Fun with Pull.Pal

[utahred]

As I've posted before my wife and I are complete green horns when it comes to serious off-roading. So I started my education on the internet. The off road and 4x4 forums contain a wealth of common sense advice and hard won experience.

We've pretty much agreed on camping equipment and I put together some recovery gear that I hope will do the trick when needed.

To make sure I had some idea of what to do with all the gear, I ran a test in my drive way.

Recovery gear

All strung out. Turns out this is the easy part.

My drive way is gravel over road base over good old Utah hard packed dirt. I kept digging a trench until the Pull-Pal started to embed itself.

The Pull-Pal dug in pretty good and I was able to work the slack out of the chain and strap. But the starter hole will have to be deep in this type of soil.

I put chocks in front of the tires for some resistance and by the time I had advanced the jack this far, the Xterra had moved a bit. The tires started rolling up the chocks but, in the gravel, everything just slid; that's quite a bit of weight to move. Anyway, the setup was working!

Unfortunately the road base gave way at this point. Rather than reset the Pull-Pal I decided to move into the shade and take a beer brake.

It's obvious that some soil conditions are a challenge for the Pull-Pal. However, if I have to reset the anchor or dig a deeper hole, I can still get myself out of trouble. But I wouldn't want to winch more than a few feet this way.

Of course the test raised a few questions.

The strap stretches, although it doesn't seem like much. Would a cable be better from the Xterra to the Hi-Lift?

When winching, is it better to have the Xterra in 4WD low with some body behind the wheel? Or would it be to difficult coordinating a pull, winching with a Hi-Lift? I'm guessing an electric winch provides constant tension, which might make it a bit easier. An electric winch may be a future modification but for now, the pump and grunt method will have to do. I'll bet the first time I throw my back out of kilter, a winch mod will move to the top of the wish list.

 

[alaskaboy]

If the strap you are using is a tug/tow strap, it is meant to stretch. As such, it is a poor choice for winching, especially with the limited "draw" of a high lift jack. great choice for rig to rig extractions. Other strap choices can had with no stretch engineered into them.

cheers

 

[James86004]

I like your Hi-Lift accessory in this photo!

I use a length of Amsteel Blue winchline instead of the strap. Bill Burke demonstrates a way to shorten the rope to the length you need by chaining it, and using a "bung" to finish. I think there is a thread on this site about that method somewhere.

 

[James86004]

Here it is: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36285

 

[gjackson]

Couple of comments:

1. Make sure that your d-shackle is rigged correctly. In the pic you posted the strap is pulling the shackle bolt to one side in the hi-lift. Much better and safer to have the strap in the D part of the shackle and the mode of pull along the length of the shackle perpendicular to the bolt.

2. Do not use a kinetic strap for winching operations (either electric or hi-lift). I can't tell if the strap you are using is a kinetic or a static strap, but either way be cautious if it is stretching. A tree strap or (as mentioned) a synthetic winch line extension work very well in this application.

3. We have found that the hardest part of using a pull-pal is getting it to set -- you are learning that as well.

cheers

 

[utahred]

I used tow strap doubled up. Originally, I intended to break my 30' of chain into two pieces; but then I thought in a real world situation, 15' from the Pull-Pal to the Xterra might not give enough clearance.

I didn't see the misalignment of the shackle until I looked at the photo. That certainly could cause a problem. A lot of nastiness can happen when you don't pay enough attention to what's going on.

Getting the Pull-pal to set will be a problem in some instances. Still, it's better than trying to rig up a dead man with a spare tire or whatever.

 

[RonapRhys]

Somewhere out there I read a great page on which different straps one should get for recovery, etc. Boils down to two things:

-For dynamic recovery (vehicle to vehicle) you want a strap that stores energy. That means it stretches, IIRC.
-For recovery via winches and the like, you want no stretch.

Check out this vendor - I've heard great things about them, though I don't have any of their gear (yet).

http://winchline.com/winchline_extension.htm

 

[utahred]

That's a nice site for equipment; thanks for the link.

The MAXTRAX sand ladders look interesting.

After the big test, my wife said she hoped I would never get myself stuck on a rock hard gravel surface similar to our drive way, because I might not make it out.

 

[mitssan]

Can you tell me more about the beer?

Since you have all of this gear I would also consider adding a tree strap to your kit. Depending on where you are there is often a tree near by and it is going to be much easier to pull off a tree (with a properly secured tree strap) then to set all of the other gear. Since you have all of the other parts to your kit a tree strap should a cheap and simple addition.

Back to the beer...

 

[RonapRhys]

I was out at TSC this weekend and noticed they had a auger-style recovery mount that looked somewhat interesting. Imagine, if you will, a long steel rod (probably 4' long, maybe up to 6') with a bit of an auger on the bottom and an eyehook on top. From the looks of it you'd simply (and by simply I mean with a significant amount of work and effort resulting in much sweating, cursing, and probably scraped knuckles) screw it into the ground, attach your recovery method (winch, highlift, etc) and pull yourself out. Once unstuck you unscrew it (see above for the pain) and move on.

I've not used one but it looks like it could be useful and relatively inexpensive.

 

[utahred]

Yes, by all means, the internal lubricant.

The beer is a dark beer brewed by Wasatch Beers, a Utah brewers cooperative in Salt Lake. It's called Polygamy Porter and the catch phrase is "Why Have Just One." Only in Utah could you get away with that phrase.

I like it although it's only 4%, which is a bit better than the usual 3.2 brew. In Utah, beer sold in super markets is less than 5%. If you want something stronger than that, you go to the state liquor store. There, I can get pond scum with a more acceptable alcohol content of 6%.

I ran across a video of that auger type anchor. I think it's a product of Australia, sold by the same outfit selling a capstan winch that attaches to the vehicle wheel. The winch looked like a pretty good idea, but pricey. I think an auger would be very difficult to set, in hard soil.

 

[RonapRhys]

It absolutely would, no doubt about it. Up here in the Great Lakes region (or whatever in the hell the census world wants to call us) and along the east coast, we get soil that might be conducive. I'm looking at it as one of those "pick it up on the cheap" deals just in case I get stuck where I can't get to a tree or something.

I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I'm up at a TSC.

 

[alaskaboy]

Does "TSC" have a web site with auger on it?

mnb

 

[mitssan]

A buddy of mine use to carry a spare axle shaft with him (he had a Ford). If he was ever too stuck he said he'd pound it into the ground to pull himself out. I never witnessed the procedure. I'm guessing he'd leave the axle in the ground and keep on going (meaning you lose your spare parts, and cause environmental toil at the same time). I didn't ever witness this, I don't support it, but if you are stuck and can't get out it seems like a creative soluction.

It just so happens I'll be in Utah next week... I'll be trying that beer, and I won't be stopping at one.

Maurie

 

[utahred]

Go to The Bush Winch at:

http://www.bushwinch.com.au/products.html