Tow Rope/cable

I was at a local jumble sale by our scout hut saturday and some **** moved the cones that were put there to stop people driving on the very boggy field next to the hard standing car park. then they drove their transit custom that must have weighed 2 tonnes and got very stuck. They buried their front down so much that the engine sump was buried.
As I walked past him, he shouted out the window, 'give you £50 to pull me out', I said no chance. firstly, I don't have a tow rope and secondly, he can stay there and wait for recovery and think about life choices.
That got me thinking, if I had a rope I would have helped of course, but I don't. So I was going to buy a decent tow rope or cable to put in the back for those special occasions.
Anyone want to share what they got? If I google it, I just get a ton of **** adverts for random ropes that may or may not be great.

PS: scout hut people were very ****ed off with him as he left a long deep trench in their nice field.

Any old lifting strop will do the job you need.

Lots on eBay and in the suppliers in various magazines. Make sure you get a decent rated one and not a motor spares store one. A couple of decent shackles too would be useful.

Maybe this...
Amazon product

Although, paddock do this, maybe with a couple of shackles as suggested, it may do for having under the seat.


I'll wait to see what else anyone can suggest.

styleruk said:

I was at a local jumble sale by our scout hut saturday and some **** moved the cones that were put there to stop people driving on the very boggy field next to the hard standing car park. then they drove their transit custom that must have weighed 2 tonnes and got very stuck. They buried their front down so much that the engine sump was buried.
As I walked past him, he shouted out the window, 'give you £50 to pull me out', I said no chance. firstly, I don't have a tow rope and secondly, he can stay there and wait for recovery and think about life choices.
That got me thinking, if I had a rope I would have helped of course, but I don't. So I was going to buy a decent tow rope or cable to put in the back for those special occasions.
Anyone want to share what they got? If I google it, I just get a ton of **** adverts for random ropes that may or may not be great.

PS: scout hut people were very ****ed off with him as he left a long deep trench in their nice field.

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What would also be useful for me to know is the correct way to utilise the rope and how and where to attach it. If we can add that to the query.

Make sure you don't pull off arf your chassis off cos that's a little more than £50 .
I would have parked facing him with the winch and said " nah I am off for a cuppa".

But carrying a bit of recovery stuff is always a good thing, may help you 1 day too.

I am all for helping peeps, but .

J

marjon said:

Make sure you don't pull off arf your chassis off cos that's a little more than £50 .
I would have parked facing him with the winch and said " nah I am off for a cuppa".

But carrying a bit of recovery stuff is always a good thing, may help you 1 day too.

I am all for helping peeps, but .

J

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I must say, and trying not to be too judgemental here. the van was brand new and was converted to have a wheelchair in the back on a ramp. He was massive, I mean, he could barely stand up let alone look under the car to see what he had done. His wife standing by the side, somehow, was larger. I'm talking, own gravity here. I'm guessing she needed the wheelchair because she ate too much. Being brought up on a farm myself, I instantly don't like people that stupid and who ruin the ground without thinking how that trench he made will become hard and horrible in the summer. Least he could do is come back and tidy the ground up but I'm guessing he would die of a heart attack if told to do anything more than turn the steering wheel on his 2tonne car.
Therefore, I had no problem with leaving him there stuck and waiting for a tow truck to pull him out, the land owner was less happy and I understand why. But if I had a decent rope, I would have towed him from the hard standing and took the £50 to give to the scout hut...alas. I often see idiots parked in strange places when the wet stuff happens, so maybe a decent tow rope will pay for itself on the first recovery.

this seems like a good choice...

but yes, some general advice for all if anyone can share. Obviously, you have to fix to the towee to a tow hook. Personally, I would just drop it over my tow bar, but any advice on this is always helpful.

If you do decide to tow someone out of the mud, make it very clear to them ( video it on your phone ) that any damage to their vehicle is their responsibility.
You could possibly pull something off their vehicle.

Galladog said:

If you do decide to tow someone out of the mud, make it very clear to them ( video it on your phone ) that any damage to their vehicle is their responsibility.
You could possibly pull something off their vehicle.

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That's a good point, could easily bend a tow hook or worse. Especially the weight of cars these days.

If they are really bogged down you could pull off their front bumper, exhaust, brake lines any wires underneath etc.

