Anyone Snapped a Tow Ball.

[portal pat]

We had a fatality here in Tas. last year from snatching whilst using a towball. Towball broke and hurtled through rear window of towing car, through the head of a passenger. Took Police a week of searching with a metal detector to find rest of ball. Using a towball deserves a big slap!

[patch697]

Well, this subject gets flogged to death evry three months or so on every Forum so why should we be different...

The guys who do the recovery training in my Club have a "contraption" rigged up to demonstrate why you NEVER do a full snatch off a Tow Ball... everyone who has witnessed a demo goes away suitable impressed when the tow ball lets go of the vehicle still attached to the strap and at only about half load (around 2 or 3 thousand KG) travels like a Cannonball and goes clean thru the bonnet placed at the other end of the strap anchored to a skip bin full of ballast acting as the 'stuck' vehicle.

At a load of 6 to 9 thousand KG (and some straps are rated up to 12 thousand) the results would be awesome... goddam deadly but definitely awesome. Remember that the rule of thumb for a vehicle bogged to the axles is twice the weight so a Patrol is going to load the snatch to about 5,000 KG

Tow balls being rated lower than the straps and shackles in use should technically therefore be the first point of failure and I don't think you will see any appearances for the device 'cept on Utube and the Coroners Court.

Mind you hardly any Tow Bars are rated above 4,000KG which is where the Billet Hitches and the like which we all use are attached either but they don't tend to fly thru the air as far as a Tow Ball altho a recent fatality about 6 or 12 months ago did involve a Bull bar letting go with a Snatchie attached and killed a young lass

Thanks for all the typing ET although using tow balls as snatch point is not something I practice, your post made for some very interesting read as Im sure others will agree.

Cheers
Paul

[patch697]

We had a fatality here in Tas. last year from snatching whilst using a towball. Towball broke and hurtled through rear window of towing car, through the head of a passenger. Took Police a week of searching with a metal detector to find rest of ball. Using a towball deserves a big slap!

I agree Pat & when something like that happens its pointless saying sorry cos its to bloody late & if I was to see anyone doing it a slap is exactly what thay would get & a bloody BIG SLAP at that.

Cheers
Paul