winch recovery from a hitch pin
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Out on a limb here, I cannot see anything wrong with a recovery using a towball, as long as there is no big shock involved. Towballs cop heaps of forces when towing, just the massive forces that are involved in using snatch straps is the major problem.
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I had a towball fail on me once while doing a static load test on a towbar. Made a hole in a brick wall.
50mm tow balls should be used for one thing only… Towing a trailer.
OK, now what loads were applied in this static load test? There are trailers and there are trailers. My box trailer is a lot smaller and would apply a lot less stress than my 22’ caravan, and can be both towed with the 50mm towball.
I would never ‘snatch’ off a towball. Those forces are a bit brutal. But then again, a gentle forward movement shouldn’t cause any problems.
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Atleast the towball will remain captive in the trailer hitch if it were to break.
That’s a good point, but not the question that was posed. I’m not advocating using the towball, I’m just trying to sort truth from heresay. I know the forces that can be involved from an incorrect snatch are horrendous, but a steady pull is well within the capabilities of a towball. 🤔
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I mean the hitch pin not the tow ball. Cheers
Static load test in accordance with AS4177.1 Appendix A.
1.5x Towing capacity applied gradually and maintained for no less than 10 seconds. It was a 3.5t towbar, so test load was 51.5kN.
Never got to 10 seconds and the ball came out the coupling. Scared the **** out of me.
You might get away with it 90% of the time, but all it takes is that one little “tuck” that’s just a little too hard on your mate’s 20-year old rusty towball that is fitted to a slightly bent tongue causing a small stress concentration and it becomes a 50mm cannonball.
Too many ifs and buts IMO. Just leave the tow balls for towing and do what the OP suggested. Pull the hitch out and stick the pin through a strap loop. Or do what I did. Buy a $30 hitch insert with a bow shackle from Aldi and fit it to the towbar.
Was it the thread on the ball that gave way?
That I know, am posing the question about the ball.
I too follow the general consensus not to use a towball for recovery, but I do like to get real information on why things happen.
We have a wealth of knowledge on this forum, that’s why we ask questions. 👍
Sheared off at the mounting face where the shank starts. The tongue was bent so the ball wasn’t sitting on a flat face anymore.
At our local trailer parts shop I've had a look at two tow balls that have failed and it was clear by the surface oxidation that both had stress fractures that went most of the way through the shank for a long time before final failure. Both these balls failed while towing a trailer and safety chains saved the day in both cases.
I don't see any chance of a tow ball in good condition failing from snatching, well no more chance than the tow bar failing. Ronny Dahl's crazy youtube vid on snapping tow balls shows that a towball of unknown (probably good) condition failed after 8 violent snatch attempts with an 12 tonne snatch strap. I find it interesting that they make little comment about the fact that the tow bar the ball was bolted to also broke at the same time but still held on one side that prevented it becoming a missile. Dahl made no mention not to use a tow bar for snatching despite the fact that he proved the amount of force needed to snap a ball in average condition can also snap a tow bar.
After snapping the towball of unknown condition they went on to snap several tow balls that were cut partly through just to show the possible damage they can cause. They also had some new unweakened balls that Ronny declined to try and break because he was suffering from extensive seatbelt bruising and whiplash from the first towball.
The main point of their experiment was to show what damaged can be caused by a snatch strap on a towball, even if it has a stress crack started in the shank and that such a damaged ball can snap with normal snatching force. The amount of force they repeatedly applied to the first ball to get it to fail was not normal. Few people know the condition of their towball shank so they might be in exactly the same condition as the bunch they snapped. Whatever the case, there is no way that a 12000lb winch can exert the same sort of force as an 12 tonne snatch strap and no way a winch line can store that much energy so I'd have no concerns at all about winching off a tow ball.
I don't see any chance of a tow ball in good condition failing from snatching, well no more chance than the tow bar failing. Ronny Dahl's crazy youtube vid on snapping tow balls shows that a towball of unknown (probably good) condition failed after 8 violent snatch attempts with an 12 tonne snatch strap. I find it interesting that they make little comment about the fact that the tow bar the ball was bolted to also broke at the same time but still held on one side that prevented it becoming a missile. Dahl made no mention not to use a tow bar for snatching despite the fact that he proved the amount of force needed to snap a ball in average condition can also snap a tow bar.
After snapping the towball of unknown condition they went on to snap several tow balls that were cut partly through just to show the possible damage they can cause. They also had some new unweakened balls that Ronny declined to try and break because he was suffering from extensive seatbelt bruising and whiplash from the first towball.
The main point of their experiment was to show what damaged can be caused by a snatch strap on a towball, even if it has a stress crack started in the shank and that such a damaged ball can snap with normal snatching force. The amount of force they repeatedly applied to the first ball to get it to fail was not normal. Few people know the condition of their towball shank so they might be in exactly the same condition as the bunch they snapped. Whatever the case, there is no way that a 12000lb winch can exert the same sort of force as an 12 tonne snatch strap and no way a winch line can store that much energy so I'd have no concerns at all about winching off a tow ball.
I really think this is a no brainer, so for any new members reading this in the future let's make it simple, tow balls are used for towing, it may only be a very small percentage of towballs that shear when used for snatching but it just isn't worth the risk of having 1/2 a K of steel hurtling at great speed towards cars and people, this can kill or maim. When a hitch pin is used to connect the snatch strap(s) it is put into double shear load, much safer.
@AndrieK @geeyoutoo Does the use of a shackle receiver make any real difference to the way the load is applied to the hitch pin, and/or how much load it could withstand?
Or is it just an easier way to attach the strap/winch cable than trying to reach the hitch pin inside the receiver?
Or is it just an easier way to attach the strap/winch cable than trying to reach the hitch pin inside the receiver?
I think you are out on that limb by yourself.
And to the OP nothing wrong with using the hitch pin for recovery. Just a pita to attach anything. And I have seen them bend in the shs box section using this method. Then they have to be cut out.
Some say that sticking the pin through the strap could potentially bend the pin, making it difficult / impossible to remove, and / or impossible to use for attaching a towing hitch ever again. I’ve never seen this personally.
I have never towed anything with my Patrol and don’t have anything to tow, so I have a recovery hitch permanently fitted in my towbar.
@Overboard, all good points you’ve made however, keep in mind that a towbar designed to tow high towing loads are attached with multiple fasteners in different planes. Chances of them all failing at the same time is rather slim. A towball is one critical connection.
I’m with @geeyoutoo… Don’t take the chance. You can’t always guarantee the condition of the ball.
The other way id like to throw out there, is to just remove the Tow ball itself from the tongue, and use your large recovery bow shackle ,putting the shackle pin through the hole the tow ball normally goes through, this completely removes the tow ball from the equation, but does not risk bending the tongue retaining pin.
Seems to contradict. 🤔
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