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Hunter Offroad Forum > Around The Workbench. > Learn and Be Prepared - 4x4 Saftey and Awareness (Moderator: Hunter) > Who's had something go wrong during a recovery?
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Andrew F
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« on: February 11, 2008, 10:44:17 PM »
Who has had something go really wrong during a recovery? Did a strap or winch line break, or did a tow point fail? Something even worse? I hope this can be a learning experience for everyone.

I had my friend's little brother hook up a winch to a tow strap wrong and destroy the strap. Nothing came of it except some lost money. I did learn that only I or someone else I trust that is in my group hooks up the strap/cables now. It was also my first real wheeling trip, Crown King with a foot of snow starting about half way up.
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Oc1paddler
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« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2008, 06:43:29 AM »
Without a doubt the way a recovery is performed will determine the success of the attempt. I have seen straps break, weak tow points come flying off ect. It's kind of like having a spotter. You will learn very quickly that everyone thinks that they know how to do it correctly but the reality is very few have a clue.
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Hunter
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« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2008, 08:40:09 AM »
Quote from: Oc1paddler on February 12, 2008, 06:43:29 AM
You will learn very quickly that everyone thinks that they know how to do it correctly but the reality is very few have a clue.

That is so true.   I have some of the best of people on the trail and some of the worst on the trail.

  7 different spotters, too many winch cables, too many opinions.   People to quick to show what they think they know and some folks with too quick of a fuse and temper. 


Here is one, that more of a humrous one.   I was in Munds Park some 14 years ago, south of Flagstaff during a pretty wicked snow storm, going through the neighborhood I come across an older man in his big old Ford pick up.  its a big dually, but mor eo rless stock.  He had slid into a ditch.   He waves me down and we go to work.  I only have a 10 foot metal chain, not the best, but  it owuld work.  I hook up to his hook in the front and mine n the rear and give him a slight tug.   

He pops out and we are going downhill.  I keep waiting for him to stop so I can stop, but he keeps following me... getting close too    Shocked.  I give som egas and try to stay in front him.   A few of these and some awkwards jerks, and I realise, he cant stop again.  he locks his brakes and slides back over into the ditch and finally stops.  At least this time, he didnt go in.  Unhook, shakes hands, and I stumble out of there shaking from the fact that I just slid down a hill with 7000 pound Ford truck chained to my rear bumper.
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1BLKJP
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« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2008, 09:22:32 AM »
You go thru enough recoveries and sh*t is just going to happen.  Broken straps, winch failures, rigs slippin off jacks.  Seen'em all.  Joe and I were up at the Draw last year with the XJ group and were trying to dead pull Louis up the last fall (broke an axle) and we flat out bottomed out 2 winches.  First time we'd ever seen that.  A little re-positioning of everything and we were able to get him up.
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« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2008, 09:45:17 AM »
One thing I have learned in winching or recvoery work  in more of a  pucker factor settings, is comunication.  First thing you need to do as a driver is pick one or two people who you trust and listen to them only.  So many times I have been in a lrage trail group and someone get's stuck.  Everyone's trying to help but you can have 6 guys all pointing the wrong dircetion giving different ideas, and more accidients can happen that way.  With straps, winches, and off camber 4x4's, it can be a much more dangerous scenario that some poeple think and the driver has enough to worry about let alone trying to figure out which way he should go.
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Andrew F
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« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2008, 10:13:56 AM »
One thing I learned the last time I went out (it was a big group and everyone want to be the guy to use their winch) is to have someone watch (from a safe distance) what is happening to the vehicle that is being winched. I didn't want to be responsible for the recovery, so I didn't volunteer to be involved. But I was sitting a little ways off, and a ZJ had got wedged in a hole and the front tires were stuck under an undercut. They were winching the body forward, but the axle was stay where it was, folding it back under the body. Neither the driver nor the guy winching noticed this, so I had to jump in and stop it. I ended up taking over leading the recovery and had to set up another vehicle to strap him out backwards. You don't want everyone involved, but like Hunter said, get 1 or 2 people who you trust to know what to do, and who you trust to stay safe to keep on eye out for what is going on.
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viatierra
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« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2008, 12:02:55 PM »
This last year I watched a synthetic winch line snap.  It was shocking at how easily it was severed. 

As the vehicle being recovered neared the top of the hill, the vehicle doing the winching started to backup in order to make room at the top.  That changed the angle of the winch line and is just barely scraped on the breakover point of the hill.  I guess that being under stress effected how quickly it would snap... Seemed like the line cut the instant it touched the ground (primarily river rocks!).


I love those synthetic lines for weight and ease of handling... but I will alway make sure there is more than enough protection for the line.  I bet a canvas tarp would be fine if the supplied sleeve wasn't enough.
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Andrew F
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« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2008, 10:21:53 PM »
Quote from: viatierra on March 03, 2008, 12:02:55 PM
This last year I watched a synthetic winch line snap.  It was shocking at how easily it was severed. 

As the vehicle being recovered neared the top of the hill, the vehicle doing the winching started to backup in order to make room at the top.  That changed the angle of the winch line and is just barely scraped on the breakover point of the hill.  I guess that being under stress effected how quickly it would snap... Seemed like the line cut the instant it touched the ground (primarily river rocks!).


I love those synthetic lines for weight and ease of handling... but I will alway make sure there is more than enough protection for the line.  I bet a canvas tarp would be fine if the supplied sleeve wasn't enough.

Yeah, I have seen some stuff on other boards where those got cut also. A good thing to know how to do is splice it back together. For now at least, I will stick with my metal cable. It is awkward to drag up a hill and you need to be more careful with it, but for recreational use where you may end up having to winch in some nasty situations where time is critical, they can't be beat for sheer reliability is tough locations.
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Andrew F
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« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2008, 01:50:22 PM »
Found a video to add to this thread.

http://www.break.com/index/strap-breaks-and-takes-out-cameraman.html
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« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2008, 09:51:16 PM »
Wow, good find.  Scary though, hope he was OK.
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« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2009, 06:20:01 AM »
It is good to hear that some people are getting the benefit of the op. My mum is not that lucky, had a few complication and now the surgeon doesnt even know why she still cant walk??
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