pintle hook as recovery point?

[83 chif]

I've seen jaw pintle hooks used as recovery points before, and I was wondering what the mud community thinks about this? And if people use the jaw hooks, why not the pintle hooks with the ball? If they have the same rating, what difference does it make? I've just heard over and over never to use a ball for recovery, but if it has an 8 ton rating, is it a terrible idea? Let's hear some stories, anyone seen any break or anyone used these for years with no trouble?

I've got a friend thats been to Iceland plenty of times and he says a lot of guys over there use kenetic ropes right to the ball of a trailer hitch, not a pintle ball, and just use an old innertube to keep the rope from coming off the ball when there is slack. A weight rating is a weight rating, right? What do you guys think??

 

[bigndn]

I've used my pintle hook and pintle combo as recovery points with no issues. In fact, I like the idea of positive retention on the strap.

 

[sandcruiser]

It isn't so much the weight rating, as the potential damage if there is a failure

a tow-ball that comes off during a kinetic recovery is a lot like a small cannon shot. And could do similar damage to people/vehicles in the area. Mostly the person doing the recovery.

I would rather use a pintle than a tow ball.... but I'd much rather use a dedicated recovery point.

Look around on youtube, there must be a video there of someone ripping a towball off and breaking something, violently.

 

[sandcruiser]

check this: it is just the *rope* snapping, but it takes out a rear window. Now add 2lbs to the end and see what happens. YouTube - Recovery rope snapped dangerous


or check this one:
YouTube - 4 wd damaged by a snatch strap a shackle impales a tire

 

[e9999]

pintle hooks are generally very sturdy. The small ones are like 8 tons or so. I would guess other things would let go (bumper, hitch, bolts, shackles, straps, etc) before a pintle hook would break under most recovery scenarii. I would think the ball type would be less sturdy than an equivalent size solid one, though. I'd be cautious with that.

If you have one in a 2" receiver, though, you'd want to have the shank going into the receiver be solid, not hollow, as a side pull might do a number on the latter?

 

[Mark W]

If you put a side pull on a piece of 1/4 inch section 2x2 tubing uses as a stub in your receiver, strong enough to hurt it... you are really really wrong and you are damaging other things already.

Trailer balls are mounted in single shear and the pull of a strap tends to add twist to the sheering force. Also , the ball is pretty well captured by the strap so when it lets go it does not get thrown to the side, but follows the recoil of the strap. This applies to balls in the combination setups as well. The jaw of the pintle has a much larger cross section than even the stoutest trailer ball, it is lighter if it does snap and fly, and it will tend to slip out of the end of the strap if somehow it does fail. And during a snatch, both upper and lower jaws take the strain. A LOT more strength there. Never seen or even heard of a pintle snapping under load of a strap. Sure can not say that about trailer balls.

A pintle is the ideal point to secure a snatch strap. A trailer ball is not.


Mark...

 

[craptabulous]

just remove the ball and put a clevis in there . problem solved .