Thread: winch operation

Originally Posted by leeds

I have never used hand winches for recovering a vehicle.

OK I carry a hi lift jack and whilst I know the theory of winching with it, I have never experimented with it.

So what sort of hand winches are used in Australia for vehicle recovery?

Hi Lift jacks, tirfors or what?

How common is the use of hand winches for vehicle recovery in Australia?


Regards


Brendan

The idea of hand winching with a high lift is an absolute nightmare. By the time you take up all the slack you have to release tension and start again.
Most use a "Tirfor" If you don't know what that is it is a device about 2 feet long with a handle about 4 feet long that pulls am 11mm wire rope through a set of jaws. The wire rope is about 20metres long.
It is hard work and as I found out the only time I've ever used mine, it doesn't matter how lightly the vehicle is stuck, use a snatch block to halve the effort.
Steve.

Originally Posted by Aaron

Thats a good idea, except if going up the hill IS back the way you came

Well if going up, yes down is the way you came, unless you've found another way of doing things.

Your alone on a hill that you want to winch up, it would be dangerous operating a handwinch alone, as knowone has control of the car while your outside winching, only takes a fraction of a second for things to go pear shaped.

But as i said, i personnally would go down the hill and not risk getting further in the $h1t.

Baz.

Originally Posted by Aaron

Thats a good idea, except if going up the hill IS back the way you came

In the old horse and cart days when travelling up long steep hills the carts/drays used to have a log about 300mm dia. and the full width of the cart dragging along on 2 chains just behind the wheels, when the horses needed a rest they would stop and the cart wheels would roll back a few inches and stop against the log, easy-peasy, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Tank

In the old horse and cart days when travelling up long steep hills the carts/drays used to have a log about 300mm dia. and the full width of the cart dragging along on 2 chains just behind the wheels, when the horses needed a rest they would stop and the cart wheels would roll back a few inches and stop against the log, easy-peasy, Regards Frank.

In the ol' cart n 'orse days you could have used a "Cock Horse" as in the nursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to old Banbury town".
A "Cock Horse" is an old carriage-driving term, referring to an extra harness horse employed to assist pulling a cart or carriage up a hill. The "Cock Horse" would be hitched up at he bottom of the hill and then unhitched at the top. It would then be ridden back down to the bottom of the hill to await its next customer. Banbury, UK is situated at the top of a moderately steep hill and the town's council made a "cock horse" available to help access to the town.

So is there a "Cock Horse" hanging around your Landy with about 9,000 LB pulling power?

Anyway, not wanting to hijack the thread, are you suggesting a scenario, or is your car actually stuck there, or is this something that recently happened? If you're stuck, I'm sure there's hundred of people on this site just itching to justify a drive on the basis of a recoving a fellow LR owner.

Originally Posted by simonl8353

In the ol' cart n 'orse days you could have used a "Cock Horse" as in the nursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to old Banbury town".

I thought it was to Banbury Cross

Cross/Town....... what the!

just read original post, its a scenario, bugger, I'll unpack the landy. couldnt have done much anyway except bring the beer..

Originally Posted by Redback

Well if going up, yes down is the way you came, unless you've found another way of doing things.

What if you have gone down the hill already, then found the track impassable further along. You would then have to go up the hill to retrace your tracks. Hence going up the hill being back the way you came.

Simple really .

Big Jon got it in one, and I have a particular hill fresh in my mind.


simonl8353 - Come back tomorrow night, I maybe stuck by then Interesting history though.