Mitch Hitch as a recovery point

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.

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

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Originally Posted by 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

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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...

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You got a tow ball from Mitch Hitch? What?

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Sorry my bad.
I was referring to a Mc Hitch not a Mitch Hitch .
They will name these things similarly.
Regards Philip A

I know right :)

Land Cruiser. Land Rover :D

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.