DIY winch - For self Rescue

[surfer]

Bob's blog Getting Stuck: How to Avoid it and What to do if it Happens reminded me of the above video I thought some might like to see.

 

[SoulRaven]

I like the come-a-long idea better...

 

[surfer]

Hahaha.... little too labor intensive? Well, I agree but good to know if out alone without a working come along.

 

[MikeRuth]

A Technique worth knowing if you so happen to have a good quality rope with you. That was a 11MM kermantel climbing rope. I'm actually surprised it held.
I definitely would not use it for climbing anymore.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Climbing rope is a lot like a snatch rope or strap, it has a lot of stretch built in by design.  Stretchy line should not be used for winching.  Winch line is supposed to have minimal stretch.  If a stretchy line breaks under tension, it's gonna go flying and hurt somebody.

Regards
John

 

[surfer]

MikeRuth
" A technique worth knowing if you so happen to have a good quality rope with you."

... & a couple of tree branches. Hard to find in the desert.

Thanks guys on the rope teaching.

 

[LeeRevell]

Climbing rope is a lot like a snatch rope or strap, it has a lot of stretch built in by design.  Stretchy line should not be used for winching.  Winch line is supposed to have minimal stretch.  If a stretchy line breaks under tension, it's gonna go flying and hurt somebody.

Regards
John

Equally true of steel cable.  I have a hole in the back door of my now-defunct Dodge Ramcharger to prove that!  You do not want to be close to ANY line that snaps!

 

[cdiggy]

Climbing rope is a lot like a snatch rope or strap, it has a lot of stretch built in by design.  Stretchy line should not be used for winching.  Winch line is supposed to have minimal stretch.  If a stretchy line breaks under tension, it's gonna go flying and hurt somebody.

Regards
John

Yes, synthetic rope snap back has been well documented, however it is still a good product (not climbing rope being used as it was not intended). Navy uses nylon mooring lines for their ships because they stretch before breaking ( they use 'tattle tails' which is a looser, smaller rope attached to the main line so you have a visual of just how much tension is being applied. Once the tattle tail goes taught the line has reached its safety limits. Pretty cool idea of the navy actually). Using climbing rope is insanity. When it parts it really does damage to whatever is in it's way and in a very big way. All that being said cables and chains are very nearly as dangerous. I had one part pulling out my blazer out the swamp back in the day and it messed my truck up good. I think it is recommended that what ever you use drape blankets or coats over cable/chain/snatch strap so that if it does part those things will absorb a good amount of the stored energy in said cable/chain/strap.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Synthetic winch line - like the Amstell Blue - has no stretch at all.  If it breaks, there is minimal stored energy in it and it usually just drops to the ground.

It's much more expensive than steel cable, but also much safer.  As cdiggy and Lee said, steel cable and chain will also go flying when it let's go under tension.

Regards
John

 

[cdiggy]

Synthetic winch line - like the Amstell Blue - has no stretch at all.  If it breaks, there is minimal stored energy in it and it usually just drops to the ground.

It's much more expensive than steel cable, but also much safer.  As cdiggy and Lee said, steel cable and chain will also go flying when it let's go under tension.

Regards
John

That winch line is awesome. I know guys that use the smaller stuff for their hammocks because they don't stretch. At all. And super tuff. Super light.

 

[karl]

Have seen a similar method used to pull or bind loads- Dad had a name for it that always stuck with me- "Fool Killer"

Might try it out of desperation.....in the meantime I'll still carry my hilift and a come-a-long.

Never heard of synthetic cable- sounds good. I'd love an alternative to stiff, frayed, nasty cable.

 

[cdiggy]

http://www.samsonrope.com/Pages/Product.aspx?ProductID=872

Good stuff and comes in lots of sizes for almost any app.

 

[Almost There]

I hang in my hammock from amsteel - use the smallest size for that!

The stuff is crazy light so no problem carrying and packing a decent length of it for emergency use.

One word of caution - it does  not take to knots well at all. In fact knots degrade the tensile strength immensely. Learning to splice is fun though and with the 12 strand you should be using for winching a van, it would be really easy to splice.

 

[cdiggy]

Yeah, the guys that hammock with it call them 'whoopie slings'. Well worth the price.

 

[Almost There]

So much more fun to make your own though!

And it's not hard, even I learned it in just a couple of hours and no special tools needed either.

Going to have to think on how to set up a length for that winch assembly.

The only thing I question about the emergency winch in the video is how much upper body strength it takes to use each log. As a short, senior, female would I be up to the task if I ever needed to do it or would I be better off walking out to find help if I was sure no one else was going to come along. 

That and would I go further than I should knowing that I have the parts needed to extract myself. I deliberately didn't get 4WD so I didn't have that capability because I know myself all too well...

 

[steveh2112]

what he's doing looks incredibly dangerous if that's a dynamic climbing rope. if it breaks it will whip back like a bungy cord and could take his head off.

i was pulling a tree stump out once with my car, using a rope i had laying around the house, tied to the bumper. when the root popped out of the ground, it came flying through the back window, missed my head by a couple of inches and cracked the windshield from the inside. 2" to the side and i doubt i'd by typing right now.

 

[ccbreder]

OK. I had to go to the video. Sorry, that is not stuck. That is no driving skills.

 

[surfer]

this time no winch used but still self-recovery...

How to get car unstuck from the mud. brilliant trick!
Tie a length, 3'ish, of 2x4 horizontal to a tire with rope through wheel. Slowly drive out.

How to pull your car out of the sand in the desert
Fill about a 5 gal size bag w/ sand. Bury it in front of a stuck front wheel drive or behind a rear wheel drive w/ a tow strap tied around the middle of it apx. 2.5' deep just short of the length of the tow strap you're using. Tie the other end of the tow strap to the drivetrain tire w/ rope through the wheel after sand has been cleared away. Slowly take up slack in tow strap.  2nd person will help by keeping tow strap in line w/ drive train tire till tight. Drive out by wrapping tow strap around tire.

And just for fun or in case you got your tractor stuck...
Tractor stuck in mud ,How to get unstuck

 

[Gary68]

i like this way,start at 2 minutes

 

[surfer]

Oh yea, that's  a good one!