Which winch hook/shackle do you guys recommend.

[wcjeep]

Just ordered the Yankem. No hook/thimble. Less energy flying around. Have run a hook for many years. I consider running No hook a game changer.


https://yankum.com/products/winch-hawse-groove-fairlead

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[roaniecowpony]

I currently have some kind of flat link copy of a Factor 55. After considering them all, none of them make any more sense than a brummel eye loop so you can run a soft shackle through it. The pretty colored machined aluminum stuff are just a solution to an urge to spend more money.

 

[Steph1]

I currently have some kind of flat link copy of a Factor 55. After considering them all, none of them make any more sense than a brummel eye loop so you can run a soft shackle through it. The pretty colored machined aluminum stuff are just a solution to an urge to spend more money.

Yes, I ended up getting the same thing.

Incredible the prices for American made stuff…. $200-$300 for flat links and hooks and same for fairleads… it’s the 1/4 or even 1/2 the price of some winches FFS!!! No wonder people buy the cheaper stuff at 20% of these prices ?‍. Send me one for free or at a fraction of the price and I too will make a Youtube video about it saying how great it looks and works.

I wouldn’t risk cheap stuff with a potential of breakage on important pieces, but when you find out that they’ve been intensively used and proven, who’s the fool.

 

[Zandcwhite]

There's a lot of paranoia in these threads about the hook flying at people. I'm guessing most have never actually pushed their lines hard enough to break one. Broken at least a half dozen and seen dozens more break over the years. 99% of the time the line breaks 1 to 10' from the end (the area that gets the most wear). The hook/attachment method drops within inches of where it was when the line popped. It is hard mounted to either the anchor you're pulling to or the vehicle you're recovering and there's virtually no stretch between it and the failure point. The line itself can slingshot some distance especially if it's a long hard pull. The hook doesn't. The other 1% of failures are from cuts/abrasion and again, the hook barely moves. Sure if your attachment point fails it could happen, but whatever you just ripped off the vehicle being recovered is now a projectile anyway regardless off winch line connection. Nobody should be in line with a winch pull period so even there then the risk is minimal.

 

[entropy]

There's a lot of paranoia in these threads about the hook flying at people. I'm guessing most have never actually pushed their lines hard enough to break one. Broken at least a half dozen and seen dozens more break over the years. 99% of the time the line breaks 1 to 10' from the end (the area that gets the most wear). The hook/attachment method drops within inches of where it was when the line popped. It is hard mounted to either the anchor you're pulling to or the vehicle you're recovering and there's virtually no stretch between it and the failure point. The line itself can slingshot some distance especially if it's a long hard pull. The hook doesn't. The other 1% of failures are from cuts/abrasion and again, the hook barely moves. Sure if your attachment point fails it could happen, but whatever you just ripped off the vehicle being recovered is now a projectile anyway regardless off winch line connection. Nobody should be in line with a winch pull period so even there then the risk is minimal.

It also has to do a lot with looks I think. I know people who buy warn winches and don't even intend to use them. But they say "Warn" you know, just like those cool youtubers jeep.

 

[phageghost]

There's a lot of paranoia in these threads about the hook flying at people. I'm guessing most have never actually pushed their lines hard enough to break one. Broken at least a half dozen and seen dozens more break over the years. 99% of the time the line breaks 1 to 10' from the end (the area that gets the most wear). The hook/attachment method drops within inches of where it was when the line popped. It is hard mounted to either the anchor you're pulling to or the vehicle you're recovering and there's virtually no stretch between it and the failure point. The line itself can slingshot some distance especially if it's a long hard pull. The hook doesn't. The other 1% of failures are from cuts/abrasion and again, the hook barely moves. Sure if your attachment point fails it could happen, but whatever you just ripped off the vehicle being recovered is now a projectile anyway regardless off winch line connection. Nobody should be in line with a winch pull period so even there then the risk is minimal.

For most usage, I imagine this is true. But what if you have your hook attached to a winch extension? Now there's stretch and stored energy on both sides of the hook, so if the main winch line snaps right before the hook, the extension line can slingshot the hook back toward the recovered vehicle. Or if a shackle between the recovery point and the hook snaps. Nothing is ripped off the vehicle so you'd be fine with a soft setup but not with a metal hook.

I have 0 personal experience with vehicle winching but I've been around cable hoists enough to have a healthy respect/fear of them. Personally, eliminating as much metal from the system as possible seems like an easy way to add a lot of safety to one of the more dangerous things you can do off-road, and doesn't seem to have any significant downsides that I can see.

