EXPERT TIPS FOR SAFE 4WD RECOVERIES - Do you REALLY need a winch?

[@somethingfishy1802]

One time I decided to venture out to an off-road park alone. I met with the owner and explained I just picked up a 2000 4runner and wanted to explore the stock limits, he was super nice and just said have a go at it. He did however explain he was very busy setting up courses for an off-road club to come and try that afternoon, I assured him I wouldnt push it too hard as I was alone anyway and I do not have a winch. Well after going through the property on level 1 trails, I somehow found myself cobble crawling up creeks, and bogging in the forest to which I decided to follow a sign around a tree and PLOPPED my whole body down to the frame into a truck sized bog hole. I had to go do the whole walk of shame across the entire property, owner watched me walk across the field the whole way. Full smiles when I finally get to him, he already knows he said. Such a nice guy, both of us hopped into his Carburated Chevy K20 on 40" tires, explained how his truck belonged to a friend who died and it was one of the things he remembers him by and some war stories from Vietnam. It was pitiful how easy it was for a 85' K20 to pull my "small" 4wd out. The guy's name was Joe he told me and welcomed me back anytime if I wanna get stuck again hahha. Please get out there and enjoy these types of folks while they are here.. He converted his whole personal property and fought with gov. bodies to establish the park; whole expeirance and getting completely stuck 10/10, wish I had a winch but at the same time I would have never met Joe.

[@chainlink4241]

I know I'm late to reply to this, but it's always been a dream of mine to do something like this. If only I owned enough land...

[@zanebonser2255]

During the recent floods in northern NSW I managed to get my ute stuck worse than it's ever been... in my front yard.. with a whole street of spectators. The flood water had made the grass softer than first thought and I was COMPLETELY stuck. Eventually a legend came along in his 79 and winched me out. Having my own winch definitely would of saved my ego that day!

[@georgiacutler5567]

The best time I could've used a winch is when I was at stockton lake, Collie. Thought a puddle looked doable... turns out it wasn't! My mate quickly turned around to snatch me out which nearly broke his 4wd due to how boggy the mud at the bottom of the "puddle" was. Ended up getting it out, snapped off my custom plate which sunk into the mud and was lost forever AND the car was written off! Now have just bought my dad's Ford Ranger and taken it under my wing to upgrade to an awesome rig so a winch and recovery set would be amazing so I don't have another written off 4WD!!! Love your videos guys keep up the amazing work :)

[@TMTravelsAUS]

A few weeks ago I had an electrical issue with my winch, causing the terminals to get extremely hot, melt and nearly catch fire. We disconnected everything to ensure it was safe but then obviously left winch-less for the remainder of the trip on the tracks at Lithgow, having many instances where the winch would have been used but couldn't... Had to resort to snatching instead where it was often a challenge to get a vehicle in front where it was needed. I really felt the struggle of not having a winch and am now on the hunt for a new one, and this Drive Tech one would suit me perfectly!

[@adamarthurs7967]

On Graham’s recommendation I purchased a Isuzu dmax for that perfect daily and tourer combination late last year. With minimal modifications under my belt, wheels, bullbar and free wheel hubs I hit the tracks with the boys for a weekend. The place we visited was a our and back track type setup where you explored downhill for a while and to return you had to make your way back up hill. Over confident with my abilities as I had it easy downhill I opted to be lead vehicle on the return journey. With 500 metres left to go I had a large rock slope and trench that I had to get up, and just couldn’t pass the obstacle slowly under control. Only missing by about a metre each time. A winch would have easily given me the last metre I would have needed to pass the rock slope. Over confident in my cars capability (thanks Graham!) my driving ability and Not wanting to be the butt of all jokes at the campsite later I opted the full send it attitude, good bye front left CV. After 10 maxtrax and packing like crazy for the next 500m with assistance from the boys I limped the car back to camp. I owed too many beers and wore the jokes all night. I winch could have saved me the torture. Save me from this happening again Jocko

[@grackletooth6092]

I was taking the kids out in the old Pajero in the Victorian bush, not too far from home, when we came across a bog hole. I had my doubts but the kids reckoned we could smash it. Half way through we sank and got completely bogged. No phone service, no recovery gear (It was just a quick fang in the bush after all) no bloody matches, getting dark , we had nothing. We had to wait for hours with the water coming through the sills until someone came past and offered to get help. Cost me $500 to get hauled out by a recovery crew from the next town and I felt about 2 inches tall. Kids were all ok but I'm never going to cross anything I haven't checked or walked again. Lesson learned. The kids and I still smile about the experience. Bloody good show by the way lads. Keep them coming.

[@Anachroschism]

When I first moved to my current house, I parked my loaded 24ft caravan on the back lawn, being used to hard ground. Unfortunately, after a few hours, it had sunk down to the spring shackles. The ground was mush, just under the surface, as I found out. I had my ranger in 4WD, with the diff lock on, and was still struggling to pull out the caravan, and made a huge mess of the lawn while doing it. If I had been able to winch pull, then I'd likely not have needed to spend weeks fixing the lawn. Neighbours must have been laughing at me.

