Recovery and Towing

[Tony B]

As an offshoot of another thread. Recovery and towing are part of the MV'ers way of life. It is something we all do and have learnt over the years, sometimes the hard way. Anyone any tips to foster good SAFE towing, recovery and winching?

[Grasshopper]

A British army Hollybone A-frame is indispensable for shifting CVRT's around.

 

Another tip- if the ground looks soft, it probably is, and if you think your truck might sink- assume it probably will (hard learned lesson with TTM's Ward). Recovery/off-road driving techniques learned from years of reading land rover magazines can be successfully used with trucks.

[Poptopshed]

A couple that spring to mind are,

A straight bar is for emergency towing only. Not to be used for pushing or recovery of unbraked loads. As Grasshopper says Hollybone A-frame'a are worth their weight in gold.

 

Always use a clear system of signals/commands and only have one person in charge. Last sunday we loaded a dead Saladin backwards onto a lowloader. I was steering and vision was very limited. In that sort of situation i am very wary of commands because you find the person directing tends to be looking forward and a left hand turn is actually a right hand turn. :shake:

[morris c8 fat]

Always winch in under load the guide wont always feed properly and one kink and the winch cable is U/S same for frays never use a cable that is damaged in any way and alwayss check the person taking the strain knows to pull not push (you may laugh!) and as was said before there is one person in charge make sure its the right one.

[Tony B]

Plan , check, then plan, check then plan, check then act. One boss, one set of orders, no argument.

[Grasshopper]

Good and clear comminication is very important. If need be, stop and confer after each step of a recovery operation so that everybody knows exactly what is about to happen.

 

Engage brain before using mouth or other equipment.

[Tony B]

forgetting to say the obvious. Anyone not DIRECTLY involved in the operation, to keep a good way off.

[Jessie The Jeep]

and don't tow GMC's backwards!!

[Tony B]

Know your limits, only attempt recovery on something a maximum of your size or smaller.

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

and don't tow GMC's backwards!!

:thumbsup::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[gritineye]

forgetting to say the obvious. Anyone not DIRECTLY involved in the operation, to keep a good way off.

 

When using the capstan winch on my 110, I have a fuel cutoff switch on about 3 yards of flex so I can stand well off to one side for safety.

 

I had the front bumper against a tree as anchor while winching a rolled LandRover upright, it was in a stream about 15 ft down a steep bank.

 

I was concentrating on the LR when out of the corner of my eye I saw a MOP leaning over the winch rope with a camera, his chin was almost touching it! With his other hand he held his 4 year old daughters hand!

 

An exchange of choice words ensued with him upset that I shouted in front of his little girl, when he was only trying to get a picture of the rope winding onto the capstan and what was the problem?

 

After the recovery was completed I discovered that the idiot LR owner had wrapped my nearly new rope (lovely sliced in heavy thimble) tight back on itself with a shackle on the rope, this had cut it at least half way through, too scary to think about!

 

Lesson learned, NEVER LET ANYONE ELSE RIG YOUR KIT even if it is a long muddy climb down to do it!

[Tony B]

Some of them are far to thick to be allowed to breed!

[turnkeyiand]

When I was crewing on a 434, we made up a walking lead for the commanders headset which was long enough for him to stand at the tow hitch on the back. It made hooking-up the 'bones a doddle with no risk of sloppy hand signals getting mixed up. We even used it when loading onto flat beds.

[Richard Farrant]

When I was crewing on a 434, we made up a walking lead for the commanders headset which was long enough for him to stand at the tow hitch on the back.

 

When I was involved in winch testing and calibration at REME Workshops, we had two bonedomes converted with small tranceivers. They were originally used when "A" vehicles were road tested, as all Comms. equipment was removed before going in to Wkps. We could be about 200 feet away and they still worked well.

[ArtistsRifles]

When I was crewing on a 434, we made up a walking lead for the commanders headset which was long enough for him to stand at the tow hitch on the back. It made hooking-up the 'bones a doddle with no risk of sloppy hand signals getting mixed up. We even used it when loading onto flat beds.

 

Got something similar for the Stalwart - a VERY long (about 1.5 x vehicles length) lead attached to the Commanders headset. Came in handy last year when hitching the ward up in the arena as the lack of rear vision on a Stalwart is one of it's less endearing features...

[Tony B]

So to actually start the rules

 

1. Plan exactly what everyone is going to do BEFORE you start.

[Richard Farrant]

So to actually start the rules

 

1. Plan exactly what everyone is going to do BEFORE you start.

 

Item 1 should be to work out if you have equipment capable of the task.

[Richard Farrant]

yeah that,s whot the missus awlays says to me if i try anythung on her

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[croc]

Found this link showing the importance of a good plan....

http://www.fridaypage.com/images/fridaypage/070408_incidentaction.wmv

[Tony B]

OOPS! OK point well made.

 

P.S. :rofl:

[abn deuce]

hello Boss could you send the other wrecker as I ve had a problem !

[chevpol]

oops!!!!!! :rofl: :rotfl:bet he was looking for another job later!!!!!

 

 

Mark

[N.O.S.]

Nice paint job on that ground anchor!!!!

 

Now I'm not trying to spoil the fun here, but what about the subjects of LIABILITY and INSURANCE?

 

Are you INSURED for what you propose to do?

If not, who will be held LIABLE if something goes wrong?

 

Wasn't it fun when we could act responsibly under the protective umbrella of "Sh!t happens"?

 

Sadly we now live in the world of "Sh!t happens and someone has to be held responsible and someone has to wipe it up and someone has to pay for it to be wiped up"

 

I'll shut up now. :cool2:

[Tony B]

Health & Saftey rules 1: Don't eat anything 2: Don't drink anything 3: Above all, don't breathe the air.

 

I knew one ''Electrician'' who could make changing a light bulb last four hours filling in all the forms.

 

Like you say what happned to 'you got into it, you get out of it'

[abn deuce]

AAHH well the worst part of " his " learning experiance is that it was caught on tape , so no matter how he might have told the story .......