Winching under & to the rear

[GoHot229]

I didn't see anything in search that covered it, but I'v been wondering about if it is advisable or safe to run the cable down, then under the axles and back some distance so that you could pull yourself back out from some pickle you drove into, inother words pull backwards, and iff you can, what about the axle housing up front...Is there a skid plate for that? or have any of you fab'ed one up? I'm sure somebody's tried it at one time or other, but what concerns me if it was infact done....is sawing action of the cable on the axle. Any Comments?

 

[TIGERFANS2]

All I can add to this is a tale of my buddy in Ak. 30 odd year ago....... ran the winch cable on his Toyota Land Cruiser underneath to the only available "tree", hit the switch and shortly there after had a two piece cable.

4 wheel drive: for getting you into trouble
front mounted Warn winches: for getting your buddy out of trouble or you further into trouble

 

[abh3]

Probably not the best idea to just drag the cable under the truck. I should know, having done extensive research into tearing up winches and cable...

But I remember seeing some kind of MV (commie?) with a centrally located winch, you could run the cable out the front or back with some manner of pulley/roller system... With ingenuity and a whole lot of work (and probably $) you might come up with something for the Deuce. If you do it please post pictures!

 

[Boatcarpenter]

A better way to do it.
BC

 

[tjcouch]

A better way to do it.
BC

That would be the best way in a perfect world where there are 3 big trees precisely where you need 'em!

Boy, that's alot of cable in that diagram . . . . . how much cable did these trucks start out with?

On the question of running the cable under the truck - I have "heard" of someone that did this with success . . . . but have never tried it, nor seen it done personally.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

A key factor for discussion here is MINUMUM CABLE BEND RADIUS

In the scenario you described, it is presumed that NO PULLEYs would be employed to make the turns around and under the front bumper or to reduce the friction/wear on the axles. This is a BIG NO-NO

Pulleys serve multiple purposes - the first being minimizing friction. The second and probably even more important is that the cable changing directions over the radius of the pulley is prevented from being "crimped", "kinked", or otherwise damaged or weakened --- sometimes to the point of SUDDEN FAILURE

When a cable is "bent" too tightly, the individual strands of wire are flexed beyond their design limits, the cable experiences a "SELF DESTRUCT" sequence that PERMANENTLY DAMAGES the cable. The spiral "wrap" or "twist" of the cables strands give the cable a certain amount of flexibility. This is why a stranded cable will flex more than a single solid wire of the same cross-sectional area will bend/flex. The stranded cable DOES have a MINIMUM BEND RADIUS though, and should NEVER BE KINKED more tightly than its design intent.

And that, dear children, is exactly why you should always use pulleys/snatch blocks.

As for the friction over the axles - I believe you've already imagined the consequences of that action.

Hope this helps.

 

[mudguppy]

i also seem to remember someone doing it recently. it worked, but i think it left a deep groove in the front bumper...

also, i would imagine it would work all that much better if you put as many snatch blocks as you have cable for on the rear end to alleviate as much strain off the live end of the cable [and bumper] as possible.


oddly enough, i had been thinking about the need for some kind of attachment up front that would allow you to utilize the winch that much better. i'm thinking of a small A-frame type device that mounts to the front shackle mounts almost identical to a tow bar. on the front is a pivoting sheave.

this device would allow for trouble-free winching to either side (up to almost 90°) without fear of running the cable off the winch drum. for pulls at or beyond 90° you'd have to stabilize this "stinger" so it doesn't flip up or under the truck - and i'm not sure how to do that safely.

i guess this stinger could also be used to pull rearward (under the truck) if it were stabilized suitably.

i had originally invisioned this for side pulls. for rear pulls i have an electric winch now, and plan to add a rear PTO winch (converted to hydraulic) in the future.

just rambling thoughts...

 

[MDSA]

GoHot,

There is a video on the old Steel Soldier Site called "stuck deuce." It shows a guy winching his deuce out backwards. I remember seeing something where the friction did cut some of the bumper, but other than that it worked.

 

[Snarky]

The best way to winch backwards is with multiple snatch blocks as shown in the picture. You can always attach more cable if you are creative.

Presumably if you welded roller fairleads to each axle and the bumper you could go under without damaging the cable, however that would require some unique engineering and likely result in something that gets snagged on terrain.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

October 21st, 2009.

GoHot229:

I concur with the diagram above for extracting the truck by itself. Much Better though to have a friend with another winch equipped deuce behind you to pull you out. I have seen a Swiss Army Sauer truck with a center mounted winch and fairleads to front, rear and either side, a very well thought out system for self extraction. Seems the best way though, is to not get stuck in the first place, but Murphy and his lawyers almost guarantee that sooner or later you're gonna get stuck..... If, like my truck in the icon, you don't have a winch, you tend to be very careful as to where you can and can't go.......

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[SasquatchSanta]

It's been my experience that by the time you need to winch backwards everything is bogged down to the point that it is impossible to get a cable under the truck

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

You guys are forgetting the obvious. The biggest problem with running cable UNDER a deuce when you are stuck is that you are usually buried up to the axle.

 

[AZDeuce]

I got stuck out in the AZ desert after a rainstorm turned the hardpack into a swamp, I was in my M52A2 "shortbed cargo truck", it had a winch. I ran the cable down BEHIND the bumper I believe - it was 5 years ago so I don't remember the details. I must have ran the cable on top of the axles, as I was buried pretty good. I had just passed a mesquite tree, and it was about 30 feet to my rear. I put a tow strap around the tree, and hooked the chain/cable to it. It didn't pull me more than a foot when the truck grabbed traction, and pulled herself out.....it just needed that winch to get her started. Such fun

 

[Bobert]

You guys are forgetting the obvious. The biggest problem with running cable UNDER a deuce when you are stuck is that you are usually buried up to the axle.

Good point.

Wasn't there a guy on here that bent his bumper doing this in his yard?

 

[tennmogger]

Here's how I did it:

Rocky Mountain Moggers - Bob Ragain's Frenchie - Moglite

Those pictures were made over several years as the truck was built but the installation has been complete and working fine for about 8 years now.

My wife and I did this with an M-38 in the late 60's. Works great.

Bob

Probably not the best idea to just drag the cable under the truck. I should know, having done extensive research into tearing up winches and cable...

But I remember seeing some kind of MV (commie?) with a centrally located winch, you could run the cable out the front or back with some manner of pulley/roller system... With ingenuity and a whole lot of work (and probably $) you might come up with something for the Deuce. If you do it please post pictures!

 

[jasonjc]

The HEMMET(sp) has a mid mount winch on the right side that goes to the front or rear, though some rollers.

 

[mudguppy]

... as do the FMTVs.

 

[wsucougarx]

You know, last year a SS posted a video of this exact thing. He got his deuce stuck in his backyard. He snaked the winch cable over the front bumper, under the truck, on back to a tree some 40 ft behind his truck. His bumper didn't sustain any problems and he was good to go.

 

[cbvet]

In my experience, 6 wheels driving just means you'll get stuck 6 time worse!

But on topic, I remember some guys in VietNam trying to winch a Deuce backward out of the sand by running the cable underneath the truck. I heard they did a lot of damage before the cable broke & wiped out the radiator.
We ended up pulling it out with a D7 Cat. I think it was deadlined after that.

 

[BFR]

how has this thread gone on for 8 hours without someone outing mangus and providing a link?