Mitch Hitch as a recovery point

[WhiteD3]

Those in the know,

These days I'm driving a company car in the form of a D4 SDV6 complete with a Mitch Hitch. I don't tow anything and don't plan to. I do plan to do some off-road trips in the near future with a Fraser trip coming up soon.

Question is; can I use the hitch with the pin fitted as a snatch/recovery point or should I remove the hitch altogether?

Cheers.

[Ashes]

The hitch should be fine with a recovery pin/shackle. Bolting the hitch in again after removing it is a fiddly job and I'd only do it if you plan to permanently remove it.

[BMKal]

You can use the Mitch Hitch and pin, but I prefer one of these for better strength.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/08/828.jpg https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/08/829.jpg

Will fit into any Hayman Reece style tongue carrier and spreads the load more evenly on the pin in the hitch.

About the only hitch that I would not use one of these on is the original Land Rover tow hitch on either the D3 or D4 - but if you are still running the original Land Rover tow hitch (as I am) - you have the original recovery point between the electrical plugs on the rear anyway, so there is no requirement to use the tow hitch for recoveries.

[AnD3rew]

Yes agree as above, the Mitch hitch is bolted through the original recovery point so should be fine, I also prefer to use the slide in recovery shackle, but I have used the hitch with the pin though the snatch strap.

[Geedublya]

Mitchell bros say not to use their hitch for recovery. I would think it would be fine for pulling but snatching would load the bolt and bush beyond specification.
This is one of the reasons why i haven't put the Mitch hitch on my D4.

[shanegtr]

most likely I would assume it would be more due to litigation issues. Im sure if you dug into it the like of hayman reese would probably recommend the same

[AnD3rew]

I get what you are saying, but if the hitch is rated to pull a 3.5 ton trailer which would involve having to withstand much higher shock loads as well then it should be fine to use for recovery. If it can't do that then it's probably not safe for use for towing to the Land Rover limit either.

[strydes]

Those in the know,

These days I'm driving a company car in the form of a D4 SDV6 complete with a Mitch Hitch. I don't tow anything and don't plan to. I do plan to do some off-road trips in the near future with a Fraser trip coming up soon.

Question is; can I use the hitch with the pin fitted as a snatch/recovery point or should I remove the hitch altogether?

Cheers.

Or feel free to sell me your Mitch Hitch and then you can use the factory recovery eye! :angel:

I'm currently on the wait list, they're saying approx another month for the next batch. The copy version is available and a little cheaper but I'd prefer to stick with the original.

[PhilipA]

I have had my Mitch Hitch ball completely stripped by a cretin in Kununurra, as the towbar on their truck had a protrusion on the top of the tow tongue which prevented the socket to completely fit onto the ball.
The ball is stainless so seems to not have the same strength as steel would.

This held me up in Kununurra for a week so that a new ball could be freighted there. Needless to say I now carry a spare.

So I definitely would NOT recover from a Mitch Hitch ball.
Regards Philip A

[AnD3rew]

I have had my Mitch Hitch ball completely stripped by a cretin in Kununurra, as the towbar on their truck had a protrusion on the top of the tow tongue which prevented the socket to completely fit onto the ball.
The ball is stainless so seems to not have the same strength as steel would.

This held me up in Kununurra for a week so that a new ball could be freighted there. Needless to say I now carry a spare.

So I definitely would NOT recover from a Mitch Hitch ball.
Regards Philip A


You should never recover from ANY ball EVER.

If you do choose to recover with the Mitch Hitch, you need to slide the tow hitch and ball out of the receiver and then either slide in a recovery bar with shackle as pictured above or put your strap eye inside the receiver and put the pin through the eye.

[BobD]

I tried to recover my son in law's 80 series in Esperance when the back end was half buried in a flowing creek on the beach. I used the pin through the snatch strap method on my Mitch Hitch. I broke the 12000kg snatch strap and bent the hitch pin slightly while nearly going through the windscreen in the D4 (figuratively speaking, I had my seat belt on). No damage to the Mitch Hitch or the car, however.

I wouldn't normally use so much force but we were desperate as it was getting dark and the tide was coming in. The 80 didn't budge and wound up staying there over night with sea water about 1m deep through the back of the car. He ended up getting pulled out at great cost by a local farmer's telehandler the next day.

I also reiterate, never never never use a tow ball to recover anything. I don't even like using just the pin as we did, in case it manages to fly through the air. However, the fact that it carried enough force to break the snatch strap in extreme conditions shows that this is a reasonably safe recovery point.

[WhiteD3]

I will be buying a recovery hitch me thinks. Sounds like the sensible thing to do.

[Tombie]

I have had my Mitch Hitch ball completely stripped by a cretin in Kununurra, as the towbar on their truck had a protrusion on the top of the tow tongue which prevented the socket to completely fit onto the ball.
The ball is stainless so seems to not have the same strength as steel would.

This held me up in Kununurra for a week so that a new ball could be freighted there. Needless to say I now carry a spare.

So I definitely would NOT recover from a Mitch Hitch ball.
Regards Philip A

You got a tow ball from Mitch Hitch? What? We are talking about the Tow hitch, not the ball..

You could of just purchased any tow ball to fit to the tongue :cool:

Hope you don't mean you performed a recovery from the ball, and that you attached a trailer to the hitch and towed it out...

[PhilipA]

You got a tow ball from Mitch Hitch? What?
Sorry my bad.
I was referring to a Mc Hitch not a Mitch Hitch .
They will name these things similarly.
Regards Philip A

[Tombie]

I know right :)

Land Cruiser. Land Rover :D

[TerryO]

I have recovered vehicles on several occassions with the Mitch Hitch and it has not shown any signs of damaging the neoprene bush or bolt that runs through it.