Winching

[Carlos Murphy]

What do you do when there is nothing to winch to?
I've had a couple of suggestions but was just wondering what anyone else dose.
I was stuck in mud in a meadow one beautiful summer day, for 3 1/2 hours, had a brand new 8000 lb winch mounted on my custom made bumper and it was USELESS....
We finally got unstuck by jacking the rear (was up against a hard shelf) stuffed stuff from an old trailer under it and the next day made a run to the hardware store and bought a pick and shovel.
I figger if I HAD a pick an shovel at the time I could have buried my high-lift jack with my winch cable attached and hauled out that way.
I know that some sand guys carry a boat anchor, the type that has the pivoting blades on each side.
How bout a "mushroom" anchor?

Just to clarify, I would not have been burying anything in the mud, hard ground was 15 yards away.

 

[mdmarble]

What do you do when there is nothing to winch to?
I've had a couple of suggestions but was just wondering what anyone else dose.
I was stuck in mud in a meadow one beautiful summer day, for 3 1/2 hours, had a brand new 8000 lb winch mounted on my custom made bumper and it was USELESS....
We finally got unstuck by jacking the rear (was up against a hard shelf) stuffed stuff from an old trailer under it and the next day made a run to the hardware store and bought a pick and shovel.
I figger if I HAD a pick an shovel at the time I could have buried my high-lift jack with my winch cable attached and hauled out that way.
I know that some sand guys carry a boat anchor, the type that has the pivoting blades on each side.
How bout a "mushroom" anchor?

A mushroom anchor would probably do very well in mud. The only thing is that you have to bury it. I'd try burying it about a foot below the surface. If you know what moorings are, what boats tie up too when there is no dock, the use mushroom anchors on those too keep them in place. They will withstand hurricanes. Its the boat that fails first, the cleat will rip off of the boat, but the whole system, including the mushroom anchor stays intact.

A regular danforth or bruce anchor may do okay, it'll pull a bit through the mud, but may eventually grab. It just depends on how stuck you are. As long as pulling perpendicular to the ground, and not up at any angle, it may stand a chance.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

There's a company that makes a winch anchor, one that works like a boat anchor, as you tension the line it pulls itself deeper in. I used to have a link to it but my comp burped a couple months ago and I lost all my links.

I've heard that burying a spare tire can often work, I think a hi-lift would just pull through the soil too easy (we don't want any large projectiles).

You can also winch off of another truck or a piece of equipment.

Or, you can link tow straps to get more reach to make it to a tree... loop the ends together and wedge a stick in there (so you can get it back apart when you're done, straps WILL weld themselves together if you don't). DO NOT use shackles to link straps, only to hook ends together (like where you loop it around a tree). One trailride I was on we had to use this method to winch all but one truck up a long hill, we had the full length of the winch line out and about another 190' of straps (no other place to winch from).

 

[Bent Bolt]

It's called a Pull Pal.

http://www.pullpal.com/

 

[97BlackBetty]

I use an 8 pound fluke style anchor. They are the most effective in mud because they are designed to dig in. I use it in sand, I also use a fluke style on both of my boats.

P.S. Mushroom anchors arent any thing more than a hassle and a cheap solution that doesnt solve a problem.

 

[mkpecor]

iv baried 10"round x 3 foot long logs , but dont use rotton wood, use green wood, spare tires, hi lift, i used axle shafts, tire irons , make sure their 2 feet or more in the ground. iv even run the cable under my jeep to a tree that was be hind me, it sucked the front end down but we got out, be very carfle if you do that, KEEP PEAPLE AWAY FROM RIG! happy wheeling.