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Winch ToolsWhat They Are and How to Use Them From the February, 2009 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road By Christian Hazel Photography by Christian Hazel, David Kennedy
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Use it or lose it. If ever that axiom holds true its when winching. Sure, lots of times you only pull the cable to hoist your nimrod friends rig out of a ditch after he unsuccessfully tried to show off for the girlies by driving with his feet. But other times its to prevent a nasty rollover, keep you from spending the night on the trail with hungry critters, or tackle a make-it-or-break-it obstacle. So what are these tools and how do you use them? First and foremost is a winch rated to about 1 ½ times your vehicles loaded weight (for most fullsizes that means a 9,000- to 10,000-pound winch) and a winch mount that isnt going to rip off during a pull, sending a 100-pound missile at someones head. Thankfully, most of the other tools youll need most are available in kit form. For a list of some of the manufacturers who offer winch accessory bags, see the sidebar, One Stop Shop, below. For our purposes, we simply went to our local 4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers and picked up a Warn winch accessory bag to show you how to use these recovery tools.  Most winch accessory bags...  Most winch accessory bags come with the basics you'll need for safe and proper winching. Included in the Warn kit (clockwise from top) is a carrying bag, a shackle, a 15-foot tree saver, a snatch block, a recovery chain, and heavy leather gloves. We've also used Mechanix Wear Impact gloves (bottom left) and its new deerskin gloves (top left), although an errant winch wire can penetrate their thinner palm material.  A shackle, also known as a...  A shackle, also known as a D-ring, is horseshoe-shaped sturdy metal with a threaded pin that closes the open end. They can be used to hook a winch cable to any number of things. To use, simply unthread the pin, slip the shackle through the eyes of a tree saver, tow strap, tow hook, or whatever else you're attaching your winch hook to, and screw the pin back in.  If your tow strap is too short...  If your tow strap is too short and you need to lengthen it by attaching two straps together, don't use a shackle. If the webbing on the strap eyes breaks under load it could send the shackle flying into someone's skull. Instead, thread the second tow strap through the eye of the first one, then again through itself. Insert a large stick to prevent the knot from becoming too tight to be undone.  In addition to having a 5-,...  In addition to having a 5-, 10-, or 15-foot tree saver, you should also carry along a longer 20- or 30-foot tow strap. In this instance, our tree saver didn't fit around the trunk of the tree we needed to winch to, so we used the tow strap instead. If your tow strap seems too long, simply wrap it around the trunk a few times to shorten it up.  A snatch block is simply a...  A snatch block is simply a pulley that you can run your winch line through and attach to a tow strap or tree saver. They double the pulling power of your winch, but cut its speed in half. You can use them to pull your own vehicle out of really bad stucks, winch from angles, winch around corners, or even winch the vehicle in front of you forward while you're behind it.  To rig a snatch block, insert...  To rig a snatch block, insert the winch cable, then close the ends. Attach the eyelet ends of the snatch block to a tow strap or tree saver with a shackle.  Your vehicle should have at...  Your vehicle should have at least one tow hook mounted securely to the frame or winch mount. Use mounting hardware that is Grade 5 or better. Avoid welding tow hooks to their mounts because if the weld cracks or is contaminated, it can send the tow hook flying under a hard pull.  If your vehicle has a receiver...  If your vehicle has a receiver hitch in the front or rear, you can get a receiver shackle bracket from almost any off-road shop. However, when using a receiver shackle bracket, remember that your winch attachment will only be as strong as the hitch in which it is mounted.
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