My father made a pair of these at work in 1961. He could hardly wait to get a few beers and go test his idea. He drove off into a bogg, We got out of the car into knee deep mud. He hooked up his invention and it worked. Rip Dad
Wth... Your family should have been straight hand fead with Silver Spoons then. It's a shame that money and ideas were so much harder, back in The Day, to monopolize on and be discovered. Such poor networking. Mmm
I like the fact that the factory wheel nuts are changed permanently so the winch drum can be slotted into position when needed. Good twist on an old theme
Haha, yeah. Just like the "Clapper" they sell on infomercials. Its probably been around since the days of Edison, but each time a new generation sees it, its the coolest thing ever.
we built a device like this in the military back in Desert Storm because of the "quicksand" events during the rainy season. Not new but, a damn good product!
I saw it in movies on army vehicles from the 2nd world war. In the 90's I made a pair for my Isuzu. Used it a few times and it worked good. Later bought a pair for my Landrover. Still have it. Only used it a few times to demonstrate it to others. When I actually needed it once, I did not have it with me. Then kept it on the wheels for some years, never needed it during that time. Now it is on the shelf in the shed. Just make sure you have a long enough rope or cable. No use to have it but no way to anchor it to something.
When I was in the US Army in early 1970's, the vehicles had a from hub that extended with holes on the opposite side. You could insert the tire iron, loop a rope around the iron and hub and use it as a winch. Also had the same on my familys 1950's surplus Jeeps.
Old army 1/4 tn 3/4tn and 5/4 tn used to use a tire iron through a connector on the hubs. Worked great. If you have duallies you can tie up in between the duals as well.
saw "Bush Winch" and immediately thought it was a clip from the show "Bush Mechanics" with the Aboriginal fellas in the Northern Territory. Bloody ingenious bit of kit anyway.
simple quick and easy to use I made one for my holden panel van years ago the difference was my one was part of the rim permanently and for rope I used 50 feet of 5t sling from a surplus supply I could camping anywhere she was a great ol van 1973 HQ with a 173 LC motor and 3 speed speco floor shift wish I still had her.
Yes it's actually an old method used in the military even during the war but now with a modern approach, some vehicles then had a small capstain permanently fitted to the wheel hubs.
I’ve used a similar trick before when stuck,only I wrapped the rope around my tire. Also can be useful to lock a wheel when you need drive to the other side,but do not have a diff lock. - you do what you gotta do when you’re out in the back country!🤣🏴
More than once I have simply taken an old fire hose, tie one end around the rim of my tractor and the other end around a tree. Drop it in low gear and as the tire rotates, the hose is pulled taught getting my tractor free of the swamp.
@@Tankerpaul223 As a fireman, I van say I haven't seen one break when used for pulling, I've seen them break on the fireground when under pressure and when they get burned, but I have used them to pull everything from a 4 wheeler to a 2,000 gallon tanker (with water drained) that was stuck. My guess is that they didn't want to have people hassling them for their used hose. My dept keeps all our trash hose for me to take home.
The geeral method is proven, quite old, and is used to recover armored fighting vehicles such as the M113 APC. If you play in sand, use a ground anchor of your choice.
they provide mounting and use for all drives of vehicles on their website, so anyone who thinks they know to mount and use it without first reading instructions only too look like idiot are their own fools for not reading instructions first even briefly let alone fully using their lack of common sense
shanesaw13, smittybuilt winch may cost less if you do not account for the fact it requires a mounting system, such as front tow system or a bumper with mount that will fit it adding to that cost, or a pole/post/tree strap mounting system to tie off to even. Then again both have their limitations in price but also use and todays xchange rate makes this lower cost than the winch.
Big hello from America! Nice idea I love it many years ago when people were a lot more enginuitive in the states people would run saw mills ect. off of there truck or tractor axle. You have a great idea i love it.
I made some "Wheel-Grabbers' attached to 2 or 4 wheels that easily strap on to the wheel. Based on the old fence-post attached to bogged tractor wheel trick. They are like 'paddles'. And cheap. Just a bit of 2 inch channel (or a 4" x 2" hard-wood) temporarily strapped to each wheel. Wonder why the Yanks have them but not here in Oz?
I have an 8mm movie of my father using the same wheel winch system on an army jeep when he was at Camp Croft SC in the early 1940's - before going to Europe.
I don't go off roading, but damn this should be a must have in your vehicle for just in case moments just like med kits and such. Luck favors the prepared.
the cheaper version=rope or a recovery strap, and loop it through a hole in the rim and then tie it so the long piece of rope lies on top of tire when your tire spins it wraps the rope around it. it only works if you have something to tie on to directly in front of you (same as the "Bush winch")
+Biggest 23 Oh nice. I have never seen that before, but I do believe that Toyota made it factory equipment on some 40 series and 70 series models. It seems to be more common with some engine options than others, at least on the 70 series models. Toyota may have only offered it in certain markets or with certain engines, although I am not certain about the latter of those two.
I'm running a hydraulic winch that uses the power steering pump from the engine. No tiny motor, no overheating, no battery drain, draws 2 amps max for valve solenoid. I'll never go back to an electric.
New? Genius? Revoutionary? These attachments have been available on military LandRovers decades ago. Great example of the proverbial "re-inventing the wheel".
If the price is less than a decent electric or hydraulic winch usung the car's electric or hydraulic output, then I wouldn't mind getting out to attach those pulleys. Very ingenious! Actually I've wanted to have pulleys like this to connect the drive wheels to the undriven wheels for a Poor Man's Four Wheel Drive. Sprockets with toothed belts would unstick most drivers with no need to connect to trees or land anchors, at least in the city!
