Spent the weekend up South Ballina Beach and camped over night at a little camp spot near Boundary Creek Rd. As i came off the beach up over the dunes via the acess track i was confronted with a fella in a Landrover Freelander buried up to the chasis and well and truly stuck in the middle of the track. Poor old mate was copping it left right and centre from his highly stressed missus. Now i normally dont carry a snatch strap for the pure reason i have never needed it as i used to own a 4.5 litre troopy which went anywhere but now driving a D - Max and i am still getting used to what it can and cant do, so knowing South Ballina Beach can get get soft especially where i wanted to go, so i chucked it in.
As he was blocking the track i thought i had better render some assistance and pull him out. I have never usesd a snatchy before but had a bit of an idea......I thought. As we were facing each other i attached the strap to the tow points, put the d-max into reverse and gave it a bit as she was very soft and landrover very buried. The snatchy snapped straight awaqy and didnt budge the bogged vehicle...
. Had another crack at it but this time got the strap tight first then slowly bulit the revs up dumped the clutch, this time old mate gave the right throttle on the bog vehicle and i slowly pulled him out of the hole and managed to pull him up the sandy slope enough for him to be able to get a bit of a run up and reverse out of trouble which he did. My question is what could of i done differently, or was my snatch strap just not up to the task........Anyway old mate was very greatful and handed over a cold six pack for my trouble which was greatly appreciated as i forgot to restock the beer esky and they were very welcome after sweating my arse off trying to dig and get him out.........
JN
Typically snatch ropes rely on the elastic recoil to help move the stuck vehicle. Was your snatch rope old or in poor condition. Was it a tow strap? I usually put a beach towel or hessian sack on the middle of the snatch in case it snaps/ breaks. The idea being it drops the rope to the ground and tops it flicking wildly through the air. Always use rated d shackles. Keep by standers away as snatch ropes have been reported to have inflicted injuries and death.
The first question you should ask anyone you find bogged in sand is 'what pressure is in your tyres' ?
If the answer is any more than 20 psi tell them to let them down more. 20 is a good start but they can always go down to about 10-12 if really necessary to get out of a bog.
When you say the strap snapped ? do you mean actually snapped in two ? How did you re-use it or did you have more straps ?
The idea of a snatch strap is to actually have some slack and then drive forward (not too fast) so that the strap stretches, and then as it recoils it should pull out the stuck vehicle. The bogged vehicle should always try to start driving (have wheels spinning) as you are doing the snatch.
Sounds like he was bogged pretty bad and prob needed to do some digging before attempting the snatch. If he was that burried and didnt try to drive as you snatched that explains the broken strap.
what rating was the strap ? 8000kgs should be fine for a d-max and a freelander.
Can you get a photo of the strap, or a brand?
Something is pretty wrong for two cars on soft sand to be able to break a strap twice - it shouldn't happen.
nil carborundum illegitimi
Also, make sure that what your attaching the strap to on the vehicle is rated for snatching. the front tie down points on some vehicles are not rated fr recoveries. Not sure about the front points on your d-max so hopefully someone here knows of they are safe.
NEVER attach a snatch strap to a tow ball.
Summertrance, that was my first question and he responded that he had them down to 16psi. I have no real idea on how old the strap is as it was handed down to me by a mate who no longer has a 4by. It snapped at the ends both times which allowed me to re-use it twice. I had no d shackles as i threw it in at last minute on a hunch that i may need it.......not thinking that it would be me pulling some one out. It was strap failure, very obvious by where it snapped. It didnt rub on anything or nick anything just snapped about a metre from the tow hook on my truck. Seeing how buried he was i did spend a bit of time digging out around his wheels before i tried to pull him out, it was then i realised he was sitting on his chasisi and bash plates. Quite obvious that when he got stuck he just sat there spinning his wheels and digging the hole deeper.... After a couple of attempts i noticed his wheels doing erratic and weird things when he was trying to get out. I asked if he had diff locks to which he said no but i have traction control......i thought this might be hindering things and asked him to turn it off but said he couldnt...would the traction control be hindering his ability to get out by himself....
JN
On the tow ball side of things, i was told years ago that if i was going to use back tow ball for snatching, i should remove the pin, slide out the tongue, insert strap into sleeve of back of truck and insert pin through loop in strap. Is this correct or bad advice......
JN
Yeh traction control should def be turned off on sand, as it stops the wheels spinning. You want the wheels to spin on sand. Not familier with a freelander but surely it had a switch somewhere you'd think.
Yes that is an acceptable method.Originally Posted by JEWIENEWIE
This may help,
Have a look at Youtube, there's a lot of helpful videos.
Cheers
Unless you bend the pin and can't get it out... But would still rather a bent pin than a snapped towball flying at someones head.
Kids who Hunt and Fish, Don't Deal and Steal.
Your snatch strap should not have snapped that easily. Mind you I suspect the freelander's "tow points" weren't really meant for recoveries and perhaps having the snatch strap break was better than having one if his tow points let go.
Freelanders aren't big - unless he was stuck in a hollow or valley it should've been possible to have him lower pressures a bit more and push him out if you had a couple of blokes. Should be able to turn his traction control off - but he probably didn't know how.
I did a number of recoveries with this method using a Hayman Reese pin and it never gave a problem. The strap is wide enough that the load goes right out to either side of the pin.
Not saying it can't happen though.
Most light vehicles and even many 4x4s don't have rated recovery points.... just a shipping tie down loop. It's a risk to use a weak point.
In fact some vehicles don't really have any way you can snatch them safely.
(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')
Lots of interesting advice there.
Firstly, if someone is bogged on the beach and they require YOU to pull them out, make it perfectly clear that if you use YOUR snatch strap and it breaks, they have just bought it ( $50 ).
Basic beach recovery gear is:-
2 x rated D shackles
Snatch strap ( 8 - 10,000kgs )
Towel of bag for middle of strap ( Dampner )
Recovery Hitch ( photo below )
Some people prefer to carry a shovel as well.
Max Tracks are options ( i never take )
Tyre pressure gauge. Compressor.
The things I do prior to recovery is:
Have a chat to driver to determine experience and any recovery gear they may have ?
What are the tyre pressures ?
Are they in 4WD ?
Assess whether it is better to tow back or forward ?
Identify recovery points.
Attach strap and shackle etc
Nominate a Point Guard.... someone who can see both vehicles / drivers to give visual instructions ( hopefully both vehicles have a UHF ).
Make a recovery plan... that is. decide how far you will tow vehicle before stopping and what gear and range you will tow in. Sometimes better to recover in 2nd gear low range.
It also may be possible for others to " push / assist " bogged vehicle whilst a snatch recovery is underway.
Everyone has their way of doing things and this is due to experience, impatience or ignorance. Being beach ignorant is not a disparraging comment, simply means you are lacking experience or knowledge, and we all have to start somewhere. Let momentum be your friend on soft sand.
Best advice to seek advice before your trip.
FYI.......... I once had to let my tyres down to 10psi on Fraser at the Nagala Rocks pass.
cheers LP
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I've always heard people say what about a bent pin, but have never actually seen or heard of it actually happening. I have a recovery hitch but have lost count of the number of times Ive pulled out strangers using the pin method on their vehicle.
A recovery hitch is definitely the preferred method, but like you said it's better than using the tow ball and as Walrus suggested that most modern straps are wide enough to spread the load sufficiently.
The amount of people that go onto a beach without any recovery points astounds me. Just this weekend at Bribie there was a new Jeep Cherokee bogged on the cutting and a bunch of people trying to push it out. I pulled up and offered a snatch, to be told it didnt have anywhere to attach a strap. I kept driving.
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