- Location
- Torrance, CA
While doing Adopt-A-Trail maintenance with the SoCal Chapter this weekend I had to winch a couple of trees off the trail. Here is a good example of using a weight on a winch line to increase safety in case of line or rigging failure. In this example there is a simple jacket on the line when the rigging fails, this was enough to interrupt the momentum of the cable and keep things safe.
This strap broke when I was pulling with all the power my winch would give me (the Jeep was actually creeping forward with all four wheels locked). The winch is rated at 8000 pounds and was rigged with a straight line pull through a snatch block then back to the Jeep. This rigging gives a 2:1 mechanical advantage so, in theory, this was a 16,000 pound pull (heavy tree!).
When the 20,000 pound strap broke, the steel winch line, snatch block, shackle, and cable rebounded back toward the Jeep with deadly force. Once they hit the weight, a simple
jacket, the load simply stopped and dropped to the ground.
I've always known to weight winch lines but this is the first time I've seen such a clear example of it working with something as simple as a normal jacket.
Here is the video example. Enjoy.
This strap broke when I was pulling with all the power my winch would give me (the Jeep was actually creeping forward with all four wheels locked). The winch is rated at 8000 pounds and was rigged with a straight line pull through a snatch block then back to the Jeep. This rigging gives a 2:1 mechanical advantage so, in theory, this was a 16,000 pound pull (heavy tree!).
When the 20,000 pound strap broke, the steel winch line, snatch block, shackle, and cable rebounded back toward the Jeep with deadly force. Once they hit the weight, a simple
jacket, the load simply stopped and dropped to the ground.I've always known to weight winch lines but this is the first time I've seen such a clear example of it working with something as simple as a normal jacket.
Here is the video example. Enjoy.
