never jerk a stuck truck with a chain

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kleedus

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I got a call from an old friend today to help pull out a stuck ford.

I got there and watched a num nut in a duramax backing up 15 feet and hitting the chain hard to jerk the ford out. it was violent and scary I am surprised the duramax did not set off the air bags. the chain broke and flew under the truck lucky.

I was ducking behind another truck waiting for the chain to snap and kill someone.

you should never hit a chain like that it is extremely dangerous

I ended up pulling it out with my wrecker
 

PrairieDrifter

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That's why I roll with a 6x30 recovery strap..
 

CSFJ

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I got a call from an old friend today to help pull out a stuck ford.

I got there and watched a num nut in a duramax backing up 15 feet and hitting the chain hard to jerk the ford out. it was violent and scary I am surprised the duramax did not set off the air bags. the chain broke and flew under the truck lucky.

I was ducking behind another truck waiting for the chain to snap and kill someone.

you should never hit a chain like that it is extremely dangerous

I ended up pulling it out with my wrecker

A few years back, I got to see a group of morons in 2 jeeps using a winch line in the same manor. I don't know if the winch broke after they unspooled it, or they didn't know how to use it, but it was scary to see.
 

firebane

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I got a call from an old friend today to help pull out a stuck ford.

I got there and watched a num nut in a duramax backing up 15 feet and hitting the chain hard to jerk the ford out. it was violent and scary I am surprised the duramax did not set off the air bags. the chain broke and flew under the truck lucky.

I was ducking behind another truck waiting for the chain to snap and kill someone.

you should never hit a chain like that it is extremely dangerous

I ended up pulling it out with my wrecker

You should never be using a chain to pull ANYTHING stuck. Recovery ropes are there for a reason.
 

crazy4offroad

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If it's a mild stuck I'll use a chain, like a granny in a ditch. Swamped down to the frame like vacuum sealed I use the strap. You can use a chain with a strap and still have that anti-shock factor if you needed some length. A hi-lift jack sure helps break that seal to the earth and get the front tires starting out if possible. Usually have to have a piece of wood for the foot or the jack will sink to oblivion in the muck. But yeah chains and cables can store an enormous amount of energy, like many tons, and release it violently.
 

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Always use a strap. I have a half ton 2wd, and i was able to pull out a 2500 4wd that had about 3000# on me simply because i was able to just yank with everything i had without breaking ****. I was on damp gumbo pulling him out of an actual mud hole. There's no way i had enough ass or traction to move that truck without 15mph of inertia.

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Nasty-LSX

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thats the most stupidest thing to do.
 

towjoe

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we had a local guy killed last winter pulling out a stuck car in snow. he jerked chain and it broke sending a peace of chain through back window into his head. his 4 year old daughter was setting beside him and luckly she wasn't hurt. I'll stick to using my winch on wrecker personally
 

rumblebox

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I keep the lid of my toolbox up as a shield if I'm doing something like that

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MOguy

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If it's a mild stuck I'll use a chain, like a granny in a ditch. Swamped down to the frame like vacuum sealed I use the strap. You can use a chain with a strap and still have that anti-shock factor if you needed some length. A hi-lift jack sure helps break that seal to the earth and get the front tires starting out if possible. Usually have to have a piece of wood for the foot or the jack will sink to oblivion in the muck. But yeah chains and cables can store an enormous amount of energy, like many tons, and release it violently.

I broke a fairly heavy logging chain and than a 3" recovery strap pulling a 2wd one ton with my jeep. It was a slight incline and real slick (but hard ground, a little wet and frozen). Other that nothing to hold up even a two wheel drive car. The truck was loaded with wood. It was the guy's strap and chain I broke. I may have jerked a little but nothing that hard.

I have a back pack I keep all my recovery gear in. I have a few shackle's and a pulley I carry. I slip my recovery strap (and the chain this day) through the arms of the back pack. Even when I broke the chain and the strap I heard some noise but the strap and chain just fell straight to the ground. Pretty uneventful other than the noise.

Eventually he decided to unload the truck and I pulled him out with my strap. Chains are great for dragging things around esp in the mud or water. But if something is stuck a chains in not a good choice for recovery. It is always a good idea to but some weight and it doesn't need to be much, on your strap when you are doing recovery. It can keep things from flying.
 
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hatzie

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I keep the lid of my toolbox up as a shield if I'm doing something like that

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Chain can go right through that. You might get lucky but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I did an experiment many years ago on a car that was going to scrap...
It settled an argument about how ridiculous it is for the movie good or bad guys to hide behind a car door in a gun fight. The newspaper pictures of the Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow car wasn't sufficient proof... I dragged the dead rig to the bottom of a sand pit and shot at it with various rifles and a 12ga shotgun from a fair distance...
A rimfire .22 long rifle will go through two doors and two panes of safety glass, the windows were down, from 800 feet. A 12ga slug will blow through both doors from 250ft and 12ga 00Buck will make it almost through the second door. The subsonic 45ACP will blow through one door at around the same distance.

You ain't hiding behind sheet metal from a projectile with sufficient velocity.
The only useful function a car door or that toolbox lid provides is cover as you get out of Dodge.
 

1986ChrisK10

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When I was young and dumb and thought i knew everything as a teen a few of my friends and I went to the local mud trail area. Well anyway we barried a dodge 4x4, old square body gmc and a older 80's ford. I witnessed first had the carnage of a chain breaking and taking the legs of one of the guys that was with us. Needless to say lesson learned and very seldom use chain for anything. I have old lifting slings from work that they deem unsafe to lift loads with. I have various lengths from 15' 2" sling to a 40' 8" sling. And a various assortment of shackles if I have to tie them together.

Back to chain, my dad always put a old rubber floor mat on the chain/cable. He always said that if it would pop, it would weigh the chain/cable down and make it hug the ground in its travel.
 

mr heavy-chevy

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also, never use a trailer hitch ball.

the sheer on them is often less way than 4,000lbs
so if youre sunk to the frame in suction like mud or sand... and your vehicle weighs 4,000lbs, STOCK and EMPTY..... there is a very strong chance that 2" piece of steel will become a small cannon ball.
vehicle powered slingshot of death

fyi
 

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