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Towing etc

G

Guest

Guest
Kinetic ropes yes are great, I notice a discrepancy in opinions on them.
But I have used them for both stump removal and vehicle recovery. Keep them
in the dark and they last a long time retaining all their properties. But
no-one mentioned how to reduce the whiplash effect. If it does happen its
nasty, but at least put one old jacket or sack in the middle of the rope.
If you have both of them, put each a third way along the length. If you are
suspect at the towed vehicle's hitch point (not a TLC of course) put the
coat/sack in front of it - you know your TLC hitch will be OK don't you ?
(Yes I keep a plastic coated picnic blanket in the car for wheel changes
and snow chain attachment, also a 2m square clean sheet for protecting the
wings etc. when working on the engine. Both these are folded during the day
and cover my spares kit in the back - though I do have a roller blind load
cover, at times I have other stuff in there that the cover will not negotiate).
Road work, yes a towbar is great and they are available as telescopic and
cheap. But hey you mechanics, you know its easy to get 3 lengths of RHS to
slide into each other and then all you need do is slot the outer ends and
fillet weld a 70X100m 10mm plate 50mm into the RHS and drill a hole in it
for the shackle. The telescopic bits are pinned with a common 13mm high
tensile pin held by a lynch pin, both bought from any tractor supplier. Its
basic fabrication, not rocket science.
Shackles, yes get SWL rated ones with at least 4.5 tonnes, remember its not
deadweight but shockload that you have to allow for. 6 tonnes is better.
Also try plain black iron ones. Only the very best (and expensive)
galvanised ones will be smooth enough to prevent nicking your hands.
Otherwise, if you are flush enough, buy stainless ones from a yacht
chandler. (I used to be a director of a marine supplies export company, we
supplied fishing fleets from the Faroes to Chile, they never used
galvanised links etc. in situations where hands had to manipulate chains).
General towing, I use a 5 tonne steel cable with swaged loops and
shackles. It coils up very neatly into a pouch that goes in the wing cubby
above the jack. But I rarely tow!
Cheers
Jon
'92 HZJ80 ex UN surplus in Bosnia - where we don't get nice fruit sponge
cakes but sickly cream gateaux !
 
Hello Jon,
Removing stumps with KERR is definitely not for the faint hearted.
Reducing whiplash by hanging a blanket over the rope is practical when
winching with a steel rope (apparently a plasma rope causes very
little whiplash).
Steel cable for towing - each jerk of the cable puts unnecessary
stress on the attachment points. Using a poly or nylon rope is
indefinitely better for your vehicle (your head as well).
Shackles - unrated, commercial shackels are dirt cheap and can be just
as good, only you never know when they will fail ( use only those with
a pin diameter >= 1 inch).
Proper rigging stuff is worth a few more quid, is lighter and lasts
forever. Stainless are nice if left permamently on the vehilce, but
cost a fortune compared to steel/alloy and are not as strong for the
size (you may want to carry up to four pcs).
Shackles made of alloy are the best in this respect. E.g. To achieve
a 6+ ton WLL (work load limit), a shackle made of alloy has pin
diameter of 25mm, high carbon steel - 35mm, and low carbon steel -
41mm.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
 
Re stump pulling with KERR, yes I have pulled a stump out with one of these
but was very well protected with the huge rear body of a Unimog and expected
and got elastic recoil but if I were in an 80 the back end would have been
rather crumpled. I certainly would not normally advise some one else to do
the same the consequences could be horrific I was just mucking about I can
say that the only way to prevent serious recoil would be to rig up a bridle
to an other point as a wind sail would just fly off such are the potential
kinetic forces involved. I might also add that when used properly the KERR
as Roman has said is far kinder to the chassis as less inertia or shock is
apparent
I agree with Jon that marine fittings are rather splendid and usually of
very high quality.
I would also like to congratulate Jon on his very excellent article on snow
chains. These are a fantastic piece of equipment and although I
unfortunately do not own but which work very well in recovery situations. I
was once on the Gap Road many years ago and got caught out on sheet ice at
the top a very griping situation. Unusually I was traveling with a friend
who did have a set of chains, and I can tell you it was amazing the way his
Landover shot up the mountain. I was then winched off to the very top by a
PTO driven winch. Perhaps an other article on winch preferences may be due,
my vote is for Hydraulic followed by PTO and electric last after a turfor.
Anthony Graham
1994 HDJ80 1HD - T
West Wales
UK
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]] On
Behalf Of Roman
Sent: 07 January 2005 21:12
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Towing etc
Hello Jon,
Removing stumps with KERR is definitely not for the faint hearted.
Reducing whiplash by hanging a blanket over the rope is practical when
winching with a steel rope (apparently a plasma rope causes very
little whiplash).
Steel cable for towing - each jerk of the cable puts unnecessary
stress on the attachment points. Using a poly or nylon rope is
indefinitely better for your vehicle (your head as well).
Shackles - unrated, commercial shackels are dirt cheap and can be just
as good, only you never know when they will fail ( use only those with
a pin diameter >= 1 inch).
Proper rigging stuff is worth a few more quid, is lighter and lasts
forever. Stainless are nice if left permamently on the vehilce, but
cost a fortune compared to steel/alloy and are not as strong for the
size (you may want to carry up to four pcs).
Shackles made of alloy are the best in this respect. E.g. To achieve
a 6+ ton WLL (work load limit), a shackle made of alloy has pin
diameter of 25mm, high carbon steel - 35mm, and low carbon steel -
41mm.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
them
are
day
negotiate).
 
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