Vehicle Winching Aids - Designed to make life easier
Vehicle Winching Aids - additional equipment to assist in the winching process of getting the vehicle onto the bed of the operator's vehicle, will, primarily, benefit the working life of the winch and the winching cable by putting less stress through them.
Winching aids include:
- Snatch & Pulley blocks
- Chain & Strap Winching Brothers
- I Tow skates/Skids/Slippery Jims
Below, we explain, what each of them are, what they do and when best to use them.
A Snatch or Pulley Block is a great aid to winching operations:
- By increasing load pulling capacity
- By facilitating a change of direction of the pull if required
- By improving life expectancy of the winch and rope through reducing the strain applied on them
Using one snatch block allows you to 'double the rope', which in turn doubles the lifting/pulling capacity of the snatch block and winch arrangement. If additional snatch blocks can be used in conjunction with the winch, it will further increase load pulling capacity.
For example, on an 8 mm dia. wire rope, by incorporating one snatch block (by looping the wire rope around the pulley of the snatch block and anchoring rope to an anchor point on the truck), you will double the pulling capacity from 2276kg to 4552kg, BUT, be aware, this will reduce, by half, the speed at which the winch is able to operate. If you can incorporate a second snatch block, this will further increase the capacity by an additional 2276kg, and so on.
Additionally, if you are unable to position your truck to pull a load in a straight line, by adding snatch blocks you can alter the angle of the pull.
Winching Brothers are designed to assist the winching operation during a vehicle recovery. By wrapping the straps or chains around, for example, one to each of the lower arms on either side of vehicle, the vehicle can more easily be winched in a straight line up onto the back of the recovery vehicle.
Strap Brothers should be used to avoid damaging the vehicle being winched, whereas the Chain Brothers are better served where more strength is needed to move the vehicle and causing some collateral damage is not an issue. Or the Combo Strap/Chain Brothers give you the best of both worlds - strength & protection
Cardno winching brother range gives a really wide range of applications, for example, they can be used:
- For short bed and long bed vehicles
- Where strapping access is tight or restricted (tight spaces)
- For a quick pull (J hooks) - strap or chain
- Where multi adjustment is required (4 Delta rings instead of 2)
- With strap and chain combination for additional strength
- With the option of different hook types
- For general applications (Strap with protective sleeve)
For example, these are an ideal aid to moving or recovering cars or light commercial vehicles on a hard surface when, for whatever reason, one or more of the road wheels cannot be rotated. This could be because the wheel(s) is locked or damaged or, access to the vehicle is prohibitive (for example, access to the interior of vehicle is not possible and handbrake is on).
These particular skates, shown in the image below, are manufactured by ITI Inc in the USA, but, there are other versions of these skid/skates available, such as Wreckmaster Slippery Jims.
Friction tests carried out in the US, have shown that friction resistance is reduced by as much as a two-thirds if these skates are used.
Summary
These three products can be used independently or combined together, depending on the operation being undertaken. So, they are a really useful addition to the recovery operator's equipment, and will certainly aid the process and effort required by the winch, of moving vehicles onto the back of the recovery vehicle.
If you are interested in any of these products you can find them on the Cardno website!
- Cardno Sales Team
