Usefull and essential off road kit to carry

[(RIP) PLANK]

good point HB slow but cheap and better than being stuck!

The thing i allways wanderd with ground anchors is this! as we have said with a stuck vehicle you may have to apply significantly more than force than the weight of the stuck vehicle to move it! say 4 tonnes.

so you have plouged you ground anchor in with 4 tones of force, now you have to get it out agin :wink: just a thought!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

one other bit of advice and you may think it good or bad is this:

I have heard it said if you dont get stuck off road you aren't trying, and i have sen people dashing into deep mud just for the heck of it when there are easier routes around it.

My view, try not to get stuck if you can help it, as while it can be entertaining, and a good test of your rceovey equipment it does have it dangers and wading about in mud up to our waist in the puring rain soon looses its novelty :wink:

 

[andrewk]

My view, try not to get stuck if you can help it, as while it can be entertaining, and a good test of your rceovey equipment it does have it dangers and wading about in mud up to our waist in the puring rain soon looses its novelty :wink:

FWIW, I agree completely. OTOH, it's also accepted wisdom that you should never go laning on your own. Having some means of self-recovery makes it a less risky proposition ......

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Guest]

However i would think that, and knowing my luck, if I were to try one it would hit solid rock at about 2" - 3" -rotfl-

Yeah, but you'd not get stuck there in the first place. :smile:

But there are places like Stanage which is rock rock and more rock, you can get hung up (which is how my Disco got nicknamed Rocky) and no amount of lifting, waffle boarding or shoving will get you anywhere, sometimes theres only the whinch option. So far I've not needed it but have acted as a ground anchour for the vehicle two behind to pull off me with a snatch block to get the vehicle behind up.

so you have plouged you ground anchor in with 4 tones of force, now you have to get it out agin

Generally towed, dug or whinched out (12 tons of pull)

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

wihched and towed assumes you can get enough tractrion for the job without your land anchor, I can invisage a situation like a 'groundhog day' with getting stuck over and over in an endless loop :lol: :lol:

stuff this for a game of soldiers, shovels, winches, waffle baords rocks, i have had enough 4x4's im going to get a helicopter :wink: :lol:

 

[Deleted Member S]

Do you think a 5 tone rope would be ok to pull my T2 out of a muddy hole or would I be better off with 7-10 tone rope. The reason i'm asking is that i've found a 5 tone tow strap for £7 & 7-10 tone straps for £16-20

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

In my experience pulling things with ropes they tend to fail at points they are against something or wher they are knotted, fo rexample round the tow ball or towing eye, or shackle, I have also bust ropes where they went round a tree stump, they seldom seem to break in the long straight bit between the towing vehicle and the load.

So with that in mind, if you are tieing knots in it or passing it around anyhting go for the better rope, if it has proper re-enforced eylets for attatching I think the lighter weight would probably be allright.

though I am sure some one will come up with a better / different answer!

 

[Deleted Member S]

Cheers Plank :smile: I think i'll got for the 7 tonne one to play on the safe side & it's 6 mtr long so should be long enough :smile:

 

[andrewk]

Do you think a 5 tone rope would be ok to pull my T2 out of a muddy hole or would I be better off with 7-10 tone rope. The reason i'm asking is that i've found a 5 tone tow strap for £7 & 7-10 tone straps for £16-20

I think your life is worth more than £7, don't you? No, I wouldn't recover anyone or allow myself to be recovered from a muddy hole with a 5 ton breaking strain rope.

You can get a 14 ton recovery strap from Forgetec for £20 (+VAT + carriage). See: http://www.forgetec4x4.co.uk/winchingequipment.html

I think your life is worth at least that much. :smile:

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Terranosaurus]

Plus bear in mind that if you want it to possibly double as a tow rope on the road then 4.5 metres is the maximum permitted length.

Neil have a look around a bit more my 14Tonne cost me £11 IIRC

 

[Deleted Member S]

Well I've just bought a 7 Tonne tow strap 6 mtr long :roll: I think it'll do for the time being as i'm just starting out in the big world of green laning & my driving skills are not up to anything to hard at the min But like many of you's I think in time i'll be buying more & more stuff so it'll be the 1st in the collection :lol: :lol:
The next ting is bow shackles :roll: The link that Cameraman put up for towsure do you think they would be up to the job for what I would/will need :?

 

[Terranosaurus]

In a word no, they're only meant for about half a tonne loading, you should be able to pick up rated shackles, blue or green pin for under a fiver each - I think machine mart do them.


I thinks its about time to resurrect a link that Rossco originally posted about 12months back, its a long read but very interesting, should give everyone some idea of the loads involved in recovery work. Theres a lot about winching but most of it still applies.


http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

 

[Deleted Member S]

Cheers HB :smile: I'll have a look for some :roll: & have a good read up of that link

 

[JonathanM]

OK, handwinches, there was an article in one of the LR mags last year or so. They looked at some decent recovery ideas, then some less "reliable" methods.

If you look under hand winches on Ebay you'll often see wire puller type ratchets for sale as "Turfors" - trying to impersonate a Tirfor winch. A Tirfor hand winch is superb, reliable, will pull a massive weight, and can run with cable from 1 metre to as long as you need it subject to cable length) without resetting.

The "turfor" in the LR article basically only had a limited pull, as it constantly needed resetting, so to make progress meant lots of faff, and as someone else mentioned it was hours to move inches. Better off saving to buy a real tirfor/griphoist device. I got one via Difflock 2 years ago for £80.

Ground anchor, the screw in type will bend, end of, they are just not up to the job. I carry one of these http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/OFF_ROAD/Ropes_and_Recovery/Ground_Anchor.html because it is easy to use, doesn't take up much space, and importantly can be placed by hand, the plough type anchors really need a mechanical winch to give enough pull for correct placement. The paddock anchor fits quite nicely into a length of plastic drainpipe for nice easy storage. OK, needs a sledge hammer to place it, but a plough type anchor would probably need digging in anyway. Touch wood, I've never yet needed to use the tirfor, but it is good to carry at times when out in a very small group or solo as a self recovery tool.


Also re shackles & 50mm towballs, I was under the impression that securing a shackle around a towball was a strict no-no, becuase the ball will break off, and the only way that the ARC allow 50mm towballs as a recovery point is when they are mounted on a horizontal flat surface that means the end of the tow strap is secure over the ball - I'll try & post a link if I find a picture. That is one reason why I got a chunk of metal made to replace the swan neck on my brink towbar for off roading, allowing a shackle to be put in its place instead.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I agree about the tow ball as they are only rated for a maximum pull of 3.5 tonnes i beleive? but I dont think your tow bar will be that strong as they are only usualy rated for the towing capacity of the vehicle?

It is a proper can of worms this load capacity and breaking strain stuff!

 

[JonathanM]

My understanding is that the bolts securing a towbar are rated a lot higher than the towball, so I'm not unduly concerned about that aspect, but you are right about the towball, hence the reason I don't use it off road.

 

[jace]

how about obliging daughter to open and close gates after u all not to mention dish out sweets!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I know the bolts are probably high tensile steel but are they load rated? and i was thinking more of the construction and welding of the tow bar being rated at a given maximum which can vary but i would assume for the maximum towing capacity (2800k ?)

I am not criticising but just higlkighting what a comples are this can become, if a 5 tonne rope is not strong enough but attatched to a 2.8 tonne towbar? you see my point, there seems little point in a 14 tonne rope or strap unless you are sure all the other components in the chain can take it, when ou think of the consequences of flying parts surely better the rope / strap braking first rather than any metal bits snapping off and flying?

And as many of the towing eyes etc. used by many are home made, unrated/tested, or for recovering just the weight of the vehicle in a normal break down situation,I think it might be safer with a lower rated rope! just a thought!

 

[Toolbox]

I know the bolts are probably high tensile steel but are they load rated? and i was thinking more of the construction and welding of the tow bar being rated at a given maximum which can vary but i would assume for the maximum towing capacity (2800k ?)

I am not criticising but just higlkighting what a comples are this can become, if a 5 tonne rope is not strong enough but attatched to a 2.8 tonne towbar? you see my point, there seems little point in a 14 tonne rope or strap unless you are sure all the other components in the chain can take it, when ou think of the consequences of flying parts surely better the rope / strap braking first rather than any metal bits snapping off and flying?

And as many of the towing eyes etc. used by many are home made, unrated/tested, or for recovering just the weight of the vehicle in a normal break down situation,I think it might be safer with a lower rated rope! just a thought!

A very valid point Plank

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I know i often sound like a kill joy but it is good to explore both sides of the argument :wink: