Use of recovery equipnent in urban areas.

[Aaron IIA]

As mentioned on a recent thread, I once had to recover a vehicle using my winch in a major metropolitan hospital carpark. What situations have you had to use traditionally offroad recovery equipment in urban environments?

Aaron.

[trout1105]

I am not really Urban But I have used my winch in my backyard removing a big tree stump that had been blown down in a storm.
I chopped all the small stuff off it then cut the trunk into 6-10 foot lengths and scull dragged them into a pile to be burnt.

[workingonit]

Thanks a lot Aaron for starting this thread, now I'll have to post twice.[bawl]

As mentioned on a recent thread (standard intro)...

'Never know when you might need recovery gear in the big city.

I was about to drive home for the day when I heard a grinding noise not far away, in the same parking area. Lady in a Camry had managed to suspend the front of her vehicle on a large concrete sewerage man hole that sat about 300mm proud of the dirt - not going anywhere. From out of the D1 came shackles and tow rope. The Camry came off with no apparent damage. All the workers across the road came out to watch.'

And I thought the thread was going to be about 'densely urbanised...', so we may need a committee to review trouts entry?

[loanrangie]

Got bogged in my parents backyard and had to winch myself out [bighmmm], they are on 5 acres and it was raining and my AT's wouldnt cut it.

[workingonit]

We were going to pushbike over a very rugged track into a distant but well known waterfall, closed to vehicles for the duration of the wet season.

Of course we only had road bikes with skinny tires so we took them around Palmerston to see how they performed on the occasional unpaved road. Went better than expected and returned to the house.

Ah, brilliant idea! We'll go back out with the 4x4 along the same route to odometer the distance traveled on the bikes.

Hit a dirt road. Bit of sheet water ahead. No worries we're in town. Through we...lurch sideways...drivers side of vehicle disappears...water in the cabin...wheels spinning...bogged! Among all the house rooves we can see ours in the middle distance.

Plod back home on foot.

Back we come to the vehicle with Trifor hand winch and cable lashed to the push bikes.

Take up the winch tension, ready to pull it out backwards. Better half in the vehicle ready to ease the clutch out to aid winching backward.

The cables flying through the Trifor. Ah, this is easy, this is great.

Wait on. The vehicles making lots of foam at the tyres, but its not coming out of the bog!?

"You got it in 4x4?" - "yep!". "You letting the clutch out fully?" - "yep!". "OK, we'll try a bit more" - "can't you say 'please!'". What tha...

Back to winching. Crack, crack, crack...

Look behind me to the distant anchor tree and its coming over, more and more on each stroke of the Tirfor! Termites have sabotages the surrounding area so it took a while to find a decent anchor to get out and get home, couple of hours later.

[DiscoMick]

As mentioned in a recent thread, I snatched a guy who was bogged in the car park at the Nambour Showground.

[1nando]

When our 3,5 and 6 toner get bogged on site in soft sand, mud or dirt i go out and snatch em out.
Its funny cause on one occasion the 6 toner was bogged in mud with almost 3 tons worth of material on the back and the 2 blokes on site one of which failed to recover my truck with his Hilux started lauging when they saw my defender. My driver helped me set up the snatch strap and then i put my truck into low range, locked the cetre diff and dragged my truck out across the guys lawn. After recovering my truck the bloked asked "whats in that thing mate?".......i responded a "transit engine mate". I wished them a good day and went back to the office with a big grin.

[workingonit]

A new twist...victimised by recovery gear in the burbs!

When you're out bush with mates you can circle around and keep a wary eye on each other.

But when you're back in town disbursed to your residences you lose that ability to cover your back.

You know it, when you receive a photo of your Land Rover on the receiving end of a taught recovery strap, supposedly having been towed into your drive way by the Toyota at the pull end of the strap.

If you go out and leave your Land Rover at home, put it in a locked garage (with a couple of Rottweilers) so your friends in white fridges (otherwise very determined) can't fake their superior reliability and towing power.

[DiscoMick]

My BIL had an Origin Energy tree-trimming truck get bogged in the front lawn of his house block near Lismore and dragged it out with his tractor.

[trog]

I got stuck in the pub once. I was " recovered " by Mrs Trog dragging me out by my ear !

[Bytemrk]

I reckon this counts as the use of recovery gear in urban areas... (almost.)

Defender with winch , winch extension strap, 2 tree trunk protectors and a bunch of assorted shackles, straps and ropes....

Standing the hoist up in Grey Ghost's shed.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/07/217.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/07/213.jpg

[trout1105]

I reckon this counts as the use of recovery gear in urban areas... (almost.)

Defender with winch , winch extension strap, 2 tree trunk protectors and a bunch of assorted shackles, straps and ropes....

Standing the hoist up in Grey Ghost's shed.

Good "Outside the Box" thinking, A winch can be used for many things (especially on the farm/station) besides recovering incompetent drivers [thumbsupbig][bigwhistle]

[austastar]

Hi
Yup! Tirfor pulls rose bushes well.

