http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=625312 i dont know anything about that link was posted on my fourm by a friend who found it on that board while looking at 4x4 stuff
Great stuff!!!Makes me shiver when I see stuff like that.Unfortunately the very best of us have to get stuck over and over to learn how not to get stuck. I find that working alone,that is with only one machine on the job can change your point of view when attempting a maneuver that you might otherwise consider if you had a backup to call upon. I worked alone a lot over the years and knowing what to try and when to stop before you are in trouble is what experience is all about and that experience doesn't come easy,or cheap depending on your point of view.Ron G
YIKES
Whats with the steel plate over the Komatsu's window? Is this to protect the glass if the tow ropes break?? Ross
I was wondering that too. There were way too many people standing around the cables! I've worked in towing recovery and one of the cardinal rules is to stay away from the cables in case they snap. Those things would have cut a man in half in an instant.
What a great series of photos. It's a good point raised though about wire ropes. I recall a CAT safety film made in the 60's or 70's (Roll of Drums or one of those types) and it immediately made me aware of the danger of standing around when a winch is working or recovering a vehicle.
Is this it? http://safety.cat.com/cda/components/fullArticle?m=130081&x=7&id=627187
Not that particular safety film but I found it from that CAT site you linked to Tigerrotor :notworthy ... watch around the 13 minute mark... http://safety.cat.com/cda/components/fullArticle?m=130081&x=7&id=493712
I bet they also had the cheapest wire rope for the winches. And thats not a dead one. Looks like that on the pictures. Those cables are streching when loaded, and when they snap, they fly. We got that type first when we mounted winches on our D65's. I said to the dealer; either u change cable to a dead type, or give us a complete steel protection over the back of the tractor. He came up with dead cables real quick. When theese snap, they fall dead down to the ground. They don't stretch. Then we have a 1,5 safety factor on the system, winch pulls 20t while cable holds 30t before breaking. Safe distance by us is 1,5 times the lenght of the cable thats out of the winch. And nobody around exept operators and the recovery leader. The rest is kept far away.