Yet another recovery death

**BigJon** · 21st August 2011, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by garrycol

Most of our landies have tow bars rated at 3500kg (many tow bars are rated far less) so using a tow bar in a snatch recovery for heavier vehicles is also a no no. My snatch strap is rated at 10000kg over 3 times that of a tow bar so the loads in a heavy snatch are likely to exceed the tow bar limit.

Garry

I have no issues using my towbar as a recovery point. While it may be rated at 3500 - 4000kg for towing purposes I am confident it will withstand much higher loadings without failure.

When towbars are being tested for ADR compliance they are loaded to 1.5 times their rating (longitudinally) to check for plastic and elastic deformation (I have been involved in testing, although it was about 12 years ago).

**RR P38** · 21st August 2011, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Can only agree.
I have seen recoveries done that way too often,and stopped people and shown them how to thread the strap safer,THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOU HAVE 2 HEADS!!!!
We have a warning bulletin on our notice board at work at the moment,from WALGA(WA local gov),it involves a failed recovery of a grader by a grader.Important for me,as I steer a grader and have to constantly recover bogged heavy machinery.
I tried to get the bulletin off the net,cant do so,will see if I can get it from the office.
The snatch strap they were using,which in the picture looks MUCH like a normal 4x4 strap let go,operator recieved severe head injuries.Strap came thru the rear window,also busted the front window and door window,looks like most of the strap ended up in the cab.
We use a HEAVY drag chain,links are 3/4" dia,I dont even know if its strong enough for what we do.
Will be asking questions monday morning!!!!
Andrew

Most people seem to assume that wire and chain have a higher safe working load than it actually has.
I see a lot of so called recovery gear for 4x4s that doesnt even has Australian standards applied to them i no safe working load stamped or marked on the shackle.
If you have and hooks or shackles that ore not rated in this way dont trust them, dump them.
Recently working in the Philippines as an off shore crane operator i loaded a very expensive piece of kit onto a ship. Next morning an engineer came down to the vessel and identified the shackles on the rigging that was used as being fakes (Chinese) these shackles had been reported to be failing at 40-50% of their safe working load. I used these on a 15T load unknowingly. This was an engineered lift and had been planned for quite some time, how did the company buy these shackles? they were cheap obviously.

3/4" = 19mm, chain has a safe working load of 11.2 Tonnes that is in a standard grade 80 chain. To part this chain will require somewhere in excess of 50 Tonnes.

In this day and age of cheap copies a tow ball is a good example of something that can be copied and sold as a tested and certified piece of equipment if its cheaper than the one next to it that is made in an advanced economy it is cheap for a reason.
Radial (tow ball)as opposed to axial loading is never a very good idea in a high load situation.

Yes i agree with the "two heads" blank looks, i get them too when i explain what could go wrong to people.

**wrinklearthur** · 21st August 2011, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by RR P38

Radial (tow ball)as opposed to axial loading is never a very good idea in a high load situation.

Yes i agree with the "two heads" blank looks, i get them too when i explain what could go wrong to people.

I would rather get a weird look, than have to say, I told you so.

Cheers Arthur

**x-box** · 22nd August 2011, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

I would rather get a weird look, than have to say, I told you so.

Cheers Arthur

I totally agree, and it has happened before.
Accidents are not planned or premeditated - they happen when you least expect them - so give them as little chance as possible to happen, do the recovery right!

**Blknight.aus** · 22nd August 2011, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by GuyG

Could towballs be manufactured so that are able to be used as recovery points?

yep, cept they call them pintle hooks.

**wardy1** · 22nd August 2011, 04:59 PM

A few months ago up in the high country came across some guys stuck almost bonnet deep in a bog hole. They were about to attach a snatch strap to the tow ball..... couldn't help myself, I went over and asked them not to do it.... I got told to **** off. Then I looked more closely and the bolt through the tow ball was BENT! I pointed that out and was told to **** off again.
Anyway, being the Gung-Ho super heros they were, they continued.... I went about 100 metres back down the track.
Lots of revs from the mighty Tojo in reverse, wheels spinning, rooster tails of mud from the stuck Hilux and BANG the bolt broke sending the ball (luckily) right through the middle of the Tojo radiator.... and I mean right through!
Funny, the guy with the foul mouth then came back to me to see if I could help..... Did I?
What would you have done?

**Homestar** · 22nd August 2011, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by wardy1

A few months ago up in the high country came across some guys stuck almost bonnet deep in a bog hole. They were about to attach a snatch strap to the tow ball..... couldn't help myself, I went over and asked them not to do it.... I got told to **** off. Then I looked more closely and the bolt through the tow ball was BENT! I pointed that out and was told to **** off again.
Anyway, being the Gung-Ho super heros they were, they continued.... I went about 100 metres back down the track.
Lots of revs from the mighty Tojo in reverse, wheels spinning, rooster tails of mud from the stuck Hilux and BANG the bolt broke sending the ball (luckily) right through the middle of the Tojo radiator.... and I mean right through!
Funny, the guy with the foul mouth then came back to me to see if I could help..... Did I?
What would you have done?

Don't you just love Karma - thankfully no one got hurt, but I can hear the echo of "Told you so - **** off". But me being me, after a couple of minutes I probably would have helped them anyway - I can't hold a grudge for ****.

**clubagreenie** · 22nd August 2011, 05:19 PM

I think the comment on banning the towball starts in the right direction. Remove the fail point (until we have automated cars anyway and remove the humans) and turn to a coupling that cannot be used as a recovery point. And before anyone wants to comment that it's impossible, I have no idea etc. Basically repeating the flaming earlier, I know it's not really feasible but we can only do 2 things, try to educate people that are doing it wrong (while correctly identifying and avoiding the bogan element potential for abuse/chance to sit down with a beer and watch with amusement).

But probably the thing we should do as a group IS when we are in our local supplier mention these repeated occurrences and ask if they provide any advice to customers and if not why. I will be.

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 22nd August 2011, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by x-box

I totally agree, and it has happened before.
Accidents are not planned or premeditated - they happen when you least expect them - so give them as little chance as possible to happen, do the recovery right!

Except this was not an accident!

It has happened before.
It was foreseeable.
It wasn't an act of God.

It was pure and simply an act of negligence with tragic consequences.

**bob10** · 22nd August 2011, 07:10 PM

I can see where attaching a strap to a towball is not very smart, what's the thought on the recovery hitch that slides in to the tow ball receiver, and uses the same pin to secure it?. This has a rated shackle attached, but surely the pin is the weak point? I have read where some use the pin alone, passing it thru the strap. Are there rated recovery points for the rear of a D2, or any Rover? Bob

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