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Winching/Recovery 101

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Two will do it, unless you plan on doing a multi point recovery with multiple snatch blocks .. I tend to go with a heavier duty then I actually need.. No matter how you set things up there will always be a weak point, as long as you can Identify it and be within the working load limits.. You can safely & confdently do your recovery
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Excellent and informative thread. My only super nitpicky thing, and you might have said it as I looked at the pictures and skimmed: when recovering a vehicle, I was always told best practice is to have the open "Mouth" of the winch hook facing up- This way, if a cable snaps or suddenly becomes unloaded, the hook goes downward, and doesn't recoil back in the direction of the vehicle doing the recovery. Is this correct?
 
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Excellent and informative thread. My only super nitpicky thing, and you might have said it as I looked at the pictures and skimmed: when recovering a vehicle, I was always told best practice is to have the open "Mouth" of the winch hook facing up- This way, if a cable snaps or suddenly becomes unloaded, the hook goes downward, and doesn't recoil back in the direction of the vehicle doing the recovery. Is this correct?
To be honest hooks scare me .. I have always changed them out with a thimble the day I installed the winch
 

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Here are a few more basics to remember that I remember off the top of my head from a recovery course.

1) Only the hook end of the winch line should be moving. Never hook up the winch and drive backwards. Use kinetic recovery strap to frame mounted tow points for that.
2) When winching someone else, put your transmission in neutral and your foot on the brake, the other vehicle should be in D or R to assist the winch pull.
3) Always keep tension on the line whenever it's being powered in or out of the winch drum.
4) Always wear gloves, stay more than an arm's length from the fairlead, and never let the rope slide through your hand-use a hand-over-hand motion to control the rope.
5) Don't use too little winch rope. Your winch operates more effectively when you are not concentrating all of the use on the same first twenty feet of rope. Use a pulley block whenever the distance you are from the anchor point is 40 percent of the length of your winch line or less to increase your pulling power by using the lower layers on the drum.
6) Never hook onto a tow ball.
7) Keep at least 5 wraps of line on the drum (8 if using synthetic rope)
8) Always drape a blanket (parachute) over the cable.
9) If using a winch hook, connect it with the open side up.
10) Never wrap the line around an anchor point and then connect the hook back to the cable.
 
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Thanks Brian.. great Info .. added to OP
 

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Good stuff.... I'll chime in on a few things.

The shackle you show is a Screw Pin Bow Shackle, not a D Shackle. Yes, just about everyone in the 4x4 world calls them a D shackle, but it's not correct terminology.

The first pic below is a D Shackle, also called a chain shackle. As you can see it has a D shape to it. These are used for straight line pulls only.


D Shackle:

D-Shackle.jpg



Bow Shackle:

screw-pin-bow-shackle.jpg




This is a Bow Shackle and if it has a screw pin, then it is a Screw Pin Bow Shackle. As one of @ECHO's images shows, these are strongest in a straight line pull and gradually lose strength and you move the strap out along the edges of the bow.

The working load limit is the general safe working limit in overhead rigging applications. For our recreational off roading application, we need to be aware of the WLL and realize that we can go beyond the WLL when used correctly.

Most quality shackles have a 4 to 1, 5 to 1 or even 6 to 1 safety factor in them before maximum breaking strength. Meaning they will handle a lot more load than the WLL that is posted on them. A bow shackle with a WLL 4-3/4 T and a 4:1 safety factor has a maximum breaking strength of 38K Lbs.

Shackles that have the CE rating on them, like the one shown in the pic above, have been tested to double the WLL before leaving the factory. Not one or two in the bunch, every single one has to be tested to double the WLL to be rated CE (Conformité Européenne).

Shackles that have an S on them (Aus. Standard) have a 6:1 Safety Rating. So the nicer ARB shackles with the S rating and a 4-3/4T WLL have a maximum breaking strength of 57,000lbs.! Enough to easily handle a 6,000lb decked out JL with a 10,000lb winch and a double line winch pull.

ARB-Shackle.jpg



There is also a Brittish Standard - BS3202, I haven't yet found their specifications.
 
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I have two shackles and a tree saver along with a snatch block and hope that’s enough if I need it, I also have the Factor 55 flatlink on my winch, it was kinda pricy compared to a hook but after watching some vids on closed loop recovery I was convinced it’s safer.
 

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I've never understood why winches evolved to be on the front of vehicles. Why wouldn't they be on the rear to pull you back out of trouble instead of the front where they often pull you further into trouble?
 
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I've never understood why winches evolved to be on the front of vehicles. Why wouldn't they be on the rear to pull you back out of trouble instead of the front where they often pull you further into trouble?
Good point.. my thoughts are you make it as far as you can and then pull yourself the rest of the way .. and if you have enough line and snatch blocks , positioned correctly you can pull yourself backwards
 

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Okay tell me if this is correct?


I have d rings on my bumpers front and rear, if I need to pull someone out, I'll connect my soft shackle to the d ring and snatch strap to the soft shackle?

D ring > soft shackle > snatch strap > stuck vehicle?
 
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Okay tell me if this is correct?


I have d rings on my bumpers front and rear, if I need to pull someone out, I'll connect my soft shackle to the d ring and snatch strap to the soft shackle?

D ring > soft shackle > snatch strap > stuck vehicle?
D-ring - strap - D-ring of stuck vehicle

The D rings on the front of your jeep are for people to pull you out .. Avoid pulling anyone in reverse
 

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Avoid pulling anyone in reverse
I’ve seen this before. Why?

The only practical reason I can think of is safety related; if something breaks while pulling in reverse it would fly straight toward you front m in front through the front windshield vs pulling while in forward gear a component would fly toward you from behind, less likely to strike the driver. Is there another reason?
 

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Avoid pulling anyone in reverse
I fully second that! I broke my front differential trying to pull something in reverse. It was a rockwell 2.5ton axle with ARB air locker in it. I was trying to move a 50' highcube shipping container with my deuce and a half. I never did get it fixed. I just disengaged the hubs and left it. I sold it last year as was with full disclosure.
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