LMTV SRW intended use

I have just discovered the Self Recovery Winch is rated at 11k lb max pull and the LMTV weighs 22k without any cargo. Even more striking it's called a Self Recovery Winch which suggests you use it to recover yourself (not another vehicle). This seems unlikely because the vehicle must be in neutral to operate it.

Reading through the TM it says. Enable PTO, Winch out plays out the wind Winch in Pulls in the winch line.

Is there an addition manual that describes how to rig for a self recover?

Doing some reading it looks like a 3 or 4 to one puly system using a snatch block would generate enough pulling force to get the truck moving even in neutral. I need to look into strength of the steel rope.

there are some clever tricks to use 5 pullies to generate 12:1 pull. It's used for rock climbinb/rescue operations. I've never seen or heard of anyone using a prusic knot to grab a winch line.

FM 4-30.31 shows techniques to self recover.
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?151113-FM4-30x31-Recovery

When winching the ROLLING weight is your main weight concern, not gross vehicle weight , a 12000 pound winch can easily pull a 20.000 truck if its just rolling weight , One has to assess the SUCK /STUCK the vehicle is in, northeast mud and Louisanna gumbo are totally different , Chock, anchor your winch truck and use A sheave pulley if needed. Forget the 3 or more relays, just gets complicated and dangerous as you can rapidly exceeded your wire rope capacity. JACK AND BLOCK , if a truck is buried , don't try to strong arm a retrieival that's up to the frame , just to save some shoveling. Keep it simple , keep it safe ! You will likely find its not your truck your winching out , I have five winch equipped trucks, Have winched out dozens of people , MUD, SNOW, WATER, DITCHES Only ever winched my self ONCE

My LMTV weighs in around 17k without cargo, which model do you have?

Dave

I have M1078. How do I calculate the rolling weight?

ok found the diagram for self recovery.

Aernan said:

I have M1078. How do I calculate the rolling weight?

Click to expand...

It should be on the passenger door.

LMTV vehicle weight runs 16700 to 18200 depending on options

Jericho said:

When winching the ROLLING weight is your main weight concern, not gross vehicle weight , a 12000 pound winch can easily pull a 20.000 truck if its just rolling weight , One has to assess the SUCK /STUCK the vehicle is in, northeast mud and Louisanna gumbo are totally different , Chock, anchor your winch truck and use A sheave pulley if needed. Forget the 3 or more relays, just gets complicated and dangerous as you can rapidly exceeded your wire rope capacity. JACK AND BLOCK , if a truck is buried , don't try to strong arm a retrieival that's up to the frame , just to save some shoveling. Keep it simple , keep it safe ! You will likely find its not your truck your winching out , I have five winch equipped trucks, Have winched out dozens of people , MUD, SNOW, WATER, DITCHES Only ever winched my self ONCE

Click to expand...

On the posted door plate above I don't see any number called out as rolling weight. Which number is it?

Aernan said:

On the posted door plate above I don't see any number called out as rolling weight. Which number is it?

Click to expand...

"Curb Weight"

Here it is. 17,770 lbs curb weight

Sorry you used the term "tow weight" which threw me off.

The winch is 11k when there there is 1 turn on the drum. The listed truck is 17k so if the wheels don't roll and you are pulling the truck on flat ground the winch won't drag that load.

I have no had a chance to read through the self recover procedures. They recommend using a snatch block. That would put the pulling power to 22k which would pull the truck. But that is if the winch is fully out. I would guess (someone please confirm) that there are 3-4 layers on the drum which reduces the pulling force to possibly as low as 64% capacity. That puts the pulling force at 14k lbs which would still be enough to get it moving.

I need to go do more reading to figure out which line thickness and max pull and figure out what snatch blocks would work well and exceed the break strength of the rope.

The only big disadvantage to needing the snatch block is your line (I think there is 100' of it) must be doubled making the max reach 50' for most winching operations. Also you need to play out a lot of line.

I will also need to look into possibly getting an extension and other recovery gear.

Does anyone know if the SRW has a free play mode so you can pull the line out by hand?

OK I just looked it up. It has 308' of rope so no extension needed. That's actually pretty nice.

It does have a freewheel mode. Heres a pic from my truck. That lever is it.

So I don't claim to know how well this scales to MVs, but in the Jeep world we have a rule of thumb that goes something like this. Taking the actual weight (not the gross weight, not the curb weight), you need a pulling force equal to:

1/10th: level pavement
1/3rd: soft level ground, grass
2/3rds: broken driveline, dragging wheels
1 to 1: mud to hubs
2x: mud to frame

Uphill maybe add 1/4th to 1/2. This all about stands to reason - I've gotten my LMTV in to the hubs and gotten it out with a 8k winch with a 2:1 pulley but it was marginal. My curb weight is 17k. Comes out easy with a 12k at 2:1 under same situation.

I noticed this thread as I was wandering through. From an old man. The 11K winch to a snatch block connected to a baTree back to your truck gives 22 K of pull if I remember right. Hardest part is having something immovable you can connect to and don't care how much damage it takes holding up to the 11 tons of shear. FMTV has a 15 k you could always go a little bigger.

One could rig up the mounting brackets front and rear for the recovery spades off the 5 ton wreckers and carry them stored under the bed for using the winch to recover other people. Especially double lined back to yourself on a recovery it will drag the LMTV in easily. The recovery spades will also work as an anchor for winching if you carry your pioneer kit and bury it in the ground. https://youtu.be/H-uZdDrq8As

One is not picking up a 17,770 lb truck vertically. You just have to have enough oompf to overcome static friction. That's how a "strongman" can pull a semi truck with a rope: he is not lifting the truck. Its true that weight is in the equation of static, then rolling friction. It helps the strongman demonstration to pump up the tires real hard to reduce the size of the tire contact patch to the ground.

olly hondro said:

One is not picking up a 17,770 lb truck vertically. You just have to have enough oompf to overcome static friction. That's how a "strongman" can pull a semi truck with a rope: he is not lifting the truck. Its true that weight is in the equation of static, then rolling friction. It helps the strongman demonstration to pump up the tires real hard to reduce the size of the tire contact patch to the ground.

Click to expand...

but in a mudhole with a suction force that will leave your leaf springs sitting in there in the mud as it rips the body off of them you are overcoming more than 17000lb of friction. It takes alot sometimes. The suction is what gets you. Even finding a good tree and climbing up 6 to 10 ft off the ground to secure the cable to is better than it being at waist level on the ground. least you can release the suction as it pulls up and get on top of stuff, rather than just bulldozing. Attempting to rescue a 923 from a mud hole we had 45,000lb rear winches on wreckers triple lined and it still would not budge until stuff started getting ripped off. and that is a 21,000lb truck.


These marines learned after all the work with dozers and HEMTT wreckers to just get the M88. I would love one of those snatch blocks though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfy-khwwU9s