who's used a winch before?

[LETZRIDE]

I'm trying to settle an arguement and 've read some conflicting things on the net and me and a few buddies got into an arguement this weekend about how to winch someone out.

So let's set the scenario and I'd like a dicussion for those of you that are familiar with this kind of stuff...

A buddy of mine got his 2wd Silverado burried on a hill which effectively snagged his frame onto a giant boulder.

I hooked up the winch on my TJ to the back of his truck (9000lb winch) and began trying to pull him out, except, since he's heavier than me, I started to get pulled towards him...

sooo, to combat this, we hooked up a second jeep to the rear of my frame. Both jeeps sat in neutral with the brakes depressed (so that we were not pulling on the parking pin.

Again, hit the winch and both jeeps slid a little bit, but we were able to ground ourselves enough that the silverado got loose and pulled probably a 200-300lb boulder out of the ground with it.

Now, where the discussion comes into play...

I've read conflicting things saying, that is a good way to tear apart the pulling truck (my jeep) and other things saying, nope, that is how you anchor yourself when you're pulling something heavier than you.

my thought is, when you anchor to another vehicle there is "give" and in my opinion, shouldnt be any different than adding weight to the vehicle to keep it anchored since the other jeep isn't pulling against you, he's staying attached to you only (like a trailer essentially) .

Discuss!

[WarShrike]

Re: who's used a winch before?

It's not as bad as if you anchored directly to a tree or something else. You'd be dead set on ripping something apart that way if you were really pulling something big time. Having another vehicle as an anchor instead of a tree allows some give.

If you could have both attached the winches from both jeeps to the truck and pulled simultaneously, you might have been able to do it as well (park side by side, run the winch line to the mount to form a V, then slowly reel in the cable making sure neither one gets slack).

There should be a certain safety factor that your setup is rated to. Sometimes this is 1/2 to 1/4 the level or more at which the components will fail (depends on the manufacturer). There's times where your winch motor will destroy itself before you damage your truck like this.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: who's used a winch before?

how could you set them up side by side assuming the other jeep didnt have a winch? T block?

[WarShrike]

Re: who's used a winch before?

I meant if it had a winch. If not, then daisy chaining the jeeps would be the only way.

If you seriously go offroading without a winch, it's your own fault if you can't get out.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: who's used a winch before?

I meant if it had a winch. If not, then daisy chaining the jeeps would be the only way.

If you seriously go offroading without a winch, it's your own fault if you can't get out.

I disagree, as long as you are with someone who has one you are fine