Got Stuck

scampa said:
Whatever equipment and techniques you may try, you may eventually get to a point when you realize that your only option is to sit tight and wait for some heavy rescue gear to be brought to the scene.

In those circumstances I find it's always handy to have some music cd's to help pass the time. A couple that I can recommend are: Belinda Carlisle singing "Suddenly I'm in too deep", and Status Quo's "Down down, deeper and down". Hope this helps! :):)
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when my daughter got her bedford army truck stuck in morocco,having the benefit of experience,just had a meal and got her head down.sure enough, next morning they found a large mobile crane,driver fast asleep,parked up ready to earn a crust!word travels fast! another thing i forgot to mention ,after carrying a towrope is learn one knot-the bowline. this is the king of knots for me,tow a van all day with a wet rope the knot will always come undone,putting up washing lines or lashing stuff down look it up on you tube and practise till you can do it with your eyes closed.then you'll be as mad as me!
 
ok save you trolling google bowline.gif
 
bowline

when you can tie the bowline easily

then learn to tie it with one hand

this can be very handy in certain situations

not as hard as you may think




Tony
 
I used the bowline for years, having been forced to learn it by an old cockney pit-boss.
However, years later, and at the insistence of my son-in-law, who is both a climber and a boater, I've moved onto to something simpler, AND, according to him, much "better".

Basically, nowadays I use a version of " the best knot ever" which I guess came from Googling, originally. I think the secret is to keep things "clean" and simple. In fact, on the barges, the guys seem to use " no knot" but just a series of "wraps" as often as not ( ha, ha, that sounds stupid).
Also,the old "highwayman's knot or cowboy's hitch does me, generally.

Jamming is usually a bigger time-wasting problem than slippage, imo., so if you can, why not wrap around a draw-pin on the towing vehicle? All you have to do then is pull or hammer out the pin, when the tension is off and the problem vehicle is safely back on terra firma.:D

Another good bit of kit is a length of strong chain; it almost holds onto itself under tension.. However, beware: all hausers can kill or maim, if they fly lose!

The bread crates and any old lengths of carpet were good ideas too.

Stay safe and keep on top!

sean rua.
 
i suppose i spent enough time in vans that rope was part of the lifestyle using the dolly or lorry knot to tie stuff on,and as i said you can always undo a bowline,but my son and i could splice an eye or splice 2 ropes together,make nets to hold stuff,but also if we're parked up for a while rope swings go up in the nearest tree and washing lines,awnings go up,just tarps tied on the van and a couple of branches,sounds very old fashion now though.bloody dinosaur!
 
I don't have any problems with knots, I learned to tie quite a variety with my eyes shut and in all conditions, but I really don't think there's a need for most people (who may not be too practical or confident) to worry about tying them at the scene of a vehicle recovery.

Most tow-ropes, straps, cables etc that are made for towing already have a loop at each end. If not, it's much easier for someone to make a loop (bowline is ideal) at home before setting off on a journey, than wait until they're in a cold, wet, dark and possibly boggy, unsafe location. Then it's a quick and simple job for anyone to attach one looped end to their towing-eye with a D-shackle, karabiner or snap-hook (of sufficient strength/capacity) and the loop at the other end over the towing ball or pin of the rescue vehicle. If there's no tow-bar on the rescue-vehicle then use the second D-shackle or hook to fix to its' front or rear towing-eye.

Here's a set-up similar to what I use, it's also light and takes up minimal space......

4 metre Heavy Duty Tow Strap Tow Ropes & Poles Breakdown Tools & Breakdown Motorin...

As Sean says, be very wary in case a tow-cable snaps or comes apart while under tension, it may whip wildly and could be lethal. Keep everyone well clear. You could lay an unfolded heavy tarpaulin sheet over the middle of the cable, so if it should snap, the whipping movement will be more safely controlled.
 
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Yes agree with previous comments on always carrying a tow rope and shackles but with the weight of the motorhomes many of us have ie 3000kg or more you will need to use correctly rated tow gear. You must consider both the motor homes weight and the tow vehicle together. So 3 ton motor home plus 4 ton tow lorry means tow strops and shackles rated to a working load of at least 7 tons. At work we will use double rated gear for towing or securing plant as it is unsafe to work at the limit of equipments rating.
The point I am trying to make is a motorhome is not a car and due to its increased weight ,towing and especially recovery needs to be done with some knowledge and understanding of what you are doing.
£360 is a lot of money but if you don't have the equipment, knowledge and confidence to recover yourself then it is money well spent if it avoids injury.
 
Thorgrim said:
Yes agree with previous comments on always carrying a tow rope and shackles but with the weight of the motorhomes many of us have ie 3000kg or more you will need to use correctly rated tow gear. You must consider both the motor homes weight and the tow vehicle together. So 3 ton motor home plus 4 ton tow lorry means tow strops and shackles rated to a working load of at least 7 tons. At work we will use double rated gear for towing or securing plant as it is unsafe to work at the limit of equipments rating.
The point I am trying to make is a motorhome is not a car and due to its increased weight ,towing and especially recovery needs to be done with some knowledge and understanding of what you are doing.
£360 is a lot of money but if you don't have the equipment, knowledge and confidence to recover yourself then it is money well spent if it avoids injury.
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Sorry Thorgrim, I think you've had some wrong info about the weight of the rescue vehicle altering the capacity needed of the tow-rope. Eg, if you are towed by a 20 tonne lorry you don't need to add 20 tonnes to the tow-ropes' capacity/rating.