[@rlaxton666]

LOL, I did the same thing when I brought my Patrol and camper trailer to my new house. I did not realise that the entire backyard was mush and managed to bog both badly enough that I ended up just leaving them both there for 3 months until the yard dried out. Fortunately normal access was from the front driveway so they were not in the way!

[@Anachroschism]

@@rlaxton666 Unfortunately, here, things never dry out; that was during summer. I needed somewhere I could get it fairly flat, as we were going to need it while doing renovations. Sinking into the mud wasn't as flat as I'd hoped.

[@rlaxton666]

@@Anachroschism Fortunately I don't live in a swamp. Interestingly, in the 10 years after I moved in, the backyard, while flooded many times, has never been as boggy. I have done more damage to 4WDs in my own driveways than anywhere else, strangely. At a previous bush property I managed to slide off the driveway and get stuck between two trees.

[@Anachroschism]

@@rlaxton666 my yard gets so boggy, that even the lawn mower will sink down in some spots, and grass turns to moss in winter. The dogs love it though.

[@Hunter12546]

You’re not getting the giveaway lol I am

[@N-vf9pp]

I live in Lismore NSW and with the amount of water still around after the flood I’ve been bogged more times on my own property in the last 2 months than I have been in the last 5 years of 4wding trips. A winch would’ve saved me on at least 4 occasions recently, I’ve never seen the ground as wet as it is now. Side note, love the content lads. Definitely been a massive highlight lately everytime a new 4wd 24/7 vid drops!

[@paulsmit8147]

I'm having to do most of my wheeling by myself, often getting stuck. Thankfully always been able to get unstuck, but i know the day's gonna come where I'll really be stuck. That tool will definitely keep me out of trouble 🤙👍

[@4WD247]

Always better to be prepared hey mate!

[@gqwarrior6694]

Wrong. You would get into more trouble than ever. It's just that you would have a pretty fair chance of getting yourself out of trouble again so you can go find more trouble 😜

[@andrewford80]

Jock, I think you're the most down to earth bloke on this channel. Such a good dude to do these presentations

[@brandongoberdhan6335]

Awesome and informative video I shared it to all my 4wd groups here in Trinidad 🇹🇹. A winch would of been handy when I parked in a grassy slope near the beach, rain fell and I slid straight down and with my almost bald tires I ended up doing mad 4wd burnouts instead 😀

[@pscruising5486]

Back when I was a kid out hunting in the ol 67 Bronco, with a mighty 6000 lb Warn, we frequently needed our "block and tackle" to double the winch force in the sticky mud. Present day Arizona, a Rubicon with a 12000 lb Warn will generally do the job. Thanks for knocking the rust off on how to plan, the rare "winch" recovery Jocko. Always enjoy when you share your insights with us. Keep them coming!

[@1979yoshimitsu]

Took the kids and the dog out for a day trip to julimar state forest in the 90 series prado thinking we'd have a BBQ lunch and explore some tracks. After being out most of the day and getting carried away with following different tracks I figured it would be easier and quicker to keep going and come out the other side of the forest. Boy was I wrong...... We came to a section of the track that looked impassible due to the mud so decided to turn around and try a different way. As I backed the car up off the track to turn around and chucked it in drive I felt the rear wheels sink in and the hard top crust had broken and revealed a muddy cesspool! Long storey shorter, ended up having to walk an hour through the bush to higher ground to get phone reception to call a mate. By this stage it's dark and cold and the kids and dog were looking at me like, ("how could you do this to me"). About 2 hours later he arrives and snatches us out. Talk about a relief! 5 min up the track though the ground was getting wetter and wetter and my mate got stuck so I snatched him out backwards. Then another 5 min later we both got stuck down to the chassis! We tried everything but the mud was like cement! He ended up contacting one of his mates and we awaited his arrival. Just as we thought he was a no show 3am ticked over and we were half asleep in the cars when we saw the headlights through the forest and he'd arrived with the cavalry, wahoo! All I was thinking was if I just had a winch I would have been out of the first bog in 5 min and on my way!

[@Mrboxo]

Should be a winner mate, good luck

[@1979yoshimitsu]

@@Mrboxo Cheers mate!

[@barnazilla]

Hahahaha lucky you didn't have the missus with ya! Imagine lol

[@1979yoshimitsu]

@@barnazilla yeah, wasn't too popular when we got home!

[@TC-iz6xe]

Good reliable and capaable 4wds those 90 series Prados

[@philipsmith8388]

I am glad that someone has gone to the effort of presenting this video. You see a lot of videos just doing the winching, and not the preparation, safety considerations, or the maintenance required to use the kit and vehicle later

[@DzRGfX]

Definitely could have used a winch when we had three fourbies stuck axle deep in a single file line with an incoming tide at 11pm! We went down for a sunset BBQ and ended up using and loosing multiple pairs of max tracks and treds when a simple winch could’ve got us out :(

[@4WD247]

Hey mate, you've won yourself a DriveTech 12,000 Pound Winch and a complete DriveTech recovery kit!! Please send us a message to our Facebook page with a screenshot of this comment & we'll sort you out. If we don't hear back in 7 days, we'll have to re-draw or save it for the next one!

