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Tow Chains for the Deuce

WyoDeuce

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Laramie WY 7220 ft.
For a simple guide on snatch straps see the government down under guidelines: http://www.juststraps.com.au/pdf/Snatch Straps Industry Guidelines Final March 08 Amended pdf.pdf

For more recovery information than most of us will ever need see: Pirate4x4.Com - Extreme Four Wheel Drive

:soapbox: There is a huge difference between recovery straps/ropes and tow straps/ropes. No offense but IMO snatching with a tow strap or tow rope with attached metal hooks is more dangerous than jerking with a chain due to the release of stored energy when it breaks (and it will break before a snatch strap or snatch rope of similar size). Once again my two cents. Ron

Agreed. The good straps have just loops at the end. Use BIG clevises to attach them.
 

Westex

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El Paso, TX
I purchased the 5/16 chain, grade 70 from Harbor Freight. I've been happy with it. I've dogged down 20 foot containers on my gooseneck; have dogged down my 743B Bobcat on the trailer; lately I actually LIFTED a 20 foot container for positioning with a well service truck. Now bear in mind that these are all static uses of the chain. For pulling a Deuce out of a stuck position I agree with above posts that this would be at the upper limits of a 5/16 grade 70 chain. But for what it's worth, I've been happy with the 5/16 chain for my uses so far.
 

Recovry4x4

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I get my recovery straps from Strapman.com - Straps and Tie-Down Products for Lashing your Load Securely Not cheap but not cheap either. We always used 2" straps for nearly stock jeeps, 3" for the big jeeps and 4" straps for the pickups. Of course the 6" for the deuces. All recovery straps are not created equal either. Forget lifting slings, they need to be designed for recovery. A quality strap will be rated for 10,000# per inch of width. Pretty sure four by kens are the good stuff.
 

Boosted_Nelson_Inc.

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I think it really needs to be pointed out more that there is a big difference between tow straps and snatch/stretch straps. A tow strap is designed to work like a chain, it is not supposed to stretch. A stretch strap absorbs the force and stretches, then recoils to multiply the force. Tow straps and chains are for steady pulls, stretch straps are for jerking a truck out. Oh, use clevises not built in hooks.
 
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rwoods

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Greeneville/TN
The most used chains I have are 20' long 5/16" grade 70. Carry at least one everywhere in whatever I am driving. I get mine from Lowe's. Campbell - made in USA - $35.96. But I still don't recommend them for unsticking a deuce. Ron
 

skidunits4you

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Washington NC
Grade 43 chain is junk Grade 70 chain is transport chain for load binding (not for pulling) if your going to pull with chain you should use grade 80 or grade 100 both are certified lifting chain. We only use these on the big wreckers (50 ton rotator with twin 50000# winches)As a crane operator I wouldnt use anything less.
 
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wdbtchr

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St. Louis, MO
:ditto:I gotta agree with him, load chains are for just that thing not pulling. I've seen load chains used for pulling break and go right through the back of the cab, if you get in the way it will go through you too.
 

gtsig

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Rustburg Va
chains for towing???

I work at a steel company and we move heavy steel all day with over head crains using chains at the bottom half. First thing you learn when you rig is never jerk on a chain because it weekens the links and it will faul and you will eat the steel (same with the truck it will brake and if lucky only the truck will eat that chain). Also chains are ment for strange shots if you put them in a bind then you have cut your chains to half the load. We leason to this every week at our safety meeting so I know it out by heart.
Get some strong and good straps it may save your life
 

jdr2710

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Location
Colorado Springs, CO
It looks like synthetic rope has been neglected here. Nice and easy to handle and really strong, but not cheap! If you're looking to avoid reeling out a ton of winch cable it is the way to fly. If you're tugging somebody out you want the recovery strap as mentioned previously. Synthetic rope doesn't stretch like wire rope or nylon, so there is much less danger of pieces flying if something breaks. The only major disadvantage of synthetic rope (aside from the cost) is that it is not abrasion resistant, but if you're winching yourself out this is less of an issue, since the vehicle is moving, not the rope sliding across rocks. What I did on my H1 winch was to put less rope on the drum, so I get closer to the drum and thus more power, then use a couple winch extension ropes to make up the distance. That way I don't reel out much and I've got the power, but I still have the reach, and the extension ropes coil up quick and toss in the back.

I get my synthetic rope from these guys (no affiliation), good prices and easy to deal with. They'll make any length you want:

Rockstomper.com

One of the disadvantages of straps that hasn't been mentioned is that they lose about 1/2 their rated strength when wet (I can't find the page anymore, but a company in Australia tested a bunch of straps and found this to be pretty consistently the case).

I only use chain if the stuck vehicle doesn't have decent recovery points so that the strap or rope doesn't get cut. Otherwise if both vehicles have good attach points strap & clevis are the way to go.
 

Haggar

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Oxford, MI
Absolutely go for a recovery strap (I'd be considering a 6" strap here) or a properly sized synthetic rope.

And don't ever connect two straps together with a metal object. YOu can loop them together, with a stick of wood inbetween to prevent the knot from getting pulled so tight that you can't undo them.

I'm new to MVs, but have been doing serious offroading for 15+ years. No one in their right mind snatches with a chain.
 

emr

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landing , new jersey
I guess i am alot older, I have been using chains for over 30 years, but with that said, we/I have been aware of what we were doing, and i still use chains, I have alot of chain, i will post pics one day of my wall of chains, I will also say a stretch tow strap is the absolute best way to do hands down. one can get a more stuck vehicle out with less effort than anything else. have had chains brake , but never seen em fly like a cable, i stay away from cables at all cost, thats just me...
 

rwoods

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Greeneville/TN
Not to get off topic, but seeing that there have been over 500 views of this thread, there are probably some readers who need to know that the implement used, be it a chain, cable, strap, rope, barbed wire, etc, is only part of the equation. I would wager that more people have been hurt (and certainly more property damage done) while trying to extract a recreationally stuck vehicle by using an inappropriate attachment point than using an undersized chain, etc. And the danger of injury from a failed attachment becoming a missile is directly related to the energy stored in the chain, etc and inversely to the mass of the chain, etc. A chain will store less energy and its mass will absorb more of the energy released when the attachment fails thus transferring less energy to the missile. Conversely, a snatch strap will store more energy and absorb less due to it lighter mass, thus transfering more of the released energy to the missile. I may not have the physics stated technically correct but think grade school, shooting a spit ball with a rubber band vs trying to shoot a spit ball with a key chain. The spit ball from the rubber band is going to hurt alot more. On the other hand, as amply illustrated in previous posts, the implement used also has an impact on the likelyhood of failure of the attachment point due to differences in the delivery of the energy from the pulling vehicle - the shock load delivered by a chain is more likely to break the attachment point than the shock load delivered by a snatch strap. My illustration is not to endorse a chain over a strap or vice versa. It is just an illustration that there are many more factors than just having a strong chain or strap, one of which is your attachment point.

Fortunately, finding a good attachment point on a deuce usually isn't to difficult. Other vehicles not always so easy. Just be carefully out there. I am done preaching safety, at least for now. Ron
 
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ODdave

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lansing michigan
this post looks like it has some good potential for some darwin awards, anybody have any carnage pics/ vid's from improper recovery methods? (no fatality stuff please) mabye some damaged trucks? broken chains? bent stuff?????2cents
 

Recovry4x4

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Never try to do snatchum recoveries with the tailgate open. It can really slow flying objects down. Note hole in tailgate!
 

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