Recovery that didnt go as planned, lessons to be learned....

[El Pablo]

Stupid hurts. They didn’t talk, they left a passenger in the vehicle, didn’t use the passenger side recovery point so if it did break…. used soft shackles incorrectly, used cheap unknown soft shackle off Amazon, went too hard, didn’t access the situation again after the first pull…

Props for the full disclosure for everyone to learn off of.


Do people not put heavy bags on kinetic ropes in case it breaks? Not been in this game a long time. I used to see them used on snatch straps.

 

[wolfman1]

I use a 16' steel chain, and old one from when steel was still made in the US, not the cheap tin foil Chinee crap you get today.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Too bad they used a Bronco to do a Jeep’s job.

? Tow ropes never break with Jeeps, Jeeps never get stuck, and Windshields never shatter? Jeeps do get stuck as well. This could've happened with a Jeep, Chevy, Ford and any vehicle. I appreciate the allegiance to Jeeps, but it is the driver, the equipment and the experience level that makes the difference. Too bad he wasn't driving a snow cat or snow mobile.

 

[Glocktogo]

Fortunately I don't have to do a lot of recovery work, but having recovery capable equipment has caused me to do some learning on it, just in case.

Tow straps, tow ropes/cables and kinetic ropes are not the same thing, nor are they interchangeable.

Breaking Strength and Working Load Limit are not the same thing, nor are they interchangeable.

Hard shackles and soft shackles are not the same thing, nor are they interchangeable.

Always use less than the recommended max limit if you want to avoid failure.

Assume it's going to fail if it's under pressure, and always use a recovery damper, even if it's just an old moving blanket or floor mat.

Assume it's going to fail if it's under pressure and stay out of the path a cable or rope may take if it snaps to the greatest extent possible.

 

[Johnny]

I have seen this video pop up several places and I assumed that there was a piece of steel attached to the end of that kinetic rope.

I would not have thought it would have done that on its own.

Yanking on it hard enough to destroy the recovery point on the bronco is the worst part of the deal.

But there were several mistakes stacking up to create a disaster.

 

[mouthpiece]

How did we use chains for 20 years and never die?

 

[Okie4570]

How did we use chains for 20 years and never die?

40yo guy died just this last year near Enid when pulling a sprayer that was stuck in the mud with tractors. Chain broke, came swinging back and died almost instantly.

 

[mouthpiece]

I don't understand that. We pulled 20,000-70,000 pound dump trucks with chain(sometime 2-3 at a time) for years and broke many chain and I've never seen a chain recoil.

 

[Okie4570]

I don't understand that. We pulled 20,000-70,000 pound dump trucks with chain(sometime 2-3 at a time) for years and broke many chain and I've never seen a chain recoil.

I've seen cable recoil but not a chain. One of my OHP friends was pulling a stuck tractor out with his FIL's tractor when the chain broke and came through the back glass out out the front. If he would have been looking over his left shoulder rather than his right it would have killed him. Just barely missed his head.

 

[StLPro2A]

Not me fortunately and that guy was almost a statistic.

View attachment 459571

That's how to use a kinetic rope, it just exceeded the capabilities of the parts in use, combined with the attachment. Why they just didn't use the winch I have no idea.

We use a 30' 200k LB jerk straps on the farm. That tractor is going about 18mph when it hits the end. If it's not out in 3 pulls, we call for a dozer.

View attachment 459654

How does one get a stuck dozer unstuck? Get a BIGGER dozer..... Trust me, learned first hand on a 62,500lb big boy. There aren't that many bigger dozers in the county.