Cheers

[trout1105]

I have often used my winch to pull my boat out by pushing the trailer under it then winching it up the beach.
No dramas with getting bogged and No problems with salt water under the truck this way [thumbsupbig]

[DiscoMick]

I once tried to use a snatch strap to pull out a small stump in the front garden, but failed miserably - stump didn't move. Stump 1 - D1 nought. [emoji34]

[trout1105]

I once tried to use a snatch strap to pull out a small stump in the front garden, but failed miserably - stump didn't move. Stump 1 - D1 nought. [emoji34]

If you do a double line pull using your snatch block and a drag chain you get a lot more "Grunt" and the chain lets you get a good grip on the top of the stump. [thumbsupbig]

[jonesfam]

Not really an Urban recovery but
Last year I was leaving Cairns to drive up the Gillies, the bottom of which is thick Rain Forrest. A tree had come down about 3 cars ahead of me.
Being a Friday Afternoon we thought we would be waiting for the council so I grabbed an axe, another bloke some straps & 5 or so of us jumped in & had it cleared in no time & we were on our way.
May have knocked over a couple of sign posts getting the logs off the road. Silly place for a sign anyway.

Jonesfam

[trog]

When removing a selection of palms , I dug as far as possible under the main root ball then firstly tying a slip knot as far under as I could and the other end further up the trunk . As the tension slowly pulled the slip knot tight it severed the remaining roots , then the trunk attached end was taut enough to drag them out. Later transplanted to other gardens.
The d1 attaching point was the tow ball receiver, and a few deadened across the rope in case it broke .

[Bytemrk]

Agreed Trog, a drag chain and low range seems like far more practical gardening tools to me than a spade [bighmmm]

[NavyDiver]

129244
Just did a free retaining wall using most of my recovery kit in the Melbourne Burbs. The quote was $45,000 for others to do it! 'Rocks for free' sign got my attention while out running. The guy who owned them apologised when I asked for them as "only the big ones are left now" and "four guys tried but could not move them".

My brother in law who is a engineer suggested I have about 20 tonnes of rocks in my walls all moved and planted by yours truly with mattock, crowbar, my D3 winch, extension straps an an occasionally overloaded trailer. One of the bigger rocks hooked up via a single snatch block on a tree won and my about 3 tonne D3 was dragging up hill on the tar! A double block rigged to advantage fixed that one. Money saved paid for the driveway[biggrin]

[cripesamighty]

Navydiver, that's simply brilliant!

[BigBlackDog]

I've used the drag chain as a gardening tool a few times, much to my 6 year olds delight:)

strangest one one for me was used my drag chain to pull a Bell 214 helicopter into our hanger with a Deere ride on

Studip me story. At my previous house, had an under house garage as the place was perched on and a super steep block. Need to get my box trailer full of stuff in garage but not enough room to go in forwards, I tried to reverse it in but got hooked up on a timber sleeper and couldn't steer enough to not jack knife. Out came the Tirfor hand winch, dragged said trailer inch by inch up drive and into garage. New house has a great big flat driveway:)

[workingonit]

Shall we change this thread to 'Gardening with recovery gear' and seek a spot on ABC's Gardening Australia?

[trout1105]

A winch can be used for all sorts of things besides recovering other cars.
For example straining up a ringlock fence, Far more accurate that simply pulling the fence up with a tractor/4WD and with far more control as well.
It can also be used to do a paddock kill, All you need is a tree to throw the winch rope over So No need for a front end loader.
In the Bush a winch isn't just there for playing about on the tracks, It can be a very useful tool IF you can think outside the square [thumbsupbig]

[DiscoMick]

I used my winch to help straighten the end of the bullbar on the BIL's 80 series, which he had bent when he clouted a tree while turning.
I know someone who slung his winch rope over a branch and used it to lift a dead goat to hang while being butchered.

[NavyDiver]

I used my winch to help straighten the end of the bullbar on the BIL's 80 series, which he had bent when he clouted a tree while turning.
I know someone who slung his winch rope over a branch and used it to lift a dead goat to hang while being butchered.
That works even better with a 250-350kg deer[biggrin] Goats I can lift solo[thumbsupbig] ( Not in urban areas [biggrin][biggrin][biggrin])

[Saitch]

A winch can be used for all sorts of things besides recovering other cars.
For example straining up a ringlock fence, Far more accurate that simply pulling the fence up with a tractor/4WD and with far more control as well.
It can also be used to do a paddock kill, All you need is a tree to throw the winch rope over So No need for a front end loader.
In the Bush a winch isn't just there for playing about on the tracks, It can be a very useful tool IF you can think outside the square [thumbsupbig]

Trout
The very reasons I have a winch on the 'tilly.
I have a cordless remote good for around 30 metre range and it's very practical to use for retrieving logs out of the scrub here as I can "Steer" the logs with a crowbar whole winching at the same time. A one man operation ( although two is better.)
Using a chain, I would quite often only be able to move a log 3- 5 metres or so with the tractor, reverse, take up the slack, forward another 3-5, reverse etc.
That is a pain in the arse!

As stated, fence straining is a breeze, removing old stumps, although the chain is better, pulling over dead trees and I use it with my boats reef anchor attached to remove excess water lilies from the dam. Can those buggers take a bit of pulling when there's a few hooked onto.

I've used the winch once for a vehicle recovery.

Steve

[Mal]

Centrelink carpark and hospital carpark..... don't park on barkchip gardens

[NavyDiver]

Centrelink carpark and hospital carpark..... don't park on barkchip gardens


Perth Freeways- Sand between the two sides can be a little soft and then some. I have pulled a landcruiser out ute who tried a naughty U turn not too far from the airport near Cloverdale.

Driving a Lada ute at the time- Arrh still recall the look of humiliation of his face[biggrin][biggrin][biggrin]

[RANDLOVER]

I've used a high lift jack with a house frame stud timber wired to the moving jaw, to push a creeper on a lattice type fence extension back into position so I could install metal brackets, after the silly neighbour cut it back hard and it blew over in a rain storm.

[Toxic_Avenger]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/09/410.jpg

'Bogged' truck had no traction on some leaf litter out the front of my joint.
The mule saved the day.

[cripesamighty]

Wow Mitch, that picture brought back some memories. There is an old YouTube clip from a Puma Defender training video which shows how the anti-stall and traction control work together. The Defender is shown towing a 12 ton truck on gravel. The kicker is that there is no-one in the vehicle on the third run. The instructor reaches across, starts the Defender while it is in gear and lets it do its thing. When I first saw that I thought it was quite impressive. The other video I remember was similar but the Defender was in sand. See both below. Lovely bit of kit the Defender!

Land Rover Defender Towing a 12 Tonne Truck. - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhuKLrjJLg)

Defender stuck in sand. and drives itself without driver - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttVJIyAdR8)

[tact]

In Kuala Lumpur, a narrow barely two lane, two way, underpass. A taxi was stalled inside at beginning of peak hour and had caused a traffic jam I couldn't escape. Eventually It was my turn to play chicken with oncoming traffic and use the other side of the road to get around the taxi. Reversed up to him, attached a strap and towed him off the road to clear the jam for thousands of others behind me.

[DiscoMick]

Wow Mitch, that picture brought back some memories. There is an old YouTube clip from a Puma Defender training video which shows how the anti-stall and traction control work together. The Defender is shown towing a 12 ton truck on gravel. The kicker is that there is no-one in the vehicle on the third run. The instructor reaches across, starts the Defender while it is in gear and lets it do its thing. When I first saw that I thought it was quite impressive. The other video I remember was similar but the Defender was in sand. See both below. Lovely bit of kit the Defender!

Land Rover Defender Towing a 12 Tonne Truck. - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhuKLrjJLg)

Defender stuck in sand. and drives itself without driver - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttVJIyAdR8)

I suppose if the Discovery Sport can tow a train then the Defender can tow a truck.

Land Rover Discovery Sport Tows Train in Switzerland (W/Video) (http://www.motortrend.com/news/land-rover-discovery-sport-tows-train-switzerland-wvideo/)

[POD]

I had 4 tree stumps to remove last week, hitched the tirfor with snatch block between 2 of them to see which would give up first, moved the anchor to a live tree to get the others out. Used the rear winch on the 130 to pull the biggest stump up onto the trailer. The rear winch is super handy for this sort of thing, I've loaded and unloaded trailers with it, used it with a snatch block on a high-ish branch a while ago to unload railway sleepers into a stack.
Idiots bogged in the middle of the freeway are safest left there.

[RANDLOVER]

Last year my panel lift garage door had one of the springs break, so I was using the high lift jack to raise it to about waist height and then pressing the opener button and that way I could help the motor open it all the way. I did this until my preferred repairer returned from a few weeks holiday. I had to put it between the legs of an A-frame ladder with a tether to stop it falling over as the base is so small, and I couldn't steady it and open the door at the same time.

[p38arover]

The only times I used the winch on my RRC was to pull old abandoned Hillmans from their resting places and onto my car trailer to take them the Hillman Owners Club storage shed (an old vacated poultry farm shed).

[austastar]

Hi,
Used the Defender winch to pull a pine tree out of the ground and up into a mate's trailer.
So easy!
Cheers

[ramblingboy42]

I have never used any of my recovery gear for anything , but carry it all with me in case I need it.

Do any of the straps and soft slings have use by dates?

I have some lovely flouro pink soft slings still in their plastic wrap.

And,,,,,talking of "safety kit" , while doing a thorough cleanout of ALL of my accumulated gear , found 6 1/2used dunny rolls wrapped in plastic bags in various boxes and drawers. Thats what happens when you get a new car and everything has to be repacked somewhere.

I have several very heavy duty tiedown straps capacity 5-6000lb courtesy of RAAF , which have done any "winching" I have needed to do in the last 35-40yrs.