Tacoma in full winter mode

That's right. But dozers are a lot different then your truck. They've got low gearing that makes it difficult to "jerk" the chain. It's not that simple with an automobile. If you are doing it properly, then yeah, I'm sure you can do it relatively safe. There's a good chance that the car needing the recovery will require a bit of a yank. A snatch strap will do the work for you, whether you jerk it or just pull slow & smooth.

 

You would rather carry around an old tire and chain than a strap

 

Neat! Where does it get this "more pull" from?

/rl

 

The tire. The chains are attached to the each side of the tire so when you pull, you're trying to straighten out the tire. The 'extra pull' is from the tire trying to spring back to it's original round shape.

 

sounds like a fair amount of recovery ingenuity going on in this thread... uh oh!

 

Personally, I think the tire idea is a damn good one! I like chains over nylon straps for the same reason as the OP, they're more durable and last a hell of a lot longer but they aren't appropriate for harder recoveries. The tire idea kind of takes the best of both worlds with the downside being carrying the tire with you.

 

The tire doesn't create any extra pull. It only returns a percentage of the energy that was used to deform it (some is lost as heat).

It may be more effective, though, as you are distributing the initial shock over a longer period of time. It's also much easier on both trucks.

/rl

 

Exactly the same reason that a strap is better. You are able to store energy in the strap that adds to the pulling force without doing damage. You cannot store energy in a chain. You have to pull it taught and do an absolute dead pull. If somehow in all the jostling of the two vehicles the chain goes momentrily slack, then the potential for damage is there.

 

I just use the chain off this.. no problems

 

Failure of the chain is only a part of the danger.

 

Funny you should mention that...if you took the Beauty Spot road from the Limestone Cove side, you would go right by our turn-off...

Howard

 

How about if you do your vehicle recovery your way and I will do it MY way. By using an oversize chain (or derating the chain you are using), you build in a signficant safety factor. If you want to leave slack and go yank, then a stretchy strap is ideal.

However, if that strap should break, you have a large amount of stored energy. One of the reasons I like chain is that straps do very poorly with a come-along, winch or highlift jack. All your pulling force goes into stretch and there is no easy way to capture that for the next bite.

The only chains I have broken in decades have been pulling stumps with a chain fall, and those were low carbon, "utility" chain.

The off-road community does things quite differently with slings than industry.

 

Our county only has a couple of plows, and we live a good 1/2 mile from the paved road. And since we sit in a holler, once we do get snow, and remove it with a snowblower, the remainder turns to ice and might be there for months.

I have spent many a winter in Vermont, and the conditions on the mountain are very similar.

 

the problem is that everyone goes out and gets tow straps and tries to use them as snatch straps. a tow strap used in a snatch style recovery will put similar stresses on both vehicles that a chain would. if you're going to get a running start, snatch strap. if you are going to take up the slack, and do a slow pull (this should always be the first option), a chain is just fine. and in that case, you see the benefit of it being more durable than a strap.

the problem is not the chain or the strap, it is people not knowing the differences and how to use each one.

 

I understand, you asked where the 'extra pull' he was describing came from, I assumed you didn't get the spring action idea that the tire provides. That's why I put 'extra pull' in quotes...

I didn't think the chain failing was overly dangerous at all since they tend not to really spring like cables and straps

 

Nope... I was wondering where the violation of Newton's third law came from.

I recently had the same discussion in person with a friend of a friend who swore the tire created energy. Even demonstrating that a tire dropped from 2 feet doesn't come close to bouncing back the original height didn't help...

/rl

 

At least you tried to set him straight... Some people just can't be helped

 

damit your confusing me! haha is the tire idea a good one or no?

 

I think that tire is a great idea! You get the rigidity and long-term durability of a chain and still have some spring in the setup so you're not 'jerking' or applying large impact forces on either vehicle or the chains.

I was responding to longernammer's comment about trying to explain the laws of physics to his friend who is apparently rather thick skulled when it comes to such things.

 

I've actually never seen an instance where a chain was an advantage in extracting a vehicle. I have seen the disadvantages. I've even seen heavy tow hooks snapped off by a chain. Shock loads are hell. In the real world, pulling people out of situations is a messy deal. The idea of some controlled laboratory pull doesn't happen. Often the vehicle being pulled has to assist in the recovery. Sometimes the person driving it is an idiot. I've pulled people out of everything from snowy ditches to a pond. I've even extracted a full size truck with a horse trailer from a muddy ditch (not with a Tacoma). Using a chain is good way to yank the shit out of something and break it. As always on TW, the views of those who have done thngs for decades and those who have done things twice will never be reconciled. I've contributed all I can to this thread............ Best of luck to everyone this winter.