I love my winch

[Schludwiller]

I was out scouting for trails again today. I found one area that held promise, so I decided to head in and check it out. Well there were a lot of trails, and plenty of other 4-wheelers present so I continued on.

I was hoping to find a trial that went up to the top of the large mountain I was driving around. I saw one that looked promising and headed up. There was a tight trail hugging a cliff, but nothing I hadn't handled before so I went across. The rear wheel near the droppoff started sliding, but not much my other tires couldn't correct for and I made it across quite easily.

However, the trail quickly turned into a mess of mud, stumps and a dead end. Without much room to turn around I decided to back up. I had to clear one tree before getting across the ridge.



In clearing the tree I put my back wheels closer to the dropoff than when I crossed previously. I felt my outside tire start to slide, and quickly stopped. I got out of the truck to check it out.

A small trickle of water (can't call it a stream) had softened up the hillside and my tire had lost ground to the downward side. Continuing on was just going to compound the trouble. While I was deciding on what to do another truck came up and offered help.

We didn't have a come-a-long to secure the rear end from sliding more, but I had 3 tires on relatively good traction so we decided to try going forward.

Well....as I moved forward the downhill rear tire started sliding. I gave it some gas to try and get to more solid ground before my whole rear end slipped off the dropoff. My spotter had nowhere to move except in front of my truck so I had to hit the brakes to keep from hitting him. Now I had both right tires barely holding on to the muddy edge, and a 60 foot dropoff out my right window. I would have taken a picture, but my foot was firmly planted on the brake and changing any weight distribution didn't seem like a good idea. Let's just say I was at one of those tipping angles you don't feel good about. (can you say clinched sphincter?)

Luckily the guys helping me out were able to get to my winch gear and hook the front end to a large tree. There was no way for me to move forward, so I used my winch to pull the front end of the truck perpendicular to the dropoff.

Did I mention I love my winch?

It pulled me to a good angle with the fall line, and having the front end held tight I was confident enough to give the truck some gas and move away from the edge.


Here is where I say I love my winch again.

Unfortunantly these pictures just don't show how precarious the situation was. Just turning around at this point was difficult. I ended up doing one of Ben's pattented tractor pivots by giving it gas on the hillside to spin in place. I was able to get set in the right direction and slowly move across the muddy hillside.


I can't say enough how glad I was to have that winch. I really had no other options and was very close to losing the truck to that muddy hillside.

Best $750 bucks I've spent on my truck.

[ScottG]

Yikes, that's scary. I guess if those guys weren't there you'd still be sitting there with your foot on the brake. Where did you get your winch? That's a good price. I've seen the M8000 with hawse fairlead that cheap, but that's about it.

[Antitree_hugger]

I say it again.

DAMN!!!!!

[Schludwiller]

Well I didn't get into the bad position until after the guys arrived. If I was by myself I would have used the winch as security before making the maneuver. We thought I could make it so I took a shot at it with a spotter.

I got the XD9000 from 4wheelparts.com when they were on sale.

A come-a-long will probably be in my future purchases too. I've seen some nice recovery practices by attaching rock sliders to a come-a-long or some other strap to pivot around a drop off. It negates the dropoff and you can focus on traction.

[rhombus]

Glad that you made it out ok.

I have to agree with you the winch was the best tool that I have bought for the truck,
I gives you the extra confidence knowing that you can get out of a bad spot.

I just wish there was a good dual battery setup for the X


You might also want to look at the JackMate. I played with mine yesterday and it works great (you do need chains to use it effectively).

Good recovery gear just makes common sense to me.

The guys I helped yesterday had nothing (not even tow points on the truck that was stuck in a bog). Not sure what they were thinking.

[Synchro]

i got my XD9000 from OK4WD for $680 shipped. and like Schlud, i am damn happy to have it.

as for a good come-a-long. someone posted a while back on XOC one that was used for the logging industry that could hold 4000lbs and only costed $120 + shipping. i ordered a catalog from the site, and their recovery gear is WAY sheap in there. 16K lbs shackles for $5 and things like that. but for the rear you definitely need so good tow points on there.

[Schludwiller]

Originally posted by Synchro
but for the rear you definitely need so good tow points on there.

Heh. While I was sitting there on the side of the dropoff I was thinking about this chunk of metal sitting back home in my garage. Those D-rings would have provided some other options.

[ChuckH]

You know...the bumper looks pretty good in that picture. Would you like to trade bumpers? :flash:

[Aquamander]

Damn Schlud! I'm glad everything worked out okay for you. I don't have a winch, but I do have several lengths of PMI 7/16 static rope. I have a bunch of short pieces that I don't use for climbing. If I run into trouble like this, I could always lash my X to the mountainside long enough for me to get some help. All I can do for now is wish.....

[verboom]

Wow, that's hardcore. Even though I'd be so scared, it would have been fun. Glad you got out of it though. Good job. The truck looks good in the pictures, BTW.