[@maurosonico1305]

when I went camping by the river and couldn't get up anymore because rain made the clayish ground so slippery I could barely walk it up...I had to wait until the next day when sun dried out the track and I could crawl my way up! I have sooo much desired to have a proper recovery kit! Love from the caribbean! best off road channel on the tube!

[@ZAZOOKING]

DEFINITELY COULD HAVE (Ha Ha) used when my friends Grand Vitara slipped into a washout and was teetering on the verge of rolling. If he had any more Go he would have been on his roof. I finally got him back on his wheels after using a sketchy RATCHET WINCH! I was praying that it didn't snap with each stroke ever tightening. Some how he didn't stop laughing or smiling through the whole experience as he sat clinging to his door. Lessons learnt that day :)

[@thatcargirl2146]

Seen those winches before. surprised you got the car out unscathed. wouldn't want to have that hand winch break.😬

[@ZAZOOKING]

@@thatcargirl2146 XD only rated to pull 700kg but it has a breaking force of 3000kg so it was safe I would hope. Would not have liked if I had to reset the winch tho.

[@michaelwatson8579]

4wding on lemon tree track in Morrieset NSW. A mate got stuck in one of the bog holes and it turned into an 8hr recovery with shovels, sinking mud, busting high lifts and snatch straps. We eventually got him out and busted a rear lower shock mount and control arm from the kids suction. As Jock said a nice slow controlled recovery with a winch would have probably saved us 4 hrs and made it heaps less sketchy. Love your work lads keep making pearla episodes.

[@deonor4022]

Definitely could of done with one Easter morning on the beach with my 5 year old daughter I looked backwards to make sure she was alright just as I did I drove through a wash out and ended up hung up up in the sand dunes by our self no one around 5 hours on my hands and knees wow what a morning cheers buddy keep up the great work I love the show

[@mattf3525]

Nothing too exciting compared to other tracks, but with the rains I recently had to pull my elderly neighbour out of a scary position where he was about to roll off an embankment onto another neighbours house! All the neighbours gathered around and I had to snatch him out of a very sketchy hole. The poor bugger got himself stuck and sliding inch by inch. I don't have a winch but we got him out! I came very close to loosing my poor old land cruiser! We later learnt it was his 80th birthday! And he bought us beers!?!? What a legend! Cheers for the videos guys and hoping our community can land a winch to help in the future!

[@timcapuchino3563]

For someone that's learning how to winch I think this is the best video I've seen literally talking about physics great job keep up the great work thank you from Florida USA

[@Taco04169]

I love all the tips! I’m brand new to 4 wheel driving and your video has been the most helpful getting unstuck. The winch would have been a day saver one time when I got stuck in 1-2 feet of snow while driving to a lake to ice fish on my tiny Honda civic. I thought my car being light would help but made it more stuck. I ended up getting stuck so far that the guy who came to tow me out also got stuck and needed to get towed out himself. I love your guys work!

[@jamespheiffer6031]

First drive on the beach with wife and 3 year old twins, was loving life until we got bogged, after 4 hours of snatching, digging and the tide coming in, I had a stressed out wife giving it to me, twins who were hungry, and what saved us was a friendly passer by with a winch. I have slowly since then upgraded my recovery but still believe a winch is the go to recovery gear and would so complete my setup. It would also change my wife second guessing my every 4x4 move! Thanks for the opportunity. Love the show #4wd247

[@NJSInstructional]

I desperately needed an electric winch when I got our MU-X stuck up a slippery hill in the Snowy Mountains. We took a wrong turn, ignored the danger / turn back signs and sure enough it started raining and we got stuck up a long steep hill. We were on our own and hadn't seen a car for almost 2 days. We were lost and badly stuck. We ended up spending almost 6 hours of hand winching to move the vehicle forwards (up-hill), backwards (down-hill) and even 180 degrees to turn it around on the track. As if the punishment of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere was bad enough, 6 hours of hand winching helped reinforce our bad decision. Whilst I'm glad we had the hand winch, we still don't have an electric winch and could definitely do with one!

[@4WD247]

Hey mate, you've won yourself a DriveTech 12,000 Pound Winch and a complete DriveTech recovery kit!! Please send us a message to our Facebook page with a screenshot of this comment & we'll sort you out. If we don't hear back in 7 days, we'll have to re-draw or save it for the next one!

[@NJSInstructional]

@@4WD247 Awesome, thank you so much! Facebook message just sent

[@erikaepler8597]

I bough my first little 4x4 which was a Daihatsu Terios. I took it to a sandy 4x4 park north of Perth. I aired down the tyres and took the first bend and was surprised how well it did the first 300m odd meters. I got coky wayyy to quick. I took a side line on the right just to get bogged 30 meters into it. Little did I know that the sand was super soft. I had literally no gear - big rookie mistake. In true Aussie spirit a random guy stopