The Old Rope Trick

Tundra_Hick · #1 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 11:06 AM

For quite some time I've been describing a way to get yourself unstuck.

My father taught me, now I'm gonna lern Y'all good!

Now where did I put my lernin' switch?

First you need rope, any length over four feet will do, the more the better.

Second, you need to wrap the rope around the tire, through the rim holes, and repeat. Start where the tire is exposed working your way over the top side, back down to the ground where it goes into the mud.

Pics will help.

As you can see, it gives the smooth tire lugs like a tractor tire.

Make sure you tie the rope in a spot where you can access it later.

While it is possible to drive for quite some time with the rope on, I'd suggest you untie it as soon as its no longer necessary. If not, the rope will eventually break and wrap itself around your axle or worse, around your brake lines.

Works like a charm everytime, whether in mud or snow.

TUNDRA786 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 06:28 PM

Ive heard about people doing that before. It would probably be pretty hard to do if your already stuck though. It would take a while to do on all 4 tires as well and then removing them all muddy would suck!. But that would come in handy if your up in some crazy area camping and the only way out is through some nasty mud....

TUNDRA786 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 06:29 PM

Have you tried that before?

Tundra_Hick · #4 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TUNDRA786

Have you tried that before?

Yup, I was driving a 2wd on wet clay. I couldn't get any traction at all, the treads on the tires we full and it was a fairly narrow logging road. If I spun the tires too much, the truck would slide sideways toward the ditch.

I thought I was completely buggered, nobody to tow me and to make matters worse it was raining and the clay was oozing.

I only had 1/4 inch rope, the tires were in about 5 inches of mud, so I started wrapping on the exposed portion of the tire. I then put he truck in gear and gently pushed the accelerator. When the tire moved forward, I continued wrapping the rope around the now exposed part of the tire.

In total, I think I drove for about 4 miles until I got to a better road. I then took all the rope off and threw it into the back of the truck.

ddnail · #5 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 08:48 PM

Kewl, I never heard of that. Nice trick if your up the creek and have no other option.

CLAMSHELL · #6 (**permalink**) 11-18-2007, 11:50 PM

Have you ever used your rear wheels like a winch? It works great with a flat strap.
Heres what you do, loop the strap around the tire of the truck that is not stuck, hook the other end to the truck that is stuck. Chain the unstuck truck to a tree or another truck. Jack up the *** end of the truck, put it in drive and gas it SLOWLY. The strap will wrap around the tire just like a winch and out comes the stuck truck.......WAALA I have done this trick twice be for I bought a winch, but hell it works....

William1 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-19-2007, 05:25 PM

I was just about to mention using a tire for a winch myself, until you mentioned it.

Seems like I have seen an old military vehicle with provision for winching with one wheel, either by connecting something to a wheel and wrapping a rope around it, or wrapping a rope around something already connected to a wheel.

The winch trick tends to work better on a wheel connected to a locker equipped vehicle. Without a locker, the winch trick could cause the wheel being used as a winch to not spin, while the other wheel spins.

GGWOODY · #8 (**permalink**) 11-20-2007, 08:17 AM

That's really cool TH!

I'll definitely have to give this a try!

Glad you could contribute something!

Tundra_Hick · #9 (**permalink**) 11-22-2007, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GGWOODY

That's really cool TH!

I'll definitely have to give this a try!

Glad you could contribute something!

It would be nice if you could do the same some day.

Tundra_Hick · #10 (**permalink**) 11-22-2007, 03:43 PM

I saw something interesting on TV one time, it was a show from the 70s. A guy had a truck, possibly a Jeep I don't recall exactly, with a spare rim. There was a no tire on the rim. He looped a rope around the rim where the tire should go, then used it as a winch.

If memory serves he was getting a person out of a hole or a well or something like that. I'm sure it could work to pull too.

ddnail · #11 (**permalink**) 12-02-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tundra_Hick

I saw something interesting on TV one time, it was a show from the 70s. A guy had a truck, possibly a Jeep I don't recall exactly, with a spare rim. There was a no tire on the rim. He looped a rope around the rim where the tire should go, then used it as a winch.

If memory serves he was getting a person out of a hole or a well or something like that. I'm sure it could work to pull too.

I've actually seen this done with a tractor before. My brother got a John Deere 4460 stuck behind a pond dam. It was bad enough that it stayed there for 3 weeks! We kept trying different things with no luck untill his neighbor brought him a dual wheel with no tire on it and about 100ft of cable. We bolted the dual wheel on the outside of the rear tire, ran the cable to an oak tree, and put the tractor in low gear with the rear diff locked in. The tractor "idled" itself out of the hole while my brother "floated" the front end with the bucket. Worked like a charm!