Winching Question

[bstefanic]

I personally would never winch in park...in neutral the worse thing that's going to happen is you put a little stress on the brakes. If you're dragging the truck across the ground...it's time to rethink your strategy. In park, the parking brake is only on one wheel...and then if your regular brakes start to slip then all of that tension is on the drive train. I'm assuming no one here would be ok if their truck had to be towed the tow truck driver just dragging it onto the flat bed in park

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[bstefanic]

I thought I read somewhere that the winch was not happy being used pull backward. I may be wrong....wouldn't be the first time.

It can damage the brake on the drum, so I've been warned. I actually foolishly did this a few months back pulling my friends F350 and 5th wheel out of sand by Lake Mead. When I winched I just pulled myself towards him, but I was able to put the truck in reverse and pull him out. It was all a big NO NO in winching for reasons mentioned above.

But I had just bought the truck, didn't have recovery gear with me at the time. My friend and his family were disparate. I wouldn't advise doing this. But it did work in this situation. I was lucky nothing broke.

I'm just thinking out loud here...but as long as the winching vehicle is stationary it shouldn't matter one bit to the winch. But once you start talking about reversing using the vehicles power and winching...holy hell, it's like a Chinese menu...start taking your pick on what will break

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Aaand disregard...need to not skim through so fast...totally agree

[BigRed2007]

IMHO you should chock the tires either way. That way if something does give at least the truck won't roll away....this was my most exciting pull...https://youtu.be/YJqYwSMlBvU https://youtu.be/YJqYwSMlBvU

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[TwinStick]

Amy time that you have the ability to chock the pulling vehicles wheels, you definitely should do it.

Trouble is, you need different types of chocks for different types of surfaces & no one carries them around with them. I had a near catastrophic incident with our camper once & looked into them afterwards. That's when I got discouraged. The ones i wanted were similar to these: https://www.amazon.com/Buyers-Products- ... eel+chocks ... with the teeth for dirt/soft terrain. But $64 each !!! Then there are the rubber ones, and the cheap plastic ones. I ended up making my own from scrap wood & some alum angle. I have used them & they work GREAT. Teeth sink right in & hold well. They are not for winching but i suspect they would work well on soft surfaces, as they do for holding our camper.







I used pressure treated wood and some HDepot 10X deck coating to cover them.

[Rodeoflyer]

I now feel woefully unprepared. $64 buys a lot of Barnes bullets.

[Retired BLM Rig]

Here's the chocks I carry. 12"X8"X8"
The rule for wheel chocks is that they need to be taller than the sidewall of the tire they're holding.
The problem with these, because they're hollow, they can sink into soft ground.
I've had them for about 20 years, so I know they're not made in China.

This is the type of wheel chock tow trucks use for heavy winching. They chain to the rear bumper of the truck, as the truck gets pulled on top of them, they dig in and move with the truck (if it moves at all). The Highway Patrol hates them, because they'll ruin a section of asphalt in nothing flat.

[TwinStick]

Yes, those are the good ones. Hard to find them anymore, ESPECIALLY Made in the USA, for a reasonable price. The good ones are

http://www.awdirect.com/wheel-chocks/

[zak.salhab]

Here's the chocks I carry. 12"X8"X8"
The rule for wheel chocks is that they need to be taller than the sidewall of the tire they're holding.
The problem with these, because they're hollow, they can sink into soft ground.
I've had them for about 20 years, so I know they're not made in China.

IMG_0734.jpg

This is the type of wheel chock tow trucks use for heavy winching. They chain to the rear bumper of the truck, as the truck gets pulled on top of them, they dig in and move with the truck (if it moves at all). The Highway Patrol hates them, because they'll ruin a section of asphalt in nothing flat.

5mgg5_aa01.jpg

Not sure I'd feel safe doing that. Those bumpers aren't that strong. Maybe connect to a bull bar / brush guard off the frame? Am I missing something?

[TwinStick]

What you are missing is this: 95%+, tow trucks are on blacktop or concrete when winching. The tow truck IS the anchor. That is the perfect scenario. And generally, tow trucks are more HD everywhere than a standard pickup. Off-road throws a whole new spin on things, as there are just so many variables. Those hollow ones with teeth would be almost worthless in the mud, unless you dug down to solid ground. But then again, so would mine. Off-road, many times, you are winching yourself out & chocks are not needed. But yes, I have seen tow trucks use those, and even move with the truck. They work and they do wreck the surface when they move with the truck.

[FirerescuePW]

The back end of a wrecker is made for that purpose. They have chain slots cut in to use, as well as hinged d-ring type anchors. Our bumpers, not so much. You would need a purpose-built bumper.

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[zak.salhab]

The back end of a wrecker is made for that purpose. They have chain slots cut in to use, as well as hinged d-ring type anchors. Our bumpers, not so much. You would need a purpose-built bumper.

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Ah, I gotcha. I wonder if a bull bar or brush guard would suffice if it was strong enough and attached to the frame.

