Overkill? (Snatch Block)

[Sweet5ltr]

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product ... ?a=2079018

10-ton for $87. Good choice for the PW? Wanting a 6-8 ton WLL that's American made, tough to find them. It's between this and the run-of-the-mill 6-ton yarding/snatch blocks from China that cost $60 (that Warn sells for $170). This is a beast at 60lbs vs. 15-20# for a true 6-ton WLL (I know SG is only saying 30lb), I'm guessing it was originally made for 5-tons and it's 20k winch, as the safety factor should be at least 40k. I'm laughing inside looking at the eBay/Amazon '10-ton' snatch blocks for $30 that weigh 7-lbs. Want the best recovery gear for the price.

Good idea for the price or am I crazy for considering it?

[KevinABQ]

http://www.chipsonsale.com/3940-00-105- ... -1ABL.html

It's a 10 ton WLL snatch block. Looks good.

[Colibri]

Do it, that’s a great price for American made recovery gear. 20k pounds is easy to reach with a double line pull, that’s not overkill

[Low_Sky]

See if they have any surplus military trailers to haul it in.

ARB9000s aren't too much more expensive and are way smaller, way lighter. There's a strong chance you might actually have them with you if you need them. Notice I'm saying them "them". I carry two, contemplating getting a third. As little as I could imagine carrying one of those 10T monsters, I could imagine carrying two even less.

[Colibri]

I won’t be carrying one in my wagon, but I think I might buy a couple for the m35a2, so thanks for posting this.

Interesting that this and the arb 9000 are both rated 10 ton wll. Pretty sure I know which is stronger lol.

[Low_Sky]

I won’t be carrying one in my wagon, but I think I might buy a couple for the m35a2, so thanks for posting this.

Interesting that this and the arb 9000 are both rated 10 ton wll. Pretty sure I know which is stronger lol.

Well, one of them is rated for lifting.

[Colibri]

I won’t be carrying one in my wagon, but I think I might buy a couple for the m35a2, so thanks for posting this.

Interesting that this and the arb 9000 are both rated 10 ton wll. Pretty sure I know which is stronger lol.

Well, one of them is rated for lifting.

That’s the thing, legit towing/rigging gear has to meet stringent national/international standards. Offroad recovery gear does not. That’s a pet peeve of mine really. I feel that using under rated gear is dangerous.

That being said, I suspect you know more about it than I do. I’ve had no training or work experience in towing and rigging, I just don’t like all the ambiguity in how different companies rate their recovery equipment.

I use Masterpull snatch blocks that are rated about the same as the big guy and the arb, but are a fraction of the weight and size. I’ve never had an issue with them but in a double or triple line pull I could see them getting stressed way past their design safety factor, whereas I doubt it would be a problem for the big guy.

[Sweet5ltr]

This snatch block was used for the 5-ton (m39 series) 20k winch, which the vehicle itself is 20,000 +/- lbs if that means anything. It's built by Ulven Machinery, probably cost the government quite a bit originally. These are in desert tan, so I'm guessing, a bit newer production (maybe desert storm era).

It's only rated at 10-ton WLL but I'm sure that it's underrated for mil use (or rated correctly by stringent standards). Can't believe WARN is selling the identical 6-ton WLL Chinese snatch blocks for over triple the cost of everywhere else, can't be that hard to have a USA manufacture build something they can turn a profit on when they're unloading them at $170/ea. Even the Epic series is Chinese made, see a lot of guys posting about how poor the casting quality is in comparison to the marketing pictures. If they can't even get the casting right with the Warn logo, why would I trust my life to it.

ARB9000 is made in Taiwan! Is there anything made in the USA that's even close to this price?

[Colibri]

Just picked up 2 of them for the deuce and a half, thanks again for posting this!

Edit- I only got one, the last one apparently. They’re now sold out.

[KevinABQ]

I bought the 27,000 pound WLL (iirc) in the clearance section of masterpull. 54k min breaking load for $150 iirc. I wanted 15 ton rigging snatch blocks, but they start at $500.

[Sweet5ltr]

Just picked up 2 of them for the deuce and a half, thanks again for posting this!

Edit- I only got one, the last one apparently. They’re now sold out.

Guess I'll be going with ARB or MP! I love the Sportsmans Guide, can't beat the 4-pay system.

[Sweet5ltr]

http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Ultra-Lite- ... P3582.aspx

ARB 9000 looks like my best option, 38.5k breaking strength and only 5lb. $100.

