Rope vs chain

[displacedtexan]

Okay, I'll give you that the newer rope which is intended for towing is much stronger than the old rope I used many years ago. Like I mention in prior post, the chain you use has to have the proper tow rating , not the crap you get at Harbor freight. Like anything you are going to use for towing, it must be kept in good condition, and used properly. I have never had a chain bind up on me.

Fair enough.

The old straps didn't sway me from using chain, but the newer stuff definitely has.

And yeah, there's stuff I'll buy at HF, but my chains aren't one!

 

[49ereric]

I continue to use my 5/16’s chains cuz why would I buy something else when chains work? stopped using 3/8’s chains years ago to heavy.

 

[Poser]

People who are advocating for chains are insane. I wouldn’t roll with you and would decline your offer for help.

Kinetic rope is far far superior for dynamic recovery as the dynamic action will “slingshot” the vehicle out and allows the recover vehicle to gain some momentum. Throw dampers on everything just to be certain.

The only downside to winch rope is that it can freeze up on you in the winter making it difficult to unwind

 

[GSPHUNTER]

People who are advocating for chains are insane. I wouldn’t roll with you and would decline your offer for help.

Kinetic rope is far far superior for dynamic recovery as the dynamic action will “slingshot” the vehicle out and allows the recover vehicle to gain some momentum. Throw dampers on everything just to be certain.

The only downside to winch rope is that it can freeze up on you in the winter making it difficult to unwind

I have never had a chain freeze up.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I was on an elk hunt in Arizona a few years ago, and my outfitter doubled up two 30-foot tow straps and pulled someone else's four-wheel-drive 3/4-ton pickup that was towing a Razor, out of a flooded Agua Fria River. Was pretty impressive.

 

[49ereric]

No has ever complained about me pulling them out with a chain and never broke a chain but I did break a loop on a 2” nylon strap pulling truck out buried in the mud.

 

[Poser]

I have never had a chain freeze up.

Generally speaking, you probably don’t wind a chain up around a winch and then leave it exposed to the elements in the front end of a vehicle driving 70 mph, but, yes, I see your point.

I have a hunting buddy who is an engineer and designs and tests ropes/cables for cranes. I sent him this thread and he said that under no condition would he ever use a chain for vehicle recovery.

 

[displacedtexan]

The only downside to winch rope is that it can freeze up on you in the winter making it difficult to unwind

And abrasion is hard on it.

I use my winches for a lot more than recovery, being drug through the mud and over/around trees doesn't hurt cable, but is hard on rope.

 

[displacedtexan]

I have never had a chain freeze up.

I have.

Freezing rain with a chain in your bed makes the chain a heavy headache.

A strap is a light headache, that won't scratch your truck.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I never had a chain dry rot, fray, get cuts in it, or get sun beat, or rust. I take good care of my equipment. Each to his. And yes I also carry heavy duty straps.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Daredevil Remi Licidi has fallen from a skyscraper in Hong Kong. He died it the fall. The rope broke.

 

[Dented]

Rope for me. Simple logic, I don't have anywhere near the expertise to use chain without risking killing myself. I'm selfish like that...

 

[Poser]

Daredevil Remi Licidi has fallen from a skyscraper in Hong Kong. He died it the fall. The rope broke.

If he had only had been informed of the facts of how well chains work for dynamic loading situations, he’d surly be walking around.

Update: just read that there was no rope involved.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I watched that video where the guy got killed. That would be horrible. My dad got his collar bone broke by a chain after it came thru the front window of a a cement truck in the oil field when he was 18yrs old. He didn't know a thing about what to hook up to what and what not to. He got stuck and they hooked a chain up to a rope and the chain broke which used the rope as a sling shot and sent the rope with a piece of broke chain on the end of it back at him.

What do you guys hook to when getting pulled out from behind? I always hook to the ball. I am not trying to sound like a know it all. But I would guess that it broke where it did because it's such a big drop that it needed that gusset welded on the back side which would make it a little weaker where that weld stopped at the end of that gusset. And being such a big drop it was a pretty hard leveraged pull. I would think that a regular non-drop hitch would be fine to hook to since its more of a straight back pull. But maybe not.

Pull pin and remove drop hitch, insert snatch strap loop into receiver and put pin back in.

 

[WCB]

Rope or tow strap 100% of the time. Tow strap comes out when the recovery vehicle can get really close and basically just needs to pull or maybe a small jerk.

Kinetic ropes come out when recovery vehicle can't get real close and/or a running start is needed to engage sling shot.

Most of my "recoveries" are either while Coyote hunting or bow hunting deer in December in the Dakotas. No way chains are even close to the answer buried to the doors 100+ feet from the nearest spot the recovery vehicle can get to while not getting stuck themselves.

 

[cuerro viejo]

first dont attach anything to 8” plus drop ball, its a folcurm

kinetic road is best way to go. Want to really take advantage of your winch use a kinetic rope in conjunction to apply constant pull

 

[GSPHUNTER]

first dont attach anything to 8” plus drop ball, its a folcurm

kinetic road is best way to go. Want to really take advantage of your winch use a kinetic rope in conjunction to apply constant pull

That was my point early on on this subject. No matter what was used to tow in the accident, the real issue is where it was attached.

 

[KurtR]

We use chains all the time for pulling semis out with the loader but in my own vehicle im using a rope every time. Im not a big fan of chains seen a few people almost die when the chain snaps thats as much user error as any thing but they still make me nervous. The power company got a d8 stuck in a slough we needed a couple hundred feet of cable and 2 d8's to get that one out. I got the pleasure of dragging cable because they new i had waders since i duck hunt

 

[Hunter456]

Straps if available every time.

 

[tony]

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Thats what I keep plugged in the hitch on my truck