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
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then cross it around behind the tongue and over the top of the snatch strap between the ball and the vehicle again
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loop the long end through the eye
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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.
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

Its giving people a safer option than round the ball,

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?

[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.