Power Wagon Registry

NovA ProspekT wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:56 am

A word of caution, NEVER use anything metal(shackle, hook, etc.) to connect winch line/rope together.

coder wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:40 pm

NovA ProspekT wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:56 am

A word of caution, NEVER use anything metal(shackle, hook, etc.) to connect winch line/rope together.

What are you supposed to use then? If you use a damper or two not sure why this is a problem please advise.

Low_Sky wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:48 am

coder wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:40 pm

NovA ProspekT wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:56 am

A word of caution, NEVER use anything metal(shackle, hook, etc.) to connect winch line/rope together.

What are you supposed to use then? If you use a damper or two not sure why this is a problem please advise.

Zip ties ‘n’ duct tape.

Or soft shackles. Or loop the eyes together with a wood dowel, rolled up magazine or newspaper stuck through. I wouldn’t say “never”, but a screw pin shackle wouldn’t be my first choice to join two ropes because of the likelihood of loading the shackle sideways.

NovA ProspekT wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:50 pm

Suppose you are extracting a stuck vehicle and the conditions require the length of two straps, they are joined together in the middle by a steel shackle. Should one of the straps fail while under tension, that heavy metal shackle is now flying through the air in the opposite direction of the broken strap, constrained only by the length of that strap. The concern isn't so much that the shackle itself will fail. It's much the same reason why a steel winch line should never be run with out a weighted damper. Now, I suppose that if you have no other choice but to join straps with a metal shackle, you'd be fine with a weighted damper over it, but it's still a bad-habit to get into. I personally have several of the GatorJaw synthetic shackles, which have many other uses as well.


Here's a good PDF on the subject: How to Join Recovery Straps

...and another: BillaVista's Recovery Bible

Bill2014 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:52 pm

No doubt winching has the potential to be dangerous. How many people die each year by getting hit with a failed projectile shackle? I searched around for a while and couldn't find any. But I do believe it could and does happen. Looks like cable breaks, strap breaks, chain breaks, and parts breaking free from the recovered items are the most common.

I only use straps with loops that are rated well above the max pulling capacity of any winch or crane I'm using - regardless of how big or small the item is that I'm trying to move. I connect loop straps together by looping them through themselves - you can't break a shackle if you don't ever use them.

As far as the Power Wagon winching goes, the winch itself is the weakest link. I'll continue to use my steel line and hook with the latch - and connect the hook directly to the strap loop(s). Maybe I've just been lucky over the past 50 years

If suddenly I disappear from the forum, you'll know what happened

NovA ProspekT wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:57 pm

Bill2014 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:52 pm

No doubt winching has the potential to be dangerous. How many people die each year by getting hit with a failed projectile shackle? I searched around for a while and couldn't find any. But I do believe it could and does happen. Looks like cable breaks, strap breaks, chain breaks, and parts breaking free from the recovered items are the most common.

I only use straps with loops that are rated well above the max pulling capacity of any winch or crane I'm using - regardless of how big or small the item is that I'm trying to move. I connect loop straps together by looping them through themselves - you can't break a shackle if you don't ever use them.

As far as the Power Wagon winching goes, the winch itself is the weakest link. I'll continue to use my steel line and hook with the latch - and connect the hook directly to the strap loop(s). Maybe I've just been lucky over the past 50 years

If suddenly I disappear from the forum, you'll know what happened

Of course, there are risks inherent to everything we do in life. Maybe I'm a Safety Sally, but I believe in doing everything possible to stack the deck in your favor. Using proper equipment, that is properly rigged, sure, there shouldn't be an issue, but as a wise-man once said: "shit happens". As you noted above, recovery gear can and has failed.

Alright, so, peep this:

Maybe your buddy's Ferd Craptor is stuck in a pothole in the mall parking lot, it's late at night so visibility is poor, that massive vape cloud isn't helping either. You don't want to get your truck too close to his for fear of catching AIDS, so you decide to attach your strap to your buddies with a properly rated steel shackle. You still haven't realized that your buddy has a history of poor judgement; his budget-brand strap has been sitting exposed to the elements in the back of his "truck" for years now. "Good to go" you think, before putting the Almighty Power Wagon in gear and unleashing all four hundred and ten horsepower. The strap is pulled taught, before failing(like his truck), sending that beefy steel shackle back towards his "truck" where it skips off of the aluminum hood(causing $10,000 worth of dents) and through the windshield. The shackle barely misses your buddies head, but not before ruining his favorite pair of Oakley's and effecticely totaling his "truck'.

nts007 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:54 pm

And I've had 2 ford tow hooks break off when winching them.

nts007 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:54 pm

And I've had 2 ford tow hooks break off when winching them.

adeluca73 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:27 pm

Suggest tagging and bookmarking the Army Manual on rigging and winching linked below---I'll spare the pedantic resuscitation of force calcs, but suffice it to say, there's math to be done if you're concerned about breaking strengths.

Army Manual FM 5-125