I was thinking the same - "why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" Then, after breaking it down in terms of functionality, I realized that I've seen a similar concept with the arabs in the desert, when they bury a sandbag in the ground and attach it to one of the wheels by a rope. Either way, the simplicity is just amazing.
I am no expert but using another rim off-the-shelf I can see a few issues with this, one being the offset of and the overall design to that of what is on your vehicle not allowing for the bolts to get enough grab through the second outside rim. secondly the rims tire mounting profile, thus why this system is designed the way it is with its permanent wheel nuts on the driven vehicle
unless your vehicle has a limited slip or lockable diff, you HAVE to put it on both wheels. Otherwise it is likely the power will just go to the wheel without the winch. And if your vehicle is really stuck, this will put strain on the driveline. There is a reason winches and tow ropes are attached directly to the frame!
Very cool. This has given me an idea for an even better version which is about 5 times smaller and weighs 6.5 times less and has no need for a coiled cable. Thank yew
It was available before in a different but similar application. We used in the US Army on the old 1/4 ton jeeps a rod thru the wheel hub to which a rope/chain could be added and it would wrap around helping recovery.
@@AN-kg4ei I couldn’t find pictures online, but I still have my Army drivers manual with diagrams of different self recovery methods. I could take pictures.
sounds like a good idea, but doesn't look like a viable product. You have to hook in a very straight line in front of the truck for it to work or the cable is just going to fall off the edge. Some one else pointed out the open differential issue. This is a good thing to know if something goes way wrong and you have no options, but by no means does it replace a good winch.
This is an awsome design. My only thought though is what if you don't have a locking diff? With an LSD or open diff, it will ether not work, or damage the diff.
Looks cool. My only worry would be 'birdsnesting' the reel. If something was to push the rope sideways (rock, trees etc) or if the vehicle lunged forward and the rope went slack for a bit it might come off the spool and get in a mess
Seems like a good idea. I've never heard of this, although I'm not an avid back country traveller. I was a bit concerned about the strength of that rope/cable(which is it?), but as someone else pointed out, this system shouldn't be shouldering the entire weight of the vehicle, it just adds enough additional force to aid the vehicle's tires to get grip. The vehicle itself will provide power as well. How often do winch cables break, and is the cable/rope on this thing of equal strength to average winch cables?
Great idea... if you have an anchor point directly in front of you If you can get to your wheels if you are going straight so as to not damage the sides of your vehicle if you won't hit rocks that will damage the winch if it doesn't break the lugs when it hits something ruining your wheel and leaving you stranded should I keep going. Those who don't go prepared for a proper off-road experience and go cheap are going to pay more in the long run in damages and recovery efforts from professionals.
+Travis Garrett Half those things are applicable to a normal winch. If its cheaper than an electric wench then the cons would be worth it. If it isnt cheaper...well then its not that great.
It's not about being clever it is about being practical. If you go off-roading with sub par equipment expect sub par capabilities and performance. Anyone who is serious enough to look at buying a winch should be serious enough to buy one that will work in any variety of dozens of situations, not one that may work in 1 or 2.
This is intended for the average person that doesn't want to put out butt loads of money for "sub par equipment" reason being they don't need to for how frequently they don't get into situations or the accidental situations like snow which is the biggest thing for the average person especially in a passenger vehicle like a sedan or a mini van that either can't or doesn't generally need to have "sub par equipment" stop making yourself stupid.
$568 AUD ($424.53 USD) for this neat little thing (the kit complete kit) is reasonable for the average driver compared to a decent winch that might not be able to be installed on the said drivers vehicle. EDIT: A winch rated for near 7,000LBS (the kit is rated for 7054LBS) could easily cost you anywhere from $300 to $600 or more (The first winch I seen on Amazon close to the weight rating was a Viper Elite 5000lb winch which is $491.39) plus the kit comes with 2 drums and 2 cables that are 66 feet.
I used a home built version of this for year. it works well if you know what your doing. as far as bad angle a block and tackle hooked to pull point could get me out of anything I run across(especially if attached to bumper can pull front or back end the direction you want) these were modified trucks not plastic bumper suv's with aluminum wheels. as far as open diffs. one on each side will be what you need. the way they doing it on video I wouldn't do except in extreme situations. if you wanna go forward why not put them on front wheels? that's what I did
You did notice they fit them on both side of vehicle in several situations?! ... the other side unit took the load first ... but don’t let that distract you from being brilliant! 🙄
As u can see the diameter of the winch is much smaller than the wheel so as soon as the wheel stops spinning/ starts to grip then the tension on the cable loosen. Physics, just physics.
If you get stuck in the mud it would be extremely hard to set it up if at all possible and also the cable runs low to the ground which is not good because it could easily rub on a rock and snap
I have been thinking about this for years, well actually I've been thinking about it since I got a two-wheel drive truck instead of a 4 and wanted to make it into a 4x4. It really is such a basic idea that I'm sure tons of us have thought about it and just not turned it into reality. It looks like this one will only go for so long so you couldn't keep it on permanently four-wheel drive. However if you turned it into chain or belt drive it could totally be a permanent four-wheel drive solution with a chain guard of course
I think it's brilliant making a commercial product out of it when the entire point isn't to be " hardcore" ,the point is to make loads of money ,I really like it & nobody has been using your system for years,they have used 12 ' rims cobbled up but nothing as quick .
