who makes a good short pullin' strap.

[dumolebob]

I am a retired, professional snowplow driver in country that has snow on the ground 5 months of the year. My experience has been that it is often an advantage to have a short pulling strap vs a 20’ or more. Short as in ten feet or less. Most of the short straps are really what I think are tree straps so how strong are they? My experience pulling with chains has been not good at all.:Wow1:

Of course a short strap best not have any stretch or the stuckie will end up sticking into the pullie. I’ve had too many vehicles bust loose and come flying at me while the operator tried to get the foot on the break!

My question is, who makes a good short pullin' strap or a clever way to make one?.

Finally, and this’ll get some comments flying back at me - hard:wings:! This applies to only my experience pulling rigs stuck in snow not mud, sand, etc, which I guess might require more power). I’ve use lots of straps and heavy, three-strand nylon tow ropes with steel hooks and never had a hook break – ever. I used them countless times. So I wonder when I hear guys berating straps with hooks have you even seen one actually break? I admit seeing one break would be a real concern!

The biggest problem is almost always the too many people venture into snow country with no place to hook a tow – front or rear!

They call me “DumOleBob” for a reason…

 

[Antichrist]

Even in your situation I'd be wary of using a 10' strap to pull someone out of a snow bank. When I lived in snow country I liked having a 20' strap. On the rare occasions I needed shorter, I just doubled it through a shackle and back to the stuck vehicle.

I think the reason of warning against a strap with hooks is because one never knows who will read the information, what level of experience they have.
I've been using straps with hooks in some situations for 30 years or more. But, I trust myself to know what is an appropriate situation to use one, and what isn't. That said, I always steer people away from them. Yes, I'm a hypocrite.

 

[Scott Brady]

I would never recommend a 10' strap, primarily because a safe distance between vehicles cannot be maintained, and the chance of collision is too high, especially with a driver you are not familiar with.

And even if you must do a 10' pull, just double-up your 20' strap. . .

 

[7wt]

There are times when a short strap makes more sense providing you understand chance of bumpers meeting. The biggest is pulling a car back onto a road, a 20 footer can place you in the path of traffic where a shorter strap won't. If you can, have a couple of options with you at all times. A six foot tree strap works very well in this situation as long as both parties know it's not a kinetic recovery and shouldn't ever be used that way. I have done it plenty of times and will do it plenty of times more in the months to come.