recovery from the towball.. (only if you have to)

[Blknight.aus]

recovery from the tow ball, a much debated and frowned upon procedure ( I know Im against it)

but when you have no other choice.....

so heres the answer that some mates of mine came up with when we were pressed with the "all well and good but what if you had to" hypothetical scenario

flick your snatch strap over the tongue between the ball and the vehicle
22825
then cross it around behind the tongue and over the top of the snatch strap between the ball and the vehicle again
22828
loop the long end through the eye
22829
then cinch the whole lot up so the eye is snug up against the ball.

have a spotter watch the whole lot from a safe distance.
it aint perfect but its better than just flinging the eye over the ball.
(yes I know I used a rope but my only snatch strap is brand new and still in plastic wrap)

[350RRC]

Thanks Dave,

Just asked a question about what might be wrong with doing this in the Toyo thread in general chat.

cheers, DL

[CraigE]

Why would you not just remove the ball and put a D shackle through the tongue. If you carry a snatch you should carry rated shackles as well.:p
Its a good precaution and would get you out of a jam. The one thing I would ensure is a secure perimeter.

[isuzurover]

recovery from the tow ball, a much debated and frowned upon procedure ( I know Im against it)

but when you have no other choice.....

so heres the answer that some mates of mine came up with when we were pressed with the "all well and good but what if you had to" hypothetical scenario
...

have a spotter watch the whole lot from a safe distance.
it aint perfect but its better than just flinging the eye over the ball.
(yes I know I used a rope but my only snatch strap is brand new and still in plastic wrap)

And by the time you have done that you could have removed the tow ball and used a shackle?

Have you actually tried that Dave??? I think the snatch strap may have to be cut from the tongue after a decent snatch with a setup like that...

[McDisco]

I wouldnt encourage anyone to do half measures. Just cough up and buy some proper recovery points or get a replacement hook for your tow hitch. It doesnt cost that much...and its safe.

But if you did have to do it, that might work...
Angus

[disco_thrasher]

Thanks Dave

As Dave said it is only if you had to :o

Its giving people a safer option than round the ball,:eek:

but as stated above all should have correct recovery gear but not all do;)

Kelvin

[Blknight.aus]

its the no other option option and no it doesnt stick onto the hitch to get it off all you do is remove the tension from the strap and then pull it back towards the eye towards the corner of the vehicle and it will loosen up

before I did any of that theres any number of other thing that I might of tried and If I was in my rover out where I might be doing that kind of work Id have plenty of other tricks up my sleeve.

this is for that

"the drunken yobbo whose got his car stuck in a spoon drain and its sunk down to the chassis all there is at the back is the tow ball and you dont have a big enough spanner to crack the nut off of the towball and as the car is now half submerged so you cant get to the front recovery points but hes offering $500 just for you to try" kind of situation that only ever comes up when someone wants to force your hand and make you say that you would do something that in reality would never come up because you would never be so unprepared. you know hypothetically speaking.


to see if it would work we did go out and test it but only in a disused carpark and only with a toymota and a wrecked carola sedan that was basically a shell full of junk. we guestimated that 3 snatches would see most recoveries working so did 3 bounces basically holding 1800ish RPM on the toymota then pulling the clutch up to get motion and once the strap started taking up pressure dipping the clutch to allow it to pull the tow vehicle back ready for the next shot.

Initially we had some difficulty in freeing the strap but by laying the strap back in the direction that the eye wanted to move in and then giving it a good kick with the boot it flicked round nicely. There was some freying on the strap so If you have to do this insist that they are going to be up for a replacement strap before you start.

[discomuzz]

"the drunken yobbo whose... offering $500 just for you to try"

Take the money, drive off and save your strap! What's he gonna do, chase you?:cool:

[DEFENDERZOOK]

so.......you wouldnt pull the hitch out and just use the strap in the receiver with the hitchpin.......?



or is this also.....hypothetically.......an old style towbar where the tongue bolts straight to the towbar......?





so we are talking cars and not 4wds.....?

[Blknight.aus]

or when you get one of the nissans with the securapin fitted that has a lock on it so you cant get the toungue out....

or someones welded it in place

or its a really old toyota/jeep.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

or its a really old toyota/jeep.




why would you bother......??
thats just one less on the road.......



heres a question.....why does everything have to be snatched.......?
as soon as a vehicle is stuck......everyone reaches for a snatch strap like its a reflex action.....
whats wrong with a simple tow......?
not everything needs to be snatched.......most times only a tiny bit of help is required.....
similar to dragging a fallen tree of a track........

is it just the fun of the rubber band........?
it does feel good when you can feel it stretch and contract......but theres always that question of safety in the back of my mind......

[ADMIRAL]

why would you bother......??
thats just one less on the road.......



heres a question.....why does everything have to be snatched.......?
as soon as a vehicle is stuck......everyone reaches for a snatch strap like its a reflex action.....
whats wrong with a simple tow......?
not everything needs to be snatched.......most times only a tiny bit of help is required.....
similar to dragging a fallen tree of a track........

is it just the fun of the rubber band........?
it does feel good when you can feel it stretch and contract......but theres always that question of safety in the back of my mind......

