Tow Straps

[loomixguy]

A week ago today I managed to pretty much completely bury my 550. After a short hike, I had service on the cell, so I called my new nephew in law, as he was closest to my spot of shame. He asked if a half ton pickup would work to pull me out and I told him to get out his 4X4 loader tractor, and bring a chain or something and a clevis, as the last time I powerwashed the rig, I took them off and forgot to set them back on the truck.

A short while later his uncle showed up in the "tratter" and produced a tow strap & clevis. The strap was probably 4" wide and 25-30 feet long. I grew up using heavy ash cables or log chains, and later went to a tow rope, but it had the metal eye and hook on the ends, and I was always worried it could fail and send either end like a bullet. Well we rigged that strap up and broke that 550 to lead, ending up going close to a mile to get to the nearest gravel road. (It had thawed so much while I was stuck that the road I went down earlier was now all but impassable.)

I was REALLY impressed with that strap. So much so that that night I went searching on the 'net and found one at WisCoLift that I figured would work. 2 ply, 6 inches wide, and 30 feet long, a little over 200 buckaroos, and 117,000 + pounds breaking strength. You can carry it in a shoe box. You could say it's overkill, but I figgered better to have it and not need it, as to need it and not have it. And, NO, George, you can't borrow it to "try 'er out" for me! :lol: If you find yourself in the market for some kind of rope, chain, etc., those straps are sure worth a look.

 

[tenbach79]

About 10-15 years ago a kid was helping his dad pull a tractor that was stuck and they tied a log chain on the tractor and started pulling and the chain broke and went throught the back window hitting the kid in the head. Didn't kill him but he was brain damage from the accident.

Better make sure that strap never gets a nick in it or it will become a weapon. But should work just fine and more handy to haul around than a log chain.

 

[DustDevil]

I got my Jeep in a predicament one time years ago. I was playing around driving on a levee of a spoil area (where dredges pump to) next to the Bayou. There was a 3-wheeler trail on top and it got so narrow that my tires were on both sides of the levee and I was about to high-center. When I went to back out , I slid off slightly to the inside and when I tried to move up, it was the same. I could have probably rolled it over by hand by then. I called my Buddy to see if he could get me out with his tractor but with all the rope and chain we had it couldn't get close enough. I wise-cracked that I wished a tug-boat would come by. Danged if not 5 minutes later a tug pushing one empty barge came by and he came over his bull-horn, "are you stuck?" and I vigorously shook my head "yes". He nosed the barge towards me and a deck-hand threw me a big line with an eye in it. I hooked my chain through it and the Captain just bumped reverse and he skillfully jerked me back on top. I thanked him very sincerely with waves and thumbs up and he proceded on down the Bayou.
I don't think the Bank would have loaned me enough money for that little (BIG for me) tow-job, that day. Thanks to the kindness of a push-boat Captain.

 

[George]

I fear the straps and chains and cables!

So I am very carfull.

Several years ago a friend called as he had a redi-mix concrete truck burried in his yard. When I got there the driver had the biggest strap I have ever seen hooked to the truck. I told him I had brought 2 tank retriever chains with me but he wanted to use the strap. I have rings about 6" in diamiter made of about 1 1/8" steel in the middle of the buckets on my cats so we hooked there with a good clevis and I started backing up. The friend was outside my cab and I told him to get in and close the door. As I backed up the strap just kept getting longer and thinner until it snapped and luckily stayed in the bucket!

I then pulled forward and we hooked the tank retriever chains and I pulled him out. When you weigh 66,000# and have 425 HP and good traction you can pull.

I bought 3 of the tank retriever chains from an army surplus outlet in Penn for about $125.00 @ The links are made of 7/8" steel and are very heavy ( about 8# to 10# per foot ) they have pear rings in each end made of 1 1/4" steel as well as 7/8" grab hooks. I have only broken 1 so far and it had 2 980 Cats pulling when it broke.

One of the men going to our church is a member of a fire department and he takes fire hose that is out of date and folds the ends back and bolts them into loops and gives them away as tow straps. He and all his buddies love to 4 wheel and they have never broken one yet with gas and or diesel pick-up trucks but I'm afraid to put them up against the raw power a 980 cat can produce!

I like to pull from the front if possible as the hydrolics can pull more than the traction I can get . If something is really stuck I will dig holes and put the loader down in the holes and hook a chain in the middle of the bucket. I dig the holes so it takes 2 tank retriever chains to reach whatever is stuck. When I roll the bucket back I have the protection that if something breaks the bucket should catch it. When I roll back I will pull the stuck item about 3 feet and then roll the bucket forward and being as I'm using 2 chains rehook to shorten the chain and roll back again. It took 4 roll backs to retrieve a D9 cat that was in so deep I had to step down 6" to step on the top track. This was about 150' from a state hiway and we had quite an crowd. As many people as stopped I thought we could have picked the dozer up and carried it out!

When I got him out he stated he would go around behind me and pull me out. I ask him to give me a minute and I turned full to the right raised the front tires off the ground and turned full to the left. Now both front tires were out of the holes as well as one of the back tires was starting out so I repeated the manauver and then drove out.

The same man got the same dozer stuck again about 2 months later in a small creek but it was easier to get out the second time. I told him he needed to get smarter of get a dozer small enough that his all wheeel drive tractor could move! Some people don't appreicate my humor!

 

[littlejoe]

About 10-15 years ago a kid was helping his dad pull a tractor that was stuck and they tied a log chain on the tractor and started pulling and the chain broke and went throught the back window hitting the kid in the head. Didn't kill him but he was brain damage from the accident.

Better make sure that strap never gets a nick in it or it will become a weapon. But should work just fine and more handy to haul around than a log chain.

I've never seen a log chain fly too far==but the hardware on end of a rope can be deadly! When making them up, we use chain and hooks rated about double the rope--way rather have the rope break than the iron. If you throw a heavy coat or saddle blanket---whatever you got handy ===over them, it does help kinda 'damper' them.

 

[burnt]

The funniest "stuck" I ever saw was a few years back when a neighbor got his combine in up to the axle while cutting soybeans in a springy field. They had tried pulling it out backwards with no luck. Not sure why because that usually works better than forwards.

So they hooked onto the front, barely able to slide a chain under the cutting platform to the axle, it was in so deep. They were trying to pull that machine up over a 3' wall of dirt, which didn't make sense to me. I had cables that were long enough to get some fresh footing for pulling him out backwards, but they didn't want any help.

Anyway, they had those tractors just a tugging when suddenly the chain snapped. The shock was so sharp that the front window of the combine shattered into a pile of crystals on the cab floor and the feeder house.

The look of stunned shock on the combine drivers face! I said, "Man, you can't get that clear a view with Windex!" and turned and ran . . .