Tractor Towing Accident Kills Fire Fighter

[CJ4]

This is a horrible and sad story......I've been in the towing business for 38 yrs.....grew up in it since i was a kid. My father taught me from a young age safety, how to respect winches and limits on your equipment and above all, "road-gearing" something out with a tractor, 4x4, or even a wrecker is definately a no-no...... People just don't understand the danger in these tasks. They jump in a Jeep or 4x4 and hit the roads in a snowstorm trying to pull people out of a ditch, and with absolutely no training or understanding of what they are doing. Our jobs, properly done, is a profession.....training is necessary. These guys pulling out a vehicle would be like me taking out someone's tonsils......You've got to have the equipment and the know-how to use it. Please let this be a lesson to all of us that own tractors etc ....i'm surprised the tractor driver didn't get killed!!!

 

[jklingel]

Very sad, indeed. Every time I pull someone out of a ditch (no real grunting; easy pulls) I am reminded of a student I had many years ago. He was being towed out of a ditch by a buddy who had a 4x4 on dry pavement. Needless to say, he put a serious strain on the tow nylon. When the hook broke, the nylon rope and part of the hook came through the windshield and hit George in the forehead. I spoke w/ the doc who operated on him. One of the first things he had to do was clean up the brain tissue in George's nasal cavities. George lost an eye and is a bit slower mentally, but he survived. I know nylon/etc allows you to "get back and ram forward" without jerking the snot out of your rigs, but I prefer a steel chain, or to lock one rig in gear and winch/come-along.

 

[groundcover]

I agree that this is a job for the pros, though I have pulled a fire truck out in a similar incident. I used a grade 8 3/8 chain and a 3yd rubber tire loader. I had to pull up to the truck and hook the chain on the bucked and curl our way out of the field. Even the so called pros can have their problems. We were at crash, a car on its side and the local wrecker company came for recovery. They were not known to be the best in the area and this night was no exception. The wrecker driver asked my guys to 叢ush the car back onto it痴 wheels I put a quick stop to that but that seemed to annoy the driver, as he hopped in the truck to turn around, gunned the engine and proceeded to almost run over one of the firefighters. He got turned around and pulled a line to right the car. His plan was to run the line past the car and snatch off a tree, when he couldn稚 find his snatch block he decided to run the wire rope through a grab hook, good thinking! Sure enough the wire rope broke and went flying, no on hurt but not for lack of trying! So much for the so called pros!

 

[offcamber]

For a rig that size I would have definatly called a wrecker to pull it out.

When I was in the service some shipmates who had no busines operating it got a warehouse style forklift stuck in the mud. I have had years of expereince out in the woods getting trucks un-stuck. OF ocurse being only a 3rd class at the time no one would listen to me. Well the next thing I see is the winch being pulled off a Duce and half...Well they broke the shear pin on the winch...I kept saying just use the truck to push the fork lift out rather than pulling it....after the winch broke they took my advice and the fork lift was free in about 30 seconds.

Anyone ever see someone use a trailer ball as a tow point....YIKES...seen those snap in a hurry. They become a projectile as well.

 

[SCDolphin]

If I winch from my truck I always open the hood. I was once watching a truck being pulled by a chain. When it popped it went through the front windshield through back window came back around drivers door back through the windshield. When the excitment was all over a pack of smokes standing up on the dash was cut in half, The driver somehow ducked down and missed being decapitated. I now prefer a nylon snatch strap with no metal hooks and if I use a winch cable or chain, I tied a rope on the hook end and secure it on something else so if the line breaks it whiplash may be controlled.

 

[Blagadan]

I used to do a lot of 4 wheeling years ago. The choice piece of kit to extract a stuck vehicle of course was a great big winch. On vehicles not fitted with a winch, the next best alternative was a 20,000lb kinetic rope. Like a big rubber band, attach to the stuck vehicle, attach to another vehicle and drive away from the stuck vehicle like you're on fire!

I must taken part in at least 20 extractions either pulling or being pulled using a kinetic, and perhaps watched a further few dozen extractions using this method, and all were scary. Only once did I see a mishap where an anchor point on an old landrover 90 broke loose and the lump of metal flew at an unmerciful speed towards the nissan that was towing... It made a groove about 4inches deep in the top of the rear window and roof panel and took out some jerrycans that were mounted on the roof rack... Embedded itself in a spare wheel that was on the other side of the jerrycans.
I can see how this happened but I'm very surprised the fire crew didnt have heavy duty equipment, all HD rated and in top notch...

I know the weak link was the farmers own smaller d shackle so it was a bad call on behalf of the guy that attached the rope to the back of the tractor.
Under no circumstances should someone try to snatch out a stuck vehicle with a tow hook on the tow 'rope', I've seen that so many times... Should be at least have a spliced loop or a rated D shackle fitted (spliced loop preferred).

 

[Reg]

OK, so the guy who died had no formal firefighter training, but this article isn't ABOUT firefighting, it is about vehicle recovery - not really, it is about elastic ropes, stored energy and not knowing what you're doing.

I admit to being a little surprised that a fire truck that high took it in the windshield, given that the tractor was towing from the drawbar and the rope was hooked at about bumper level - but I know that re-coil isn't always in a direct straight line along the line of pull. Even if it was, just hitting a small rock could deflect it up.

I don't DO this, but if ever I get into a similar situation with a front mounted winch I will TRY to remember the raised hood tip.

 

[toddler]

This thread illustrates why I hate "Come-alongs" with their wire cables. They always seem like big metal rubber bands that are all set to snap back at me, and I always draped a couple of blankets over the cable when I used one.

But I thought chains were inelastic. In fact, bought a couple a tow chains from harbor freight years ago and a choke chain from Bailey's for pulling stumps or logs, because my understanding was chains don't stretch. Figured if they snapped, they'd just drop down.

Is that wrong?

If tow chains recoil that much, Nylon strapping is dirt cheap if you buy it online or at EMS/REI/etc. Is this stuff safer to use to pull something? I figure anything that can't stretch is better than something that does!

Todd

Actually, these are them: Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[SCDolphin]

Chains wire all can came back at you with deadly results

 

[Bird]

my understanding was chains don't stretch. Figured if they snapped, they'd just drop down

They might not recoil as much, but they do recoil. When I was a volunteer firefighter, one of the grass fires we fought was caused by a chain breaking. A mobile home mover (truck) got stuck and they were trying to pull it out with a loaded tandem axle dump truck. The dump truck was on solid ground and could get plenty of traction. Their chain broke a couple of feet in front of the truck he was trying to pull, struck sparks from a rock, and set the grass on fire.