A vehicle of that size will need more than a tow. That weight down to the sump/axles is a "Recovery"
The loads imposed on both vehicles can be large. Attachment points on both have to be spot on and tow line the same.
Danger then is when it does not move a "snatch pull " is attempted and loads on the system can be massive.
Winch out safest option.

Galladog said:

If they are really bogged down you could pull off their front bumper, exhaust, brake lines any wires underneath etc.

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Or yours.

Helper beware.

J

SteveMarquis said:

What would also be useful for me to know is the correct way to utilise the rope and how and where to attach it. If we can add that to the query.

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Top tip is let them conenct the two strop to their car.

If you are not sure where to connect to to your car you have to ask yourself, should I be trying to tow anyboy?

styleruk said:

this seems like a good choice...

Recovery Tow Strap (Hook & Loop) | Webex Supply

Tow Strap (Hook & Loop) ideal for towing and pulling vans, caravans, cars and agricultural vehicles with a heavy duty hook and extra protection padded loop

webexltd.co.uk

but yes, some general advice for all if anyone can share. Obviously, you have to fix to the towee to a tow hook. Personally, I would just drop it over my tow bar, but any advice on this is always helpful.

Click to expand...

Don’t use the hooks. They may release. At least with shackles the rooe stops on.

Also attaching to tow ball can break the ball off.
I have a drop plate & use the shackle in the jaw

Pulling a 2 tonne car along the road takes nowhere near 2T and using the towball would be fine.
Use a 2T rated endless sling (like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375040310433 )

Hook your towball to his towball and gently tighten the sling and pull him along.
You could pull him uphill using this type of arrangement.

If the car is in a field or in a few inches of mud the the 2T car would weigh closer to 3 tonne.
Pulling him along the flat in this situation using your towball and a 2T sling is nearing the limit.
You risk pulling the towball off your, or his, vehicle.
The sling will not snap as typically these have a safety factor of 6:1 (ie, 12Tonne before it snaps).
Cheap, low-cost, eBay specials may not be manufactured to the AS4497 standard so may break with less load but will still pull your towball off the car first.

If a 2T car/van is up to its axles in the mud, it will weigh more than 3 tonne, probably 4 tonne or more. at this point you will need some really solid connection points to take that sort of strain.
The towball just isn't designed to take this amount of strain.

At this point you need to spread/share the weight to more than 1 point.
On a Defender you can attach high tensile 'jate rings' through the chassis which will allow you to pull around 4 tonne as the load is shared with each chassis leg.
This is the same front or back.
A winch bumber is attached to the front of the chassis using 6 bolts, 4 vertically (as normal) and 2, horizontally, through the chassis where you can also bolt your 'jate rings'.

Attaching the strop to the jate rings using a 3.25T 'Bow' or 'D' shackle is best.
Use a second strop to attach your vehicle to the car/van you are wanting to tow.

Think about where you are going to attach your tow rope to and the weight of the car/can you are going to pull.
Losts of good advice from @Galladog above (get them to connect it, video it, understand its at their risk etc).

I second what @lynall said, I've got two 3 ton lifting straps in the landy at all times, with the stiched loop both ends, I've pulled people out and even dragged a car off its roof for the police using them combined with a couple of 2.5 ton shackles. Easy to use and store and very cheap.

tottot said:

A vehicle of that size will need more than a tow. That weight down to the sump/axles is a "Recovery"
The loads imposed on both vehicles can be large. Attachment points on both have to be spot on and tow line the same.
Danger then is when it does not move a "snatch pull " is attempted and loads on the system can be massive.
Winch out safest option.

Click to expand...

You might be surprised! A dumb WPC had driven the Polis Transit with four or five plod in onto a ploughed field near where I used to live. The revving and blue lights woke me. Pulled them out with a backwards tow in a 1.2 Punto. No real thanks and I somehow got the impression it was my fault.

I have towed many stuck vehicles over the years [ most at 4x4 trials events] and often all it takes is a bit of tug to get things moving again.
A landy can pull a huge thing if it can find the grip. There is a corner in the road near me where trucks and coaches have got stuck/jammed over the years. "You wont get me out with that" is often the response when I arrive and are amazed/pleased when it does. A vehicle down to its belly like described by OP is another matter.

all good advice. cheers. I'm a practical person but sometimes it's worth asking and reminding ourselves that you may do more harm than good. I'll stick to towing people out of puddles instead in the future.