Even though people should be out of the line of fire, people are also stupid, get distracted and shit happens. Or someone needs to be in the driver's seat with the hood down to operate one of the vehicles. A "layered" approach to safety is good because it requires multiple violations/oversights at the same time for something bad to happen, which drastically reduces the incidence.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Everyone should buy expensive stuff. I love the look of a blue anodized $200 Factor 55 chunk of aluminum on a jeep. Keep the economy moving. In these troubled economic times, everyone is counting on you.

 

[LooselyHeldPlans]

I run a soft shackle at the end of mine; less weight to kill me if my line snaps...

hmmm. Is it a tiny one just for that purpose of do you have a lot of room in your drum? I do t think I could fit a standard one

I went with this ridiculously overpriced fairlead:

https://yankum.com/products/winch-hawse-groove-fairlead

so I can just run a Brummel splice at the end of the rope, no metal. At least I'm recovering some of the cost by not buying a hook, I suppose. Tucks up nicely behind my Cascadia Designs hinged front license plate mount.

Can't report on durability, though, since I haven't used it for anything yet besides dragging a log across the yard. But if it breaks in the field you can just splice a new loop in a few minutes.

I bought the same. It works really well with my the setup I have to hide the winch inside my plastic bumper.

 

[Mx5red]

That Freedom winch line looks cool, but I don't think they know what a tree saver is for. Hint: it's in the name.

That’s the first thing I thought of when I watched the video.
Serious question - Does a rope cause much damage to a tree compared to a steel winch line?
It seems like a nifty invention, but playing devils advocate, what happens if the line breaks? then you don’t theoretically have a back up. As where you could possibly reattach a metal hook if you have something to splice with.

 

[RudeJeepin]

That Freedom winch line looks cool, but I don't think they know what a tree saver is for. Hint: it's in the name.

Not sure what you seen, but I didn't see any trees being harmed. The winch line was hooked loose around the tree, it wasn't cinched down around the tree. Wasn't sliding around the tree, girdling it, chewing into the bark or cambium.
But if you seen something different please elaborate.

 

[RudeJeepin]

That’s the first thing I thought of when I watched the video.
Serious question - Does a rope cause much damage to a tree compared to a steel winch line?
It seems like a nifty invention, but playing devils advocate, what happens if the line breaks? then you don’t theoretically have a back up. As where you could possibly reattach a metal hook if you have something to splice with.

If synthetic line breaks, you just splice it. Tie a knot, whatever it takes in the moment.
Tons of videos out there on this.

 

[dragoneggs]

I currently have some kind of flat link copy of a Factor 55. After considering them all, none of them make any more sense than a brummel eye loop so you can run a soft shackle through it. The pretty colored machined aluminum stuff are just a solution to an urge to spend more money.

Unfortunately you are absolutely right. The advancement and improvement of synthetic materials obsoletes traditional materials and methods. Still there is the love/lure for sexy stuff.

 

[Mx5red]

If synthetic line breaks, you just splice it. Tie a knot, whatever it takes in the moment.
Tons of videos out there on this.

This freedom winch line has eyelets along the rope like a giant soft shackle. So if the line snaps somewhere, you might lose the the end knot, may lose a longer length including the eyelet.
They market that you can replace the shackles and straps and not buy/carry them. So if part of the line broke, you may be able to fix it or it might be broken beyond repair. Not many people know how to create a new eyelet in their winch line, etc. I haven’t seen that in the YouTube fiddle videos.

If a typical line breaks, you can splice a loop again and start over. So you just have to re-mount your hook or thimble or whatever, and you still have your shackles and straps.

I really like the idea of the freedom line, I’m just saying if it fails I’m not sure it’s as easy to repair for most people on the trail. Is it likely to ever fail? Do people need all these shackles and straps and stuff?
I asked if soft ropes damage trees like steel line, because I don’t know. There’s definitely more pressure on a 3/8” line than a 3” strap. If a soft line doesn’t damage trees, then maybe this could be the new standard. if ropes still cut trees, then I’d rather use straps and carry more equipment and not damage the trails.

 

[roaniecowpony]

The simplest end on a winch rope is a Brummel loop splice. Anyone that can tie their shoelaces can do it. Once you learn this, you won't forget it and you can do it quickly in the field if the end of your line breaks. You can use it to attach a hook or flat link or an eye thimble or just have it ready for your soft or hard shackles.

The tool in the video is called a fid. Everyone with synthetic rope on their winch should carry one in their recovery gear. If Factor 55 makes anything worth its price, it's their fid. It's a unique fid in that it incorporates a wire chinese fingertrap like some electrician fish lines. But in a pinch, you can use a stick you whittled to a point or a Bic pen, and some tape.



https://factor55.com/product/fast-fid-new/

 

[1996cc]

What is the flat plate on the top end of your hi-lift?

That‘s the lower cost Hi-Lift model, the base is also stamped steel. The more expensive one has a cast base plate and cast upper hook.

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