It's only the load (eg campervan) that is being pulled that you need to consider. This load may be increased by various factors including ground type (heavy sand compared to tarmac), incline (uphill, downhill or level ground) and any damage to the vehicle (flat tyre, missing wheel,vehicle on its' side).

But as you say, it's always safer to use gear of a higher rating, rather than work at it's limits. And accidents can happen if you use the wrong equipment or techniques.

I still think that £360 would be a very expensive price to pay, unless it's a very complex rescue. I'd be tempted to use my laptop to put a "help" message on this forum, and hope for another wildcamper who's in the area to offer to help me out (from what I've read, most of them will do anything for a beer!) :):)
 
I thought we were talking about the van/ motorhome having been stuck and bogged down on wet ground. Using your example of a 20 ton lorry, then up until the stuck vehicle comes free the possible load on the recovery gear is the load of the pulling vehicle. In this case 20tons and apropriately rated gear would be needed.
When towing on the flat the load on the tow strop will be less but can spike considerably when the vehicles move toward and away from each other durring acceleration and breaking. The weight of the tow vehicle will effect this.
 
Lol. I think we're confusing each other now!

Whatever the weight of the rescue vehicle, the maximum strain that will be put on the towing gear (when pulling a bogged down vehicle out of the mud or whatever) will be the weight/loading of the casualty vehicle, including the factors such as ground, incline and damage.

Assuming a steady pull, as soon as the towing rope and gear is pulling more than that, the vehicle will come free. Agreed? :)
 
lorry tie down straps are ok for most occasions,but i get rope from a chandlers,they have some really heavy duty rope in that nice soft easily rolled up white plastic ,and i'd rather have rope than chain as it has a bit of bounce to it,so you don't get whiplashed when the tractor sets off. i once got stuck across a lane trying to turn round,and put a load of wet mud down so a 4x4 could pull my van sideways.if i had to pay every time i got stuck i'd soon be skint.took me 3 days to leave glastonbury once,all part of the crack!
 
I would be no expert on the scientific calculations of this, but I'm pretty sure that the actual weight of the towing vehicle is NOT included in the safety calcs of the rope.
The reason I think this is bc I worked with cranes and winches and winders for years. The winding rope didn't seem to be much different just because one crane was bigger than another.
Similarly, we generally used the same "brothers", shackles and pins, regardless of what was doing the lifting.

That said, one thing crane drivers won't tolerate is a "fixed to the earth" situation. For instance, if the banksman hooked onto what was, in effect, an eye embedded in the ground, the bell would start ringing like a bggr, and he'd refuse to lift up at all.

I saw a similar thing one time when i was working with the Dutchmen on the Thames barrier job. A guy hooked onto a huge barge, that was obviously too much for the crane.
The danger is that the heavier fixed end ( ie the big barge in this case) would, if the attempt was continued, pull the crane over and down.
So, having thought about that, I'm confused myself now!

Imagine Del Boy in a Robin Reliant trying to pull out a Winnebago! My money would be on the tyres of the 3-wheeler catching fire before the big bus shifted even a millimetre. But I could be wrong, of course.:goodluck:

sean rua.
 
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I have a couple of those 50mm nylon eye-spliced ropes. Very useful I agree, and may possibly be found if you have access to a docks or container-depot! :eek:

A Tirfor winch would be handy. The most common ones have a capacity of 5 tonnes pull, or 3 tonnes lift, but may be a bit too heavy and bulky to carry in an average motorhome, along with its' cable? As you say though, you also have to have a handy tree or other anchor nearby.

I also have a "Farm-jack" that can be a quick and easy way to lift a vehicle, but again, maybe a bit heavy and bulky to carry with you? (although I have seen a few campers on here that carry them).

I've thought about carrying one of those air-jacks that inflate from your vehicle exhaust. They sound very handy! :)
 
(Here is a video showing a similar thing.
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I can't believe how close some of those people were standing!

We used to train with heavy-rescue winches, and would always include a simulated cable snap (by including a weak-link) to demonstrate just how lethal they can be! It was certainly a good way to learn to have respect for the safety procedures!
 
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bit lost with campers dont go off road .these were taken climbing up way above gouges de dades.
we ended up about 3,800mtrs above sea level. the purple dodge is an ex glasgow service bus .
the valley the other side of my artic was very deep. have a zoom .
 
vwalan said:
bit lost with campers dont go off road .these were taken climbing up way above gouges de dades.
we ended up about 3,800mtrs above sea level. the purple dodge is an ex glasgow service bus .
the valley the other side of my artic was very deep. have a zoom .
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If that was me, the truck would be full of recovery gear and parachutes!! :scared:
 
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