Vehicle Recovery Guide

Spotter Guidelines

Trail Leader Check Sheet (printable)

New England Jeepz Application (NOW ONLINE!!)

Vehicle Recovery Guide
Written by Robert Gee

Tow Points
Each vehicle on the run is required to have solid frame mounted tow points front and rear. These points are used when the vehicle becomes stuck on hung up on a trail obstacle. The only thing attached to these should be a strap with NO METAL HOOKS, or a winch hook.

Winch Safety
Wear leather safety gloves at all times when handling winch cable, cables often have a broken strand or two which stick out and impale users.

Anchor
Attach to a sturdy tree which is capable of taking the pull you are going to be exerting on it. Do not use birch trees.

Tree Savers
Tree savers should be rated at a higher capacity than the winch being used, or more than twice if a snatch block is in the picture. The tree saver should be attached to the winch using a d-ring NOT only using the hook on the winch cable. Ideally the hook should be placed with the opening up, research has proven that in the event of a hook failure it will fall rather than rise in this configuration.

Line Dampening
Drape a heavy coat or winch weights over the cable to bring it to the ground in case of breakage.

Snatch Blocks
The use of snatch blocks can be very helpful to get to tight places, and double the line pull. It is very important when using to snatch block to double a line pull to remember you are exerting twice the force your winch is rated at. Typical tow hooks are rated at 10,000lbs, if you have a 9500lb winch through a snatch block you are capable of applying 19,000lbs of force. This far exceeds the rating tow hook.

By Standers
During a recovery it is very important to think of the safety of others, many people do not own a winch and have not used one before. They may not understand what happens when things break, or how dangerous it really is. Make sure all people stand at least as far away as the cable is extended from the winch, twice that with a snatch block. Preferably have them stand behind something like a tree incase things were propelled by a breaking winch cable. Never exceed the rated capacity of any equipment, everything should be rated higher than any possible force the winch can apply multiplied by any compounding devices such as snatch blocks.

Disclaimer
These are simply guidelines and are by no means comprehensive to the dangers involved in winching or recovery of a vehicle. The use of a winch is inherently dangerous and should be avoided by those who are not familiar with the dangers of winching.