Horror stories/lessons learned

[chris vickery]

Originally Posted by Dparker

should have read the "F" ing manual- I got my M37 stuck up to the axles tried to tow out with 95 Bronco- not even close. decided to draw out 100' of winch cable and looped around base of good size tree- engaged winch and took up the slack and awaited the result of 10,000lbs of winch-then explosive snap! cable completely blows apart in all directions- good thing i was in the cab a buddy was well back ( he must have the sensible gene) im thinking those WWII winches dont have shearpins. tied broken ends of cable together, should have used gloves as metal is very sharp, but this time after being questioned by other survivor put the truck in first gear to help the winch a little and viola truck out of bog. I should read more

Winching can be one of the most dangerous operations done incorrectly. People die or are seriously injured.
Next time throw a chain over the taunt cable, it will act like an arrestor if the cable should snap. Also, shear pins are your friend.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

Winching can be one of the most dangerous operations done incorrectly. People die or are seriously injured.
Next time throw a chain over the taunt cable, it will act like an arrestor if the cable should snap. Also, shear pins are your friend.

Chain will work....we were taught to put your coat on the cable, as it would also slow down the cable.

Back on the vehicle tech course, both the TQ3 and the TQ5, winching and recovery was a fair bit of time. We would learn the formulas and the methods, and do the calculations. Then we would go back to our units and just about hook everything up one to one. But the lessons of sling loads, line loads, anchors, etc, has always come in handy.

[Phil Waterman]

Don't use Cheap tow cables and don't jerk the load. You may not break the cable but look what my 10,000lb Pattern 13 did to a tow cable pulling a 4,000lb Jeep out of a snow drift.

Hook was through a correct size shackle it straighten out struck the rear door of the radio box. The cable hit flat with enough force to leave an imprint.

To add insult to injury the Jeep was still stuck.

Cheers Phil

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Don't use Cheap tow cables and don't jerk the load. You may not break the cable but look what my 10,000lb Pattern 13 did to a tow cable pulling a 4,000lb Jeep out of a snow drift.

Hook was through a correct size shackle it straighten out struck the rear door of the radio box. The cable hit flat with enough force to leave an imprint.

To add insult to injury the Jeep was still stuck.

Cheers Phil

Cable recoil has a lot of force. I was snigging washed out trees after a flood when one tree dug into the bank and the winch tried to stand the tree up. When the 1.1/4" S hook snapped 100' of 1" cable instantly hit the cable catcher on the back of thr tractor and moved the tractor 6" forward. Without the cable catcher I would have been minced meet.

[listerdiesel]

When you are winching, a lot of stress is placed on all of the components involved.

Check that the eye you are hooking on to is good and able to withstand the loads you are about to impose on it.

At an engine museum meet I was watching a guy loading a Blackstone horizontal engine up some fairly steep ramps when the winch exploded and the engine went backwards rather quickly.

Items falling off ramps are uncontrolled and dangerous, unless you have a very good reason to be there, stay away from ramps when loading/unloading is going on!

We have fitted both our engine trolley drawbars with tow hitches, and a Front Towbar on the Land Rover Discovery, that has eliminated most of the danger points now, we can tow the engines out of the trailer in low box and in complete control.

Regarding batteries and sparks, it is a mixture of Oxygen and Hydrogen that is given off by charging batteries, caused by breakdown of the water in the electrolyte. You shouldn't be gassing the batteries that much in the first place, but I've had an unlucky spark cause the same thing on a battery that had been off charge for some time, but the vent plugs weren't put back in....

Peter

[RHClarke]

Easy outs. Never, ever use them when there is the slightest chance that they will snap off when under load.

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's a quick hint. Before kicking the winch into gear, make sure the word China isn't on any of the components!!

[RichardT10829]

Originally Posted by RHClarke

Easy outs. Never, ever use them when there is the slightest chance that they will snap off when under load.

its not the end of the world... i had to extract two easy-outs out of my block. the trick is to get them glowing hot, then keep them hot for as long as you can (and cool as slow as you can)...... it makes them soft as claggy toffee, then a drill makes short work of them