What should I have in the boot?

[dee]

well the straps were free so I don't feel hard done by in that they're not suitable... I'm new to this nonsense which is why I asked

[BUSHWHACKER]

well the straps were free so I don't feel hard done by in that they're not suitable... I'm new to this nonsense which is why I asked

Just use your head and your eyes and you won't get stuck.

[plumb bob]

Just use your head and your eyes and you won't get stuck.

Sage advice, but watch out for puddles!

[dee]

okay, new question, what's the difference between being rated to tow and lift a given weight?

[yoshie]

Straight lift will be a higher rate than a tow for the same strap ie 5 ton lift wont be rated at 5 ton tow

[dee]

so a 1 ton straight lift would be equivalent to a 2 ton tow or something like that?

the reason I ask is the straps I have are rated at 1 ton straight lift and look more substantial than the 5 ton tow strap in machine mart

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...bbing-tow-band

confused now...

[yoshie]

so a 1 ton straight lift would be equivalent to a 2 ton tow or something like that?

the reason I ask is the straps I have are rated at 1 ton straight lift and look more substantial than the 5 ton tow strap in machine mart

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...bbing-tow-band

confused now...

No other way round 1 ton lift wont be rated for a 1 ton tow

[Garygadget]

from what i remember a 5 tone lifting strop is tested to twice the lifting weight

[yoshie]

Phone this guy you will get proper 5 ton straps up to 10m for less than a tenner. He will also make any length, strength to order.

Don't get cheap on safety someone will get hurt, better to be over rated tan under.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6m-tow-towing-...QQcmdZViewItem

[BUSHWHACKER]

Whats happend to the recovery stuff that was for sale in the forum shop?

[dee]

just been and done a bit of reading on the difference between tow and recovery straps... understand better now, loops good, fitted hooks bad...

[joker??]

Whats happend to the recovery stuff that was for sale in the forum shop?

i bought some , it was very good quality still got recovery straps[quality better than m/mart]

[nero279]

I'm gonna start again and slate the rest of the kit too - sorry

I am being over zealous here but i've seen the wrong gear used to do the wrong job and things go wrong, both when lifting and towing.


I'll start on the towbar - the bar itself , the bit that attaches to the surf is a PCT towbar looking at the design, and is rated to pull 1800kg but that 1800kg is assumed to be rolling on it's own wheels. Now assuming it's all bolted up properly with HT bolts and the chassis it's bolted to and the bar itself is in good condition it will be quite capable of pulling a hell of a lot more than that - right up to the point where the flat plate with 4 holes is welded on to it to bolt the ball to, this would again pull a lot more than 1800kg - however it appears to be the weakest point of the bar assembly. If you start snatch recoveries and so on the first thing i'd do is take that weak point out of the equation by taking the rope off the pin and putting the eye of the rope round the whole assembly so it pulls on the stem behind the plate rather than the plate. Two advantages to this - 1) you are eliminating the weakest point on the bar - 2) if anything does fail this way it's far less likely to fire along the length of the rope as a deadly projectile, if something fails the bar will rip out of the chassis or the bar will give on one side and stay attached on the other side and get twisted up but stay either attached to the back of the truck or it will rip right out but be heavy enough to drop to the floor and only move 6 or 8 feet back from the truck, not fire 40+ft through the air as a towball could if that plate failed during a snatch recovery.

The ball & pin it's hard to tell could be rated at anything from 1500kg - 3500kg as it's only got a 2 hole fixing (if it was a 4 hole fixing could be rated upto 5500kg). Use the pin it's far safer than just sticking the rope over the ball, As above though it's fine for most tows but take it out of the equation by doing what i suggested above if you start doing snatch recoveries.

Shackles - if they ain't stamped with a SWL (safe working load) or WLL (working load limit) i don't want em anywhere near me. Use rated shackles minimum 3.25ton for a tow or 4.75ton for a snatch. If they ain't marked with limits + some way of identifying the manufacturer they were manufactured to a budget, not a spec - basically they could be made of anything inside, or even be hollow they weren't manufactured or sold for lifting or pullig purposes so don't have to meet any requirements at all.

The cable puller - mis-advertised, mis-marketed junk, doesn't have to have a failsafe on the ratchet so can be overloaded and literally made to pull itself apart, or twist itself out of shape meaning it could fail at any time, you may not even know you've overloaded it - i can't read the rating on it but if it was say 4 ton and a surf was 2 ton, but that surf was well stuck in such a way it needed 5 ton to pull it out - i.e bogged up to the axles on a slight incline with one wheel got to climb a lump in the ground to pull it out (quite a feasible off road situation) the cable puller may well do it, but in the process twist itself slightly. A few weeks later you're on road tyres on flat wet grass and just got no traction, so you get the puller out that's slightly twisted but not visibly damaged and you only need to pull 2 tonne and haalfway through that pull it fails when it's actually got a load on it within it's rating, but it's been overloaded previously.

Strop - actually not that bad, 2 or 3 ton duplex lifting strops would be better, but there's actually nothing wrong with doubling a 1 tonne strop in 2. Other than just watch for abrasion/friction damage in the centre where it's folded, and obviously it would be effectively half as long. Again it'd be fine for simply towing someone but might not be pretty if they were bogged to their axles or something.

Lastly:
climbing rope - as already mentioned they have a certain amount of stretch in them, so effectively it becomes a kinetic or snatch rope. Also although it may well say on the packaging when new that it's rated safe to 2000kg or whatever - they quickly decompose and have to be derated accordingly. Things which will reduce the life and strength of a climbing rope include - UV light, heat, smoke, moisture, grit, oils, solvents, abrasion....(and so many others too) all of which it's fairly likely to encounter being used on offroad vehicles, or even just stored in the back of a vehicle. What you've got to remember is that it's basically designed to support the weight of a person reliably, not the weight of a truck.


As i said at the top, i am being over zealous in the above, and in all honesty i would consider using some of that kit if i had to - the only thing i honestly would never ever use for recovery out of that lot is the cable puller if you want a good reliable hand winch - get a tirfor.

The climbing ropes iffy aswell, but if i had to, same with the shackles, but only because i've worked with them and know how to recognise a dodgy/deformed/overloaded one.

[JUDWAK]

i only use 10 ton chains (legs) for ragging stuck trucks out

and i only tow with bar

[PC-Surf]

Cheers guys this is handy to know in detail because I'm just starting off as well. Much better to go properly prepared especially when saftey is concerned. Thanks.