Cheap recovery idea.

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BackCountryPunk

Joined
Dec 8, 2008
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Squamish, BC, Canada
So, I've been thinking about recovery options and the like, and have come up with an idea I'd like to run out.

Instead of a winch, or come along, or equiv. How about X amount of wire rope (or synthetic), shackles (2 or 3), a snatch block, and 1 or 2 non-stuck vehicles.

Idea being to effect a recovery much like pulling a mountaineer out of a glacial crevase.

1. Attach rope/cable to non-stuck vehicle (if you have 2 non stuck vehicles), or other suitable anchor (boulder/tree/whatever).
2. Run cable/rope to stuck vehicle, pass through snatch block and back out to pulling vehicle.
3. Attach to recovery point and gently pull cable/rope tight (and hopefully stuck vehicle out).

Obviously this is situation/location dependant, as there are times/places that the rigging just wont work. Also, if you had enough shackles & cable/rope you could bump this up to a full "Z drag" system as shown in the picture (obviously swapping out climbing gear for appropriate devices)



Any thoughts?
 
You must be a climber. I often thought about this type of rigging. This technique doesn't also need trees if you got enough webbing to girth hitch around rocks heavier than a car. I enjoy rock/mountain climbing more than pulling truck out of the mud so I don't know if it is applicable to vehicles. The best part about a truck is that you can carry a ton of webbing/cable with you on a trip. Not so easy dragging it up a cliff for rock climbing. These guys could have done something like your rigging with a few heavy trucks in front for anchors YouTube - Jeep lost its top
 
To work the sittuation would have to be perfect and it would still be quite gear intensive. I'm gonna say that a winch is the only real solution, but synth line and snatch block is sure as heck better than nothing. Not to mention that it will be a great start to your recovery bag once you do invest in the winch :)
 
I've Z dragged canoes out of tree strainers. My rescue bag had 300 feet of static line, clips, pulleys, and line loops. You can concentrate a lot pull with a multiple Z drag. Unfortunately, it also uses a lot of line.
Happy Trails! N
 
BackCountryPunk said:
So, I've been thinking about recovery options and the like, and have come up with an idea I'd like to run out.

Instead of a winch, or come along, or equiv. How about X amount of wire rope (or synthetic), shackles (2 or 3), a snatch block, and 1 or 2 non-stuck vehicles.

Idea being to effect a recovery much like pulling a mountaineer out of a glacial crevase.

1. Attach rope/cable to non-stuck vehicle (if you have 2 non stuck vehicles), or other suitable anchor (boulder/tree/whatever).
2. Run cable/rope to stuck vehicle, pass through snatch block and back out to pulling vehicle.
3. Attach to recovery point and gently pull cable/rope tight (and hopefully stuck vehicle out).

Obviously this is situation/location dependant, as there are times/places that the rigging just wont work. Also, if you had enough shackles & cable/rope you could bump this up to a full "Z drag" system as shown in the picture (obviously swapping out climbing gear for appropriate devices)



Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Mike Rowe did this on an episode of dirty jobs. They unstuck a Hummer buried axle deep in sand, going up hill. The anchored was a tree and they used three or four snatch blocks.

IIRC it took eight Marines, and Mike, to pull the Hummer out. In theory you could use enough snatch blocks that one person could move a full size truck. But there would be a lot of walking and rope involved.
 
while my brother was still a hotshot they trained on this method, it does work. I also have trained on this method for recovering HMMWV's, and Land Cruisers. I first used it in Boy Scouts a long long long ass time ago. When i was working in africa it was the norm to be the only vehicle for miles, so without a winch its block and tackle and a whole lot of bushmen.
 
Wouldn't this setup would only double your pulling power, you would need a lot more pulleys and rope to gain a significant advantage. I don't know how much an average guy can pull (maybe 200 lbs?), but it seems like it would take a lot more force to free a stuck vehicle.

There was this device that I saw that basically did the same thing . It was a specially shaped metal plate with some hooks or holes in it. You tied off the rope and ran it back an over it a few times, acted as multiple pulleys, but without moving parts. Don't remember the name of it, but someone here has probably seen it.
 
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Idea would work. I'd agree the cost involved and equipment required would be considerable.
 
BackCountryPunk said:
Yeah, I climb a bit, also do a bit of paddling. I've used this on the river to pull wrapped canoes off of rocks, and it does generate alot of pull (granted with a bit of mucking about to get it all set up).

I'd posted this over on BC4x4, and somebody slipped this link in as another series of recovery "tricks":
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/US Army driving manual vehicle recovery ch22.pdf
Click to expand...
I've used the technique shown in fig 22-17 to field repair a leaking brake line. It worked surprisingly well, so well the guy drove all the way home rather than park his rig at the trail head and come back to repair it.
 
We use this set-up in the fire service for raising patients/victims, either vertically or low angle rescues. It is a "Z-rig" 3:1 mechanical advantage. So, for every 3' of rope you pull, your load will only move 1', and if your load is 300 lbs, the required effort to move/raise it would be 100 lbs. I have never used it for vehicle recovery, only patient/rescuer recovery, though I am sure it will work for vehicles, do be aware you can overload the system and have a catastrophic failure.
 
this hitch master thingy does not look too good for pulling hard, with the rope having to slide raw over a small radius rather than having a real rotating device...
 
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