Winching yourself BACKWARDS

Dave

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I saw the Bold Overland team attempt this last year in North Carolina at 36 Hours of Uwharrie. They almost got it right... but I had to stop them before they pulled their truck in half.

It can't be done with two blocks... you need three ;)

Scenario:
You are wheeling alone on your favorite trail when forward motion becomes impossible due to mud, and an inconvenient tree blocking you. Your properly equipped vehicle with front mounted winch is now mired in the muck. The only way out is to pull yourself in reverse to regain mobility so that you can turn around and go out the way you came in.

Here is a diagram I put together that shows the concept. This can be done with only one anchor point front and rear, I'm showing 3 since its the same amount of gear required either way (and we are in a forest with lots of nice trees here in this scenario. Vehicles could be substituted for trees as well). I'm not a fan of running the line under the rig since I can't see it very well there so I prefer running it off to the side if possible.

The key to the layout is the "3rd block" on the rear of the vehicle, and the "anchor strap". As the winch pulls the line in, mechanical advantage is gained as the line pulls taught - the only moveable object in the picture is the vehicle so as the winch makes the line shorter, that 3rd block on the rear of the vehicle will want to move towards the two rear anchor points (or single if you have rigged the anchor and the pulley to one point). The line will be drawn in faster than the vehicle will move, but it will move. Slow and steady wins this race.

This layout may have to be rigged up a couple of different times in order to cover the ground that you need to escape the stuck. Once mobility is regained, account for all gear and carry on!

1.jpg


Gear required:
Winch and line, with winch line extension, properly rated and serviceable.
3 pulley blocks, properly rated and serviceable.
Tree savers for each point including the anchor strap, properly rated and serviceable (total 3).
Shackles, properly rated and serviceable (total 4).
 
I feel like this is the kind of math my teachers should have taught me in school rather than the whole "If train A leaves this town at this time and train B leave this other town at this other time..." crap.
 
But how do I find so many trees in the desert?

I actually think it would be very rare to have that many anchor points available to you. Can't think of any locations where I've been stuck that I would have been able to do this.

Maybe I need to explore more forest.
 
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But how do I find so may trees in the desert?

I actually think it would be very rare to have that many anchor points available to you. Can't think of any locations where I've been stuck that I would have been able to do this.

Maybe I need to explore more forest.

At some point, when you add up the price of all the Pull-Pals you would need to carry to make this work in the desert, you'll decide it's just cheaper and easier to put a second winch on your vehicle at the back . . .
 
But how do I find so may trees in the desert?

I actually think it would be very rare to have that many anchor points available to you. Can't think of any locations where I've been stuck that I would have been able to do this.

Maybe I need to explore more forest.

Yeah, spoken like a true desert guy! :lol
 
I have helped Tom Severin demonstrate this technique a few times. It does take a lot of rigging to make it work, but it is great information to keep in the back of your head, and the principles used can be applied to other recovery situations.
 
I feel like this is the kind of math my teachers should have taught me in school rather than the whole "If train A leaves this town at this time and train B leave this other town at this other time..." crap.
Funny you mention school, as I was just thinking "Isn't this the same basic physics they taught us in junior high?" :D
 
Question (using the above picture):

When you start winching in, as the vehicle is pulled backwards, won't it also be pulled to the right?
 
Question (using the above picture):

When you start winching in, as the vehicle is pulled backwards, won't it also be pulled to the right?

Potentially yes but it depends on some other factors like slope, ruts, rolling resisitance, etc
 
I would really like to see this demonstrated at ARV.

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the physics of this...
 
Just think of it this way: If the trees are immobile, the only mobile object in the layout is the Jeep. As the winch takes in line, the Jeep will be forced to move backwards, eventually you will run out of room as the Jeep will end up nearly in line with the two rearward trees.

Easy ;)
 
Just think of it this way: If the trees are immobile, the only mobile object in the layout is the Jeep. As the winch takes in line, the Jeep will be forced to move backwards, eventually you will run out of room as the Jeep will end up nearly in line with the two rearward trees.

Easy ;)

I get that.

What I don't get is while the winch is spooling in, making the outstanding line shorter, the distance between the winch and first anchor/turning point is getting longer.
 
The line comes in, those standing trees don't move, the Jeep rolls backwards because that block on the rear of the Jeep is being drawn towards the rearward blocks.

The distance between the front of the Jeep and that front tree actually widens as the 3 rear points are drawn together (anchor tree, tree with block, and Jeep with block). Once the lines are "piss tight" (meaning they cannot be spooled in anymore without risking breakage), a guy would have to knock down (redo) this rigging layout and set it up again in a new location to keep moving if more was required to gain mobility.

This is the same technique I would use as a Rigging Slinger on a high lead logging side to get a turn/log out from a hard to reach area.
 
In this diagram, the green depicts the only "movement" in the layout. Points 1, 2 and 3 are immobile. The Jeep is on wheels and therefore mobile.

Spooling in line and line passing through blocks does not equate vehicle movement. You'd "think" the Jeep is drawn towards #1, but it's actually drawn to where the slack is in the rigging at #4.

Point #4 highlights the part of the layout that is shortened as you spool in (red and yellow arrows depict direction of line travel), resulting in the final green line you see depicted there showing the line pulled taught.

The Jeep moves backwards as the slack leaves the rigging. Guaranteed.

BACKWARDS WINCHING DIAGRAM.jpg
 
I get that.

What I don't get is while the winch is spooling in, making the outstanding line shorter, the distance between the winch and first anchor/turning point is getting longer.

It would, if that were a tree strap and shackle. Since it's a pulley block there, the movement is directed elsewhere. In this case, it's the slack in the rear of the layout.
 
It would, if that were a tree strap and shackle. Since it's a pulley block there, the movement is directed elsewhere. In this case, it's the slack in the rear of the layout.

I only used the first anchor/turning point as a reference point in the system for my question. I realize the point is not a strap and shackle.
 
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