difficult situations

beaul · Veteran Member

difficult situations

sandgrooper1 · Senior Member

Hi Beaul,

For me chains are too limited in Australia unless you spend a lot of time in the snow so therefore a winch every day of the week if I had to chose.

Cheers AL

Whenarewethere · Guru

Depends what surface you are on. Letting down tyres works on a lot of surfaces.

dogbox · Guru

lot of effort put chains on an off

Meredith · Senior Member

What kind of surfaces are you talking about? For many places in Australia letting down the tyres will be enough, next most useful after that I would say is a pair of Treds or similar and then after that a shovel. Winch relies on you having something to winch off.

elliemike · Guru

I the 4x4 club I was in, I often asked members who had winches fitted, how often they used them.

Some had never used it.

Some very rarely.

One used the winch "so rarely" that when he did press the button it would not work. (lack of maintenance and seized)

It was club policy that Snatch Straps and Winches were the last things to use in recovery.

Tyre Pressure, Shovel, Max tracks. These latter methods always worked on trips I went on.

Travelling in areas where ice and snow can be a Hazard, E.g. Alpine, National Parks chains might be compulsory before they let you in.

Whenarewethere · Guru

I have sand tracks, never used them, but I would have been more cautious if I didn't have them, & some ARB straps.

Get a decent compressor so you can pump up the tyres quickly, & dust off the car!

Possum3 · Guru

Waste of money fitting a winch to a vehicle; Too heavy, only works one direction, cannot be taken off and used to "salvage" another vehicle. Tirfor Winch - T516 Hand Operated Tirfor machines are level operated hoists using a separate wire rope. Single-person operated, using a telescopic operating handle, they can work in any position and over any height of lifts.

Mike Harding · Guru

Tirfor winch with a plasma rope extension, snatch block, shackles and a tree protector.

Whenarewethere · Guru

I have a 1 tonne overhead chain hand hoist. It takes forever to lift anything. Also take turns with others, it's exhausting if one's arms are not like tree trunks!

The gearing on a 2 or 4 tonne winch will take forever to move anything, but then anything is better than nothing!

yobarr · Guru

Possum3 wrote:
Waste of money fitting a winch to a vehicle; Too heavy, only works one direction, cannot be taken off and used to "salvage" another vehicle. Tirfor Winch - T516 Hand Operated Tirfor machines are level operated hoists using a separate wire rope. Single-person operated, using a telescopic operating handle, they can work in any position and over any height of lifts.

Hi Possum.....If I'd known you had any use for a Tirfor,it may have saved me a recent trip to the tip.... I couldn't even give the damned thing away! Heavy,slow and a pain to carry in the car,as opposed to a winch on the front bar.And a front-mounted winch can indeed be used to pull a car backwards in the right circumstances.But I still love my Maxx Traxx,and,to a lesser extent,my shovel! Cheers

Whenarewethere · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
Tirfor winch with a plasma rope extension, snatch block, shackles and a tree protector.

& Dampers to minimise decapitation!

Whenarewethere · Guru

I never seen these but maybe an option. A rope ladder which winds up on the wheels.

https://www.bogout.com

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Tyre chains and winches do quite different jobs.
Chains are for longer distances where traction is low, but the soft material is relatively shallow, like snow or ice on a road or a muddy road. They will however do considerable damage to a muddy road so their use should be carefully considered.
We dont generally carry chains, but they are essential in snow country and are often mandatory to have in some areas.
Most bogging can be overcome with low tyre pressures, especially if you recognise the deteriorating situation early enough and dont just charge on until you are bogged to the floor pan.
We dont carry sand mats. They have become a popular addition to display just over the past decade or so, picked up from Europeans who like to look as if they have just crossed the Sahara. They can be useful, but only if you stuff up and dont let your tyres down early enough.
Waste of money fitting a winch to a vehicle; Too heavy, only works one direction, cannot be taken off and used to "salvage" another vehicle.
Well, that depends.
It is true that they will not get used very often, but a winch can do things that can not be done any other way, particularly if you travel alone.
We have a large one befitting a heavier vehicle. We have also had and used a Turfor for many years, and whilst they are very versatile, their pull power is very limited and they are VERY hard work (and not exactly light to carry either).
Our winch on the other hand can be mounted at the front of the vehicle or at the rear or attached remotely and used with a power extension cord. In theory we could right the vehicle with it if it fell onto its side.

07-10-19 to 23 009E.jpg

EDIT... and by the way, winches do work in both directions.

And yes, I gave my Turfor away too and I was glad to see it go.

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Monday 17th of February 2020 09:42:55 PM

Mobi Condo · Guru

Had a winch on the 80 series for 21 years. Rescued 3 others on Googs track deep dry sand, got ourselves out of two mud bogs in 2009 by separating vehicle and van and placing vehicle on firmer ground to winch van out (one stretch of 200 meters took three separate repositions and long pulls with winch cable, extension strap and drag chain to get enough length.) Other than that we carried a heap of weight around just in case! Now with a different tug I am wondering about the "Ladder Style" wheel wrap "Bog Out" option. Needing an anchor point may be the big problem here!
South African equals to what we do have a better idea of better driving skills in the 1st instance and thus avoid problems.
Cheers - Ian

Cupie · Guru

I have only had limited experience in recovery situations but will throw in my 2 bobs worth.

Way back when as a member of the CMF Field Artillery we used to practice dragging guns out of muddy gun pits with Turfor winches. What a PITA they were. Thankfully we had lots of grunts to take turns at operating the bloody things. I'm certain that I couldn't use one these days. Even winding up a mechanical bottle jack leaves me puffed.

On a trip along the north side of the Darling from Louth to Wilcannia in a FE Holden (with Wife & my Mother) we ran into a super wet section about 50k from Wilcannia. Couldn't get through without any recovery gear but my brother had thrown a sugar bag with a set of chains into the boot! They got us through easy peasy. It was shallow mud with a few inches of water in around 100 yard sections (pre decimal days! LOL). Without the chains we couldn't get traction & just slid about the place. With chains we just drove straight through. Wifey & Mum thought that I was very clever & I just pretended that it was just another day for me. Had never used chains before.

These days I don't do dirt or sand but if I were to, I would follow the previous posters advice & concentrate on tyre pressure and perhaps carry a set of those plastic track thingos and a long handled shovel. No turfors or winches for me.

dieseltojo · Senior Member

I went from Walhalla once in a little Nissan ute.

It was cold but no snow. In a small section going through Aberfeldy township is a hill that is bitumen sealed. Imagine that you a stuck on black ice and the car simply can't get a grip???

No winch is any use at all then folks. As mentioned the two things are for differing problems. I was very happy to have my light snow chains and went ahead no problems. The black bitumen gets the black ice and the gravel did not.

I have a winch on the Toyota these days and though seldom used, when needed, it was a real life saver. Al depend on what you do I suppose. smile

Mike Harding · Guru

dieseltojo wrote:
It was cold but no snow. In a small section going through Aberfeldy township is a hill that is bitumen sealed. Imagine that you a stuck on black ice and the car simply can't get a grip???

A bag of rock salt would have solved your problem.

dieseltojo · Senior Member

He he, I'm on the road at 6 am to go deer hunting and in a town with 3 homes. Yep I will just go and knock on the doors and ask for rock salt?......Now why didn't I think of that??? smile