Use winch as tow strap?

GraniteCrystal

GraniteCrystal

New member
Saw a youtube video today of some dudes in a Porsche Cayenne, with a winch mounted to the rear, hooking it up to the rear of a Jeep stuck in mud. Rather than actually winch them out, they just drive forward, using it more as a tow strap than a winch. Does that hurt anything? They weren't getting momentum or anything, just slowly drove forward and pulled the Jeep out.
 
I was under the impression that a winch should only be used as a winch and not as a tow/recovery strap. Interested to hear what people have to say as well.


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Im pretty sure this is a poor practice. I have read that you should never do that. But I assume as long as you are not doing a "Snatch" type of recovery it would be ok. Slow and steady probably wont hurt anything. But I still feel that if "towing" is your current method of recovery, break out a strap.
 
A winch should NEVER be used as a tow strap.

Some situations a tow strap works best, others a winch. Since that's the case carry both
 
Why is this "bad practice"?

If the winch is used as a tow strap, I would think the same stress and strain is applied to the winch and winch mount points as when actually winching. Whether I'm winching or pulling on the winch cable using the vehicle drivetrain.

Sometimes you just don't have a long enough tow strap. What if to get a tow strap hooked up would put you in a compromising position and may get you just as stuck as the guy you're trying to help?

The only possible downside that I could imagine is that you run a risk of damaging your drivetrain somehow but those risks are present anytime you use a tow strap if you're not careful.

So...someone enlighten me with a manufacturers warning or some other reason, because I really don't know why this should NEVER be done.



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Frogmech said:
Why is this "bad practice"?

If the winch is used as a tow strap, I would think the same stress and strain is applied to the winch and winch mount points as when actually winching. Whether I'm winching or pulling on the winch cable using the vehicle drivetrain.

Sometimes you just don't have a long enough tow strap. What if to get a tow strap hooked up would put you in a compromising position and may get you just as stuck as the guy you're trying to help?

The only possible downside that I could imagine is that you run a risk of damaging your drivetrain somehow but those risks are present anytime you use a tow strap if you're not careful.

So...someone enlighten me with a manufacturers warning or some other reason, because I really don't know why this should NEVER be done.

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A static rope or line should never be used in a situation where there might be a sudden hard tug, you would use a tow strap so that there is some give under a hard load. Otherwise you can expect to damage your line immediately or over time resulting in a snapped cable or rope..
 
You can damage the line (steel) and winch if you jerk it, so I think that the bad practice part comes in as that it will probably take a hit. That being said, when you're stuck, you've got to do what you have to do. Helping someone else on the other hand, I would protect my equipment.
 
First of question. Why was Porsche using a winch at all, and second why the hell couldn't the jeep just drive out ? Let's fave it if they could be pulled out by a damn Porsche then they should have been able to drive out.

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TrainWreck618 said:
A static rope or line should never be used in a situation where there might be a sudden hard tug, you would use a tow strap so that there is some give under a hard load. Otherwise you can expect to damage your line immediately or over time resulting in a snapped cable or rope..
Click to expand...

Frogmech said:
Makes more sense now.

Thanks for the input.


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Click to expand...

This definitely makes sense but GraniteCrystal mentions there was no momentum used so I'm assuming this was not a snatch style recovery. That said I feel like towing like this could put more stress on the brake in the winch. Any other reasons?


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