I've only had my ATVs since late May and for the first time I had a chance to help someone out of a jam. We were on the Paiute Trail (#1) when we (my son and I) came across 3 young ladies with a stuck ATV. Long and short of it is that I used my winch to hook up to the other ATV and get it back onto the trail. But it got me to thinking about the use of tow ropes and other equip. So, if you guys/gals don't mind ... here's a couple newbie questions for you:

1. Is there a magic formula to know when to use a tow rope versus the winch? As an example, if pulling another ATV from off the trail (not stuck in mud, just on a hill that is too hard to push the other ATV up) is a tow rope better than the winch?

2. Is 10,000 pound rating good enough? Seems these run in price from under $10 to $30 and up. Heavier ropes are of course more expensive, but I was just wondering if there is really a need for something rated more than 10,000 pounds to tow a 700 pound ATV.

3. Is there a big difference between two rope and tow strap? What is that difference?

4. What other emergency equipment would you consider proper for a day trip?

Thanks in advance for the insight and answers.

 

I just use the cheap 7$ tow ropes. Has always done the job for me from pulling out a mucked machine to towing a broke down machine and also moving smaller trees from across the trail. I think the diff between a tow rope vs strap is one is round the strap flat. Always good to have xtra gas, first aid kit, rain gear, tire plug kit. As for winch vs rope, winch is more handy for being pulled out. Rope I use if the stuck machine has no winch or for like breakdown tows.

 

theres nothing better then a safe winch pull vs towing. however i do use strap to pull people out instead of winching if its easier. i like the straps better then a rope but im sure both work fine. when you use a winch its a steady strain vs a jerking motion and less can get damaged from winching. imo.

 

1) If someone is off the trail and there is a tree ahead of you, I would put a tree strap with a ****** block and winch the person off the trail on that way. You're less likely to get pulled off the trail because of lack of traction. If it is a relatively flat area and you can do a quick pull, use the tow strap.

2) The 10,000 pound strap should be more than enough.

3) Not a big difference between flat and round. The material they are made of is more important. I like the flat straps because they are made of a heavy duty nylon and fold up nicely to put in the front box.

4) Extra gas, extra drive belt for each quad, a small set of Stanley sockets and ratchet (Walmart $10 or so), folding pruning saw, first aid kit, ****** block (get one on eBay for around $10), rain gear, compass, maps, food and drink, folding hex and torx tools (friend got me a Craftsman set), knife, matches or lighter, Leatherman type tool, tree strap, and tow strap. What's nice about the Sportsman line is that I can put all the above in the front box and there is still some room.

 

Also go to any farm and home type store and grab a couple of shackles. I carry two of them,ones alittle bigger than the other. They're really handy for hooking up the strap to different things and only cost 5 or 6 bucks a piece.

 

Sounds like I wasn't too far off in my estimation of value of a good tow rope. For what it's worth I pulled the other ATV back onto the trail using the winch. Worked great and was pretty easy to do. I can't imagine not having a winch on either the X2 or the Sporty 500.

We've got a decent C.A.L. Ranch store taht has pretty good selection of ATV accessoris, so I'll likely run over there to pick up a tow rope and a fender bag.

Thanks to all for the quick replies and good info!

 

another thing you could get if you want to double the pulling power of the winch would be a ****** block. i have one but havent needed it as of yet but good to have for sure.

 

You can use a ****** block to pull in a different direction too. When one of my buddies got REALLY stuck I used all 50' of cable on my winch plus two or three tow ropes, plus had my ****** block fastened to a tree with a shackle and heavy duty ratchet tie-down strap that sometimes doubles as a tow rope. We had to use everything that all of us had to make an angle pull of about 75 degrees, with three people pushing it uphill while giving it the gas. When we got it up the hill next to the tree where the ****** block was I pulled him straight to me and over a log 2-3 feet high. It took us a couple hours to do all that because he tried to find a way around a tree on the trail that only too 10 minutes to cut with a Short-Kutt pocket chainsaw. You can never have too much stuff. My short list is:

1. Winch
2. Saw
3. ****** block
4. 1 or 2 Shackles
5. 2 Tow ropes or straps, tree savers, etc.

Sometimes you need one rope or strap to anchor the ****** block to a tree, maybe with a shackle, and another rope or strap to anchor the winch hook to a tree, and that's easier with a shackle. Also I sometimes have to lasso a whole bunch of bushes with a tow rope because there isn't a nearby tree big enough to anchor the winch to.

 

EDIT: Too bad I can't delete my mistakes like I can on another forum.

 

I use a brinks security cable for my puller. It is a thick cable wraped in rubber with both ends looped and is 15 feet long. I got it from lowes. I got some shackles and hooked it up to the tow bar on the front of the quad and it stays hooked all the time, I just keep it wraped around my gun racks. I like it because of the length and that I can just undo it and hand it to some one without getting off the quad. I also have a 24" axle strap that I got from the tractor supply hooked up to the rear loop of the quad and straped up to the rear rack so that I can again hand that to some one instead of digging around in the mud to hook up a strap.