Any thoughts on the pintle hook

**THE BOOGER** · 7th May 2013, 08:14 PM

The s111 has some very good recovery points( the army ones) I have attached 8 ton shackles on all 4 and the d1 has recovery points in the bull bar and a recovery hitch receiver to replace the tow ball

If there are no trees I winch of the other car that would have snatched me

**101 Ron** · 7th May 2013, 08:16 PM

My view is this.
Snatch straps produce uncontrolled loads thoughout the recovery equiptment including vehicles.
Snatch strap use and the forces involved are very much up to the operator of the vehicle towing the dead/ stuck vehicle.
Snatch straps are good for light pulls, but if used for harder jobs, anything can happen........or may not happen.
If using a winch, the forces and loads are usually easily known and the equiptment used can be matched to the job.
The military world wide for years have used pintle hooks for winching anchor points and dragging vehicles around with chains and cables without much trouble.( but not for snatch recoveries)
If I had to do a difficult snatch recovery I would tend to use nothing but the snatch strap and other nylon type slings without shackels around the strongest parts of the 2 vehicles involved................that way there is minimal risk of damage and injury if something lets go.

**THE BOOGER** · 7th May 2013, 08:25 PM

Back to the OP, ron the pintle in your first pic did you make it or can the be bought like that the only ones I have found are much longer and way over priced I need one for the disco?

**101 Ron** · 7th May 2013, 08:47 PM

I think It was home made more that 17 years ago ( I dont know its true history)
It seems to be just butt welded plate to which the pintle from a series three pintle is bolted to.
I have extensively used it for more than 10 years and put some silly loads on it without trouble.
I every now and then visually check the welds and hook and repaint it.
The only wear in that time has been a slighly enlongation of the pin hole for the hayman recee side of it.
I found the pintle hook it self will soak in a bit of light oil and I just give it two drops of engine oil before along trip and there has been no wear of the pintle or my trailer lunettes.
(Some of the trailers I use have more than 140 kg dragbar weight )

I do have a solid steel bar which I milled to shape( Hayman recee) to make another one if I ever find time to weld it up.........the idea is the solid steel bar allows a strong method of attachment and welding.

**Mick_Marsh** · 7th May 2013, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by Bush65

I always get a kick out of the many statements I read like that.

No offense meant to Mick, for it is repeated over and over on forums, etc.

Who honestly believes the many recovery points people buy are actually rated properly? If so to what standard and method? And by what approved testing laboratory?

Just like other recovery options, there are different pintle hooks. There are some poor versions, but I would rate the one I have, greater than many other recovery points I've seen.

And to the OP, yeas the rear cross member should be strengthened to suit the pintle hook.

When you look at your pintle, I don't know what you see. When I look at mine, I see it is bolted on to some rather thin looking material that makes up the chassis with rather spindly looking bolts. I'm amazed at what they could tow. 3.5t apparently.
The pintle itself (parts of it are made from hollow bits) is on a rotating shaft the mechanicals of which are hidden.
Now, I understand it will probably tow 3.5t. The acceleration will be quite low. The forces will be well below design parameters.
Aliens D2, loaded with touring gear, comes in a little over 3.0t. Should I require to snatch him out of some sand for example (highly unlikely), the force on my pintle would be so much more than towing a 3.0t trailer because the acceleration (or deceleration in this case) is so much higher. As you no doubt know force = mass x acceleration and is really not something generated by Midi-chlorians.
What is the breaking strain of a snatch strap? I've seen many videos of snatch straps breaking and even witnessed one breaking in real life.
With a rated recovery point, you know it will hold up to that force. Now, I'm not suggesting that if you use the pintle you will get a pintle where your brain should be. I would suggest, however, you may be damaging it. You may only become aware of this damage when one day you are overtaken by your trailer.

As I said, I know nothing, I have, however, learnt from the experience of someone who was overtaken by their trailer.

Thread: Any thoughts on the pintle hook

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