Yes you are correct.......but there does seem to be a wind of change. I notice a lot of the magazines are nominating "maxtrax " or similar as a first option for debogging. Seems like a good dose of common sense all round to me !

[DEFENDERZOOK]

im just starting to think that a snatch recovery is becoming a macho recovery......


a lot of times one or two people can pretty much push a stuck vehicle....
not a bogged to the chassis vehicle......of course.....



i also enjoy a good snatch recovery.......its always exciting.....and fun...
im just saying they are not always necessary......

if its a simple little helping pull......then the towball is fine to recover from.....if that doesnt work.....
then a proper snatch the safest way possible...........

[Dougal]

so.......you wouldnt pull the hitch out and just use the strap in the receiver with the hitchpin.......?

or is this also.....hypothetically.......an old style towbar where the tongue bolts straight to the towbar......?

so we are talking cars and not 4wds.....?

Neither is a good idea. A 3.5T towball (usually have a 1 inch shank) is actually far stronger than a 16mm hitch pin with a strap around it.

I have recovered someone from a towball before. Didn't like it at all and took a lot of precautions to keep everyone out of the firing line. The situation was a stuck vehicle, cold and getting dark. Tried to remove the towball but the 14" pipe-wrench couldn't crack the nut loose (3 people tried).

[Bush65]

why would you bother......??
thats just one less on the road.......



heres a question.....why does everything have to be snatched.......?
as soon as a vehicle is stuck......everyone reaches for a snatch strap like its a reflex action.....
whats wrong with a simple tow......?
not everything needs to be snatched.......most times only a tiny bit of help is required.....
similar to dragging a fallen tree of a track........

is it just the fun of the rubber band........?
it does feel good when you can feel it stretch and contract......but theres always that question of safety in the back of my mind......
Very true.

Unless it is obviously stuck bad, always try towing first - I use a snatch strap for this.

If the tow recovery vehicle doesn't have enough traction (even if 2 or more straps are joined) or the stuck vehicle is not budging then execute a moderate snatch.

If obviously stuck bad, that is a different game, and most all situations are different. e.g. can obstructions be removed?, can the vehicle be lifted to pack under the wheels?, etc.

If that doesn't work it's probably better to pull the winch rope out. If no winch, then use a tandem vehicle tow.

[p38arover]

Dave's technique wouldn't work for me. I'd never remember the sequence.

Seriously.

My limit is tying shoe laces - and I have to think about that.

Seriously.

[weeds]

first question i would ask is.....whats the rope rated too?

[101RRS]

first question i would ask is.....whats the rope rated too?

The other question is what is the tow bar rated too? Most max out at 3500kg (the same as the tow ball) - in my view a bit too low for a heavy snatch.

Garry

[Blknight.aus]

if a bar can deal with a 3.5T trailer it'll deal with a single vehicle recovery....


thats a 3.5T dynamic loading its rated for not a 3.5t dead weight.

eyeball the thickness of the shaft of a 2.5t tow ball, compare that to the thickness of a 3.5t rated lifting shackle, how about an 8t shackle? 11T 12t....

[isuzurover]

heres a question.....why does everything have to be snatched.......?
as soon as a vehicle is stuck......everyone reaches for a snatch strap like its a reflex action.....
whats wrong with a simple tow......?
not everything needs to be snatched.......most times only a tiny bit of help is required.....
similar to dragging a fallen tree of a track........

is it just the fun of the rubber band........?
it does feel good when you can feel it stretch and contract......but theres always that question of safety in the back of my mind......

So you carry a tow rope AND a snatch strap???

I agree though - plenty of people just drive flat out, when a gentle tow is required. I always start off slow, then if that doesn't work try again at a slightly faster speed.

[roverrescue]

Inline with both Dougals:
"A 3.5T towball (usually have a 1 inch shank) is actually far stronger than a 16mm hitch pin with a strap around it"
and Daves:
"eyeball the thickness of the shaft of a 2.5t tow ball, compare that to the thickness of a 3.5t rated lifting shackle, how about an 8t shackle? 11T 12t...."

I wonder if in all cases of tow balls becoming missiles, that if the strap was put in the receiver hitch then the pin / tow bar / chassis bolts would be missiled instead. The force to shear a 24mm tow bar bolt is huge and would have to have done some uber damage to a "proper" rear recovery point. I guess it is a mostly untestable hypothesis. Dynamic recoveries are unpredictable... and unpredictable events occur.

I dont like snatch straps, except for towing dead trees back to camp or flat towing vehicles on the road.
Static pull recovery for me and use a shovel etc etc.

[PAT303]

Inline with both Dougals:
"A 3.5T towball (usually have a 1 inch shank) is actually far stronger than a 16mm hitch pin with a strap around it"
and Daves:
"eyeball the thickness of the shaft of a 2.5t tow ball, compare that to the thickness of a 3.5t rated lifting shackle, how about an 8t shackle? 11T 12t...."

