end of the drum, and you may get into a situation where you have too much winch cable at one end of the drum before you have enough tension in the straps to extract the vehicle. I almost reached this situation last weekend. I ordered an ARB winch extension recovery strap to use next time (the 8000 kg one). https://www.arb.com.au/recovery/snatch-straps-accessories/
 

olyelr

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Some things I learned on my recent recovery incident.

If you need to extend your winch line with several additional straps (4 in my case), don't hook the straps together by sliding one end of the strap through the loop on the other end of the strap, and then pulling it tight to make a knot. After you pull on that knot with a 12,000 lb winch that is maxed out, the knot becomes permanent, and you will never get it out again. Use a clevis to join the straps instead, but cover the strap with a coat to catch that clevis and redirect it if something breaks.

I personally think it would work better if you used a strap that is meant to be used as a winch extension strap, instead of a snatch strap The winch extension straps are designed not to stretch, instead of the 20% stretch in a snatch strap. If you have 150 feet worth of straps hooked up, that are going to stretch 20% before the winch is pulling at its max, you will be winding in a lot of cable before finally getting pulled out. If you are pulling at an angle, all of that winch cable will get wound up at one end of the drum, and you may get into a situation where you have too much winch cable at one end of the drum before you have enough tension in the straps to extract the vehicle. I almost reached this situation last weekend. I ordered an ARB winch extension recovery strap to use next time (the 8000 kg one). https://www.arb.com.au/recovery/snatch-straps-accessories/


Yea those would work, or carry along a coiled up section of winch cable/rope to use for extensions (maybe a 50' or 80' piece).
 

3TV

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Upgrading some more recovery gear after the change from Jeeps to a Power Wagon ...

Always used the Warn shackles on the left for Jeeps, rated at 18,000 lbs. I changed to the GearAmerica shackles on the right for the Power Wagon, rated at 68,000 lbs.
47625887361_27a0ef4521_h.jpg

Changed from a Warn snatch block rated at 12,000 lbs, to a GearAmerica snatch block rated at 20,000 lbs.


And added something I haven't had before, a winch extension strap from ARB, which is designed not to stretch. 65' long, and rated at 17,500 lbs.
47573137242_dfea14322f_h.jpg

This has been interesting upgrading my recovery gear. It turns out that GearAmerica has great products. Their quality is equal to ARB, and a little better than Warn, for about half the price.
 
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IRSmart

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Always used the Warn shackles on the left for Jeeps, rated at 18,000 lbs. I changed to the GearAmerica shackles on the right for the Power Wagon, rated at 68,000 lbs.
47625887361_27a0ef4521_h.jpg
Is that a typo? I zoomed in on the shackle and it says 8T (16k lbs, not 68k lbs)
 
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