Were they being optimistic or was I being pessimistic?

[Garry Edwards]

Saw a funny thing yesterday, an 18 ton lorry had partially left the road and it's nearside front wheel was in a ditch or maybe down an embankment, with the offside pair of rear wheels in the air.

There were 2 Landrover Defenders there (good samaritans ? ) roped together and to the rear of the lorry, clearly preparing to pull it out. Let's see now, effectively an 8 wheel drive vehicle weighing a bit over 4 tons with a total of 5000 cc - but would be in low transfer, effectively making it nearly 15000cc trying to pull an 18 ton vehicle out and upwards . . .

I wasn't able to study the tow ropes but they only looked capable of towing a car. Their strength could have been effectively doubled with snatch blocks but I could see that there weren't any.

I was carrying snatch blocks and a heavy duty tow chain and was in my off roader so should have stopped to help but couldn't, as I was travelling in the opposite direction in slow moving traffic and there was nowhere to turn around, but I can't help wondering how it turned out.

 

[Box Brownie]

Maybe check the local press for disaster reports.......if none found, likely a good outcome???

 

[TCR4x4]

The 18 ton lorry wouldn’t likely weigh 18 ton though. If unladen it’ll be more like 7 ton. Depending on how bogged the front wheel was and the quality of the ropes, it should been pulled out by the defenders.
Trouble is a lot of people buy landrovers and also buy ropes from Halfords that couldnt withstand a gentle tug yet alone a heavy duty pull.


Ive pulled loaded artics up icy hills before, but the rolling resistance is a lot less I’ll grant you.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Single Highways Agency 4WD vehicles apparently pull 41 tonners out of the way quite often to clear roads after breakdowns. I was able to yank a large and fully loaded van out of deep mud with my old LWB Series 2 Landrover (but I did have a length of chain on board at the time). So 2 Defenders might well be able to pull an 18 tonner out of a ditch.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Yes, some valid points. I only managed to glance at the ropes, I think that they were the weak link, they probably had enough torque and grip.

I'm a bit over the top myself, my Shogun carries no less than 3 good ropes, D Shackles, snatch blocks and a chain. There's also a winch. Strong chassis, so it can take some stick. The reason for this is that I spend every second week at our farm and sometimes need some or even all of these toys.