[DamageWagon]

Can you find anything from Crosby or Columbus-McKinnen? My CM stuff is obviously better than my Crosby stuff and my Crosby stuff is obviously better than my ARB stuff. ARB is ok but it’s all Taiwanese made. The CM stuff is made with nice materials, if I remember right it’s all made in USA and I think it was even cheaper than ARB or comparable

[KevinABQ]

CM shackles are much better and similar or cheaper than off-road trash. Don't own any Crosby ones myself, but they are a bit more than CM IIRC.

Not their snatch blocks. For example, a nice 15 ton Crosby snatch block - $2,820.00 CM doesn't seem to make snatch blocks at all.

Poke around amazon, they have a "snatch rigging blocks" category. Sticking to rigging manufacturers - 2 ton WLL is around $150, 4 ton is $250+, 8 ton is $420+ (most $600+), 12 ton starts at $863, 15 ton starts at $1,043.94.

So you either need a good surplus deal, a lot of money or you buy off-road snatch blocks and hope for the best.

[Low_Sky]

The thing to remember about WLL ratings is that they’re 5x the breaking strength of the block. That high safety factor is for overhead lifting, where a failed rigging component might mean loss of life or catastrophic property damage. If something breaks, gravity takes over and there’s nothing you can do about it. Better hope nobody is under/around the load.

Horizontal pulling for off-road recovery just doesn’t have as much as stake. Yes it can be dangerous, yes you can break things, but a lower safety factor is appropriate. Risks from a failed rigging component can be mitigated. Use winch line blankets, keep bystanders clear, winch with the hood up, etc.

[continuecrushing]

I picked up a tuff stuff 10 ton off amazon for $35, haven't tested it yet though. Not made in the USA though.

Course this is a lot smaller than the original one you posted, but they claim they've had it up to 15t

[Sweet5ltr]

Don't think I would ever trust my life to a $30 snatch block!

Probably going to go with ARB. Well documented and proven to work

[verdesardog]

I got one of those $35.00 snatch blocks, that makes three blocks in my truck all the time. I like it a lot. It's the smallest of the three, I like the locking nut instead of snap ring. It's got a lubable bronze bushing. I did have to pry up a locking tab on the nut as a previous poster mentioned. Now i can do self reverse winch out if necessary. And if I could find anchors LOL

[Sweet5ltr]

Snatch block is one of the pieces of gear I don't want to get wrong. Can understand going bargain basement price shopping if it was for a 2-ton Toyota, not a 3.5-ton PW.

Now I'm off to recovery boards, going with the x-bull/boar offroad. Pretty much a direct rip off of the two originators, Treds & Maxtrax. Heard a lot of good feedback, don't feel I'll get my moneys worth spending 4x as much for the Maxtrax. Would rather save money with these than the snatch block!

[TankerZak]

Couple thoughts. Weight your truck. I really really doubt your at 3.5 tons. I'm at 8530 with standard gear. The winch is either 12k or 15k depending on who you believe. With any kinda stuck factor your snatch block should at least double rate what your winch can pull because of how forces get multiplied at the snatchblock. So first snatchblock should be 24k(ish) and 2nd snatch block should be 36k (ish). I have a Warn 24k and a Warn Epic 18T. Others certified for overhead lifting have better saftey factors but you still need the snatchblock, the tress saver, and the hard shackle or soft shackle connecting the two to withstand that multiplied force. (Tree saver WLL can be less because its in basket configutation which doubles the WLL).

[Low_Sky]

So first snatchblock should be 24k(ish) and 2nd snatch block should be 36k (ish).

I'm not sure I follow your logic on this. Maybe a diagram would make it a little clearer.

[KevinABQ]

With a system of blocks in place you pull a lot more than the winch is rated for. But the blocks need to hold that force.

See the second example here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_and_tackle

The winch is pulling 25 but the block is holding 100. If the block breaks at 48 it’s going to be bad.

In general you won’t do that as you won’t have the multiple pulleys in a single block like a crane has, but there are examples like that further into the article. The anchors and the straps and connected need to strong enough. Particularly as you will probably manage to do at least a little shock loading as the vehicle moves. And shock loads can be stupidly high, so avoid them if at all possible.

[13powerwagon]

No need for a 36000 pound snatch block unless you like the added safety factor, none of the pulleys will be loaded to 36000 pounds individually. I attached a sketch, I’m no artist but it should give you an idea of the loads.

[Low_Sky]

Mechanical engineer, winch a lot. Can't think of a single recovery I'd ever rig where I'd need a block rated for triple my winch rating.

[Sweet5ltr]

I like the safety factor. With no true guidelines in place for how manufacturers rate these blocks, seems logical to go with what’s worked for the past few decades.