Hitch Ball NO NO

[Breakaway]

Dont use that hitchball for recovery, stump pulling or anything but trailer towing.

A Kingman, AZ man died this week when a tow hitch & ball they were using to try to snatch-recover his truck from a mud hole broke. The hitch broke off from the recovery rig and the strap, ball, and part of the hitch went through the windshield and hit him.

RIP Ryan Woods

NO TOW BALLS/BALL MOUNTS FOR SNATCH RECOVERIES
This has been in the news a bit recently. People still seem to think it is ok to throw a snatch strap over the tow ball when recovering a stuck 4WD. This is a dangerous mistake.

Tow balls/Ball Mounts are not designed for the stresses a snatch strap or even a winch can put on them. Many tow-balls are rated as low as 2000lbs, but even a 10,000 rated ball is not enough for snatching a bogged rig safely. If you snatch off a tow ball, it can shear off and go flying through the air like a cannonball.

That piece of flying metal has the potential to kill and has done so in the past. In just one example, a lady was killed while recovering a stuck 4WD in deep sand. The tow-ball broke off the stuck vehicle and flew through the front window, of the recovery rig, and killed the driver. Such a tragedy and she was just trying to help out.

Please don't use tow-balls for recoveries.

Photo by Justin Pendley


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[SKIP KILPATRICK]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Good to know! I doubt I would have tried that.......but now I'm sure I never will!

[Jim Bow]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Gawd! Wottawaytago.

[Nicholas Carey]

Hitch Ball NO NO

Has more to do with the nylon tow strap that was being used.

Nylon has about 100% elongation before it fails (one of the reasons sock lines and anchor rode are typically nylon).

Stretching that sort of nylon webbing to failure means it contains a huge amount of potential energy... that get converted to kinetic energy when the webbing fails.

Think giant rubber band on steroids, with a big hunk of metal attached to it.

If he had been us no chain, or Dyneema™️or the like, probably not a problem.

[Tom from Rubicon]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

My forty year old brand name snatch strap is still in service. Not using a clevis is what the OP is about.
Scratch one more off the Darwin list.

Tom

[epoxyboy]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Has more to do with the nylon tow strap that was being used.

Nylon has about 100% elongation before it fails (one of the reasons sock lines and anchor rode are typically nylon).

Stretching that sort of nylon webbing to failure means it contains a huge amount of potential energy... that get converted to kinetic energy when the webbing fails.

Think giant rubber band on steroids, with a big hunk of metal attached to it.

If he had been us no chain, or Dyneema™️or the like, probably not a problem.

The webbing strap hasn't failed, the tow hitch it was attached to broke off and got slingshotted back through one of the vehicles.
Stretchy snatch straps reduce the shock load where the towing vehicle has to build up a bit of speed to pop the bogged one free -pretty normal practice, especially if the towing vehicle isn't on solid ground itself.
If you tried that with a chain, absolutely guaranteed you'll break things. And fwiw, chains fail pretty spectacularly too, and can be just as lethal.

Pete

[Nicholas Carey]

The webbing strap hasn't failed, the tow hitch it was attached to broke off and got slingshotted back through one of the vehicles.
Stretchy snatch straps reduce the shock load where the towing vehicle has to build up a bit of speed to pop the bogged one free -pretty normal practice, especially if the towing vehicle isn't on solid ground itself.
If you tried that with a chain, absolutely guaranteed you'll break things. And fwiw, chains fail pretty spectacularly too, and can be just as lethal.

Pete

But the issue is that the tow strap stretched, accumulating potential energy.

No stretch, no potential energy to release when things fail.

[wizbang 13]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

i sure would rather do that with a chain than a nylon strap.
i have a friend busted out the back window doin just this.... a fisherman to boot.

[epoxyboy]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

But the issue is that the tow strap stretched, accumulating potential energy.

No stretch, no potential energy to release when things fail.

Chains stretch. The vehicle structures they are attached to stretch. There is stored energy, they do ping back - violently, and if you're in the wrong place when that happens, well it was nice knowing you.
Recovering a stuck 4WD out in the boonies is not like dragging a stuck backhoe out of a ditch with your BIG tractor. You're often on the same poor ground yourself, with a 1:1 relative mass, and the only thing on your side is momentum. Without a stretchy rope or strop, when you hit 25km/hr and that thing pulls tight, you will break stuff. Badly, dangerously. Period .
That is why these guys use large shackles directly through the chassis, NOT the trailer hitch as the poor individual in the OP did.
Because when that big stretchy connection pulls tight, the forces applied are extreme. Dad used a rope about an inch and a half in diameter, with a snatch block to double the purchase - that piece of kit was about eight inches in diameter, and more commonly found on the back of a small bulldozer winch. The gear itself was big enough that it wouldn't break, the vehicles at either end were the weak point - and nobody ever stood in the firing line, that was just absolutely verboten.

ETA. Here you go, chain. The end is graphic.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/this-is-why-you-never-recover-w-a-chain-not-clickbait.523821/

The actual video. The end is VERY graphic.

https://youtu.be/5-5GCgpx80Q

If a nylon strop itself breaks, it will not do this sort of damage. If what it's attached to does......


Pete

[David W Pratt]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Had to pull a tree trunk yesterday and the winch wouldn't budge it, so I hooked a snatch block to the choker and took the free end of the cable to a tree behind me, via a pair of tow straps. It came home peacefully.

[Ron Williamson]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

They should have attached the strap on the passenger side to lessen the danger to the driver.

Stretch(and the accumulated energy) is the only reason to use a strap,instead of wire or chain.

It is always recommended to stay out of the bight(or get bitten) and to lay a heavy blanket(could be a tarp or jacket or floor mats) over the chain/strap to help dampen the snapback when it breaks.
R

[skuthorp]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Most my early recoveries involved a Landy and PTO capstain winch, snatch blocks and rope. I was always conservative and with a capstain winch you can stand well off to one side and 'rock' the vehicle to be recovered, or your own to break the seal.
I was never very comfortable with drum winches on the front of later vehicles. People just buy one and never learn what they can, or cannot do.

[L.W. Baxter]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

Most my early recoveries involved a Landy and PTO capstain winch, snatch blocks and rope. I was always conservative and with a capstain winch you can stand well off to one side and 'rock' the vehicle to be recovered, or your own to break the seal.
I was never very comfortable with drum winches on the front of later vehicles. People just buy one and never learn what they can, or cannot do.

[bluedog225]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

I used to raise my hood when using the front winch. Now I raise the hood and use the remote control. Standing way back. Mostly.

[L.W. Baxter]

Re: Hitch Ball NO NO

a friend of mine in high school lost his dad to a hitch ball. but it was sitting loose in the backseat when he had a head-on collision.