I wonder if in all cases of tow balls becoming missiles, that if the strap was put in the receiver hitch then the pin / tow bar / chassis bolts would be missiled instead. The force to shear a 24mm tow bar bolt is huge and would have to have done some uber damage to a "proper" rear recovery point. I guess it is a mostly untestable hypothesis. Dynamic recoveries are unpredictable... and unpredictable events occur.

I dont like snatch straps, except for towing dead trees back to camp or flat towing vehicles on the road.
Static pull recovery for me and use a shovel etc etc.

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat

[bee utey]

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat
Not as such, a machined ball probably won't. It's about slipping off at an angle. I have frequently snatched off a towball, where a strong shackle point was unavailable. A snatch recovery, like any other procedure, should be done with due care, not yee-hah attitude.

[p38arover]

So you carry a tow rope AND a snatch strap???


I do.

[Sparksdisco]

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat

Yea I think the whole towball snaping off and launching itself a bit of a wives tale told to make people think a little more when it comes time to doing a recovery.

I would think that the pin in the hitch would break before the towball would? so any recovery using the toung would be as dangerous as using the tow ball? as the whole toung would launch itself?

just some thaughts.

Would love to be proved wrong

Mabee it should be mythbusted:D:D:D:D:twisted::twisted::twisted::twis ted:


Oh and i carry both aswell

[Blknight.aus]

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat

yes, it aint pretty and it wasnt a snatch recovery. It was an idiot doing the recovery who wouldnt listen to anyone becasue he knew what he was doing. We decided to stay up hill and about 100m away in the tree line forward of the vehicle being recovered.


Ive personally torn a the tongue off of a series with a tirfor.....

[TonyC]

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat

Yes, but it was towing a trailer, and by the look of the ball bit left in the coupling and the tow bar, it had been quite lose for some time.

Tony

[p38arover]

Inline with both Dougals:
"A 3.5T towball (usually have a 1 inch shank) is actually far stronger than a 16mm hitch pin with a strap around it"


I wonder about the effect of the threads. They'll reduce the effective diameter of the bolt and introduce a weak spot.

[p38arover]

Over the past few years we've seen several videos on here where tow balls have come adrift and through windows.

[bee utey]

I wonder about the effect of the threads. They'll reduce the effective diameter of the bolt and introduce a weak spot.
Properly tight the load is mainly shear on the full diameter because of the collar on the ball. When its left loose then its going to bend at the threaded part first and let go. If in doubt about an old towball, chuck it and get a new one, preferably not chromed!

[DEFENDERZOOK]

So you carry a tow rope AND a snatch strap???





no......not really.......

i have done a big no-no as far as snatch straps are concerned.....and towed a vehicle or two back onto the road......
a snatch strap isnt designed for constant forces......its only designed for a quick stretch and release.....




i dont have a tow strap as such......but i do have a tree trunk protector.....which i could probably use.......
but i would rather abuse my snatch strap......it has a bit of give and feels a bit safer......
and its also due for replacing......it has been used about 8 or 9 times.....
and ive heard they are really only meant to do about half a dozen recoveries.....



but i once recovered some idiots on some sand who knew their centre diff wasnt working......but still were out there anyways.....
they didnt have any recovery points......so i had to pretty much loop it around some part of their towbar......and it damaged the edge of my strap......

i was very tempted to leave them there.....but they had kids with them....and it was getting dark.......

[twitchy]

first question i would ask is.....whats the rope rated too?

diameter squared = rough guide for SWL.

[Blknight.aus]

for natural fiber rope....

for bonus money whats the mulitplier for synthetics that float (and sink if you know it)

[Dougal]

Has anyone actually seen a tow ball snap off?. Pat

Not me. But I have heard the wives tales.
Some lightweight towballs (i.e. fitted to cars, not 4wd's) have a shank of about 3/4" max, take the threads into account and you're down to about a 15mm core.

I remember seeing one old towbar that was actually just a ball shaped sleeve which a coach bolt passed through.:(

Regarding the ratings of tow-bars.
I've designed truck towbars before and the rating for those is in compression. The idea being the towbar must handle a hard stop of 1g (i.e. the entire towed weight) acting forwards and down at a 20 deg angle, the maximum material stress is also specified but I can't remember exactly what right now, but it's similar to the stress that will withstand 1,000,000 cycles fatigue.
So your one-hit factor of safety is about 3 before it will bend if all is good.

Most 3,500kg rated 4wd towbars I've seen would not meet the standards for 3,500kg on a truck. The tongue needs to be quite heavily gusseted to withstand the bending stress applied.

[twitchy]

for natural fiber rope....

for bonus money whats the mulitplier for synthetics that float (and sink if you know it)


Rope types are diameter squared times the numbers below.
Nylon x 2.25
Polyvinyl x1.25
Polyethylene x1.45
Manila x1
Polypropylene x1.6
Polyester x2
Silver x1.16
Sisal x1.0