[DamageWagon]

I really dislike the cast hollow aluminum chocs. They are what we used on the fire department, and I can tell you firsthand that if you drive over one of them, they tend to grenade. We had two pop at once when a guy in training drove over them and as soon as the truck started to rise over them, they just went *bang* and threw shrapnel. Nothing got hurt but the chocs, but I'm more of a fan of something more serious. If you could buy a set of repurposed-rubber chocs and applied some type of stake to one side, you could use one side on asphalt for driveway repairs and one side off-road for traction.


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[olyelr]

^^^^ Thats a good idea.

[OffroadTreks]

Ah, I gotcha. I wonder if a bull bar or brush guard would suffice if it was strong enough and attached to the frame.

Nope. Both of the things you listed tend to mount to the lower radiator support or worse. They usually tend to be incredibly weak. Very few guards are actually structurally sound. Those are usually the expensive ones. Most are for appearance only and mount with two tabs:

[PWRider]

I have done a fair amount of winching. I know people will say "DO NOT EVER DO THAT", but here is the hardest winch job I have done with my truck.

Trying to winch the bottom of a tree (had about 3' of trunk left on it) back over, roots and all, that the wind blew over. First tried the truck in 4 lo on blacktop, nothing. Then tried 4 lo, lockers locked on blacktop, nothing. Turned around & used winch, nothing. Could not use much cable because of the location of the house, garage, trees, light post, etc. Got out 1 of my snatch blocks, then it dragged truck across blacktop driveway. Hooked back of truck to a tree, tried again. Not enough power in the winch. Got out my 2nd snatch block, re-rigged everything, put my son in the truck & told him to keep it between 2-3000 rpms. Everything started getting REAL tight. There was some creaking & groaning sounds. Son screamed at me, I stopped. He said "DAD, LOOK AT THE TRUCK". So i did, carefully. Truck was about 1-2" off the ground-all 4 tires ! So, I then told my son to get down (keep foot on the gas but lay sideways on the seat). I got back to it & it finally came over. It worked like a champ. Nothing broke. I honestly believe that if I had dual batteries, I would not have to use the snatch blocks at all. I could hear the winch motor changing pitch as load was applied. Since my dual batteries, I have not ever heard my winch motor change pitch like that under load.

Mine is a G56 6-speed manual, so I always winch in "N", parking brake on, but also always try hook the rear to something if I can (depending on how big the job is). Sometimes, even another vehicle.

I've done that too!!! Only my overheat protection kicked in and stopped the winch cold. Here I'm truck hanging in the air and no way to release tension.

[olyelr]

baahahahahahhahaha

[whitey]

I have a tendency to chalk tires, set e brake in park and step on brake if needed and tie off to a tree behind me if needed too. That's more likely to occur with trees. other rigs I go towards snatch strap pulling forward. So far my winch and cable have been pretty strong and I've been impressed (and a little scared). Like Twin Stick I've had a few really hard pulls where the truck is partially off the ground or dug into the ground with truck tied off and 2 or 3 snatch blocks with the winch straining. Only thing not mentioned is to keep the line properly spooled and tight on the drum. It sucks when your cable suddenly repositions on the drum, everything jerks around during a hard pull.

[Ducky's Dad]

Re chocks, it is sometimes possible to pile rocks or logs in front of the tires. Or get out the shovel and move some dirt around. If you carry traction aids (like MaxTrax or sand ladders), you can wedge them under the tires to get some extra bite. Even something like the jack pad for your Hi-Lift can be wedged in front of a tire on soft surfaces. Or mount up your snow chains to give the tires some extra grip.

[TwinStick]

I found these. Look pretty HD. https://www.amazon.com/IRONguard-60-728 ... merReviews

[Retired BLM Rig]

Pull Pal is another option to hold yourself still while you winch someone else out.

[2011TXPowerWagon]

How? You would have to set the pul pal and then flip directions and hook up the rear end to the pul pal and then drive forward to put tension and then start winching. I guess it would technically work but seems like way to much work. Plus pul pal is way to expensive.

[olyelr]

How? You would have to set the pul pal and then flip directions and hook up the rear end to the pul pal and then drive forward to put tension and then start winching. I guess it would technically work but seems like way to much work. Plus pul pal is way to expensive.

Hook it up off the back of truck from the gitgo and if trucks moves enough it will set itself.

They might be expensive, but it can pay for itself the very first time you need it.

[DamageWagon]

A cheaper solution is something we did on the fire department for rescues where we had no good anchors. We had 5 poles, 1"x36" steel rod, with one end pointed like a bullet. We would use 3 in a line or 5 in a V. Pound them in a row online with the direction of pull, at a 15-degree angle about 2 feet apart, then use a piece of thin rope or webbing to attach adjacent poles to each other. Use a piece of pipe, steel, stick or whatever to wind up that rope/webbing for it to act as a windlass. Use the nearest pole as your new anchor in the ground.

That technique is used all the time by heavy rescue teams for some serious rescues. You can even link multiple anchor systems together. The Army Corps of Engineers developed it and it can take a serious load in the ground. If using it in soft ground like sand you can weld flat plates onto the rods and pound them a lot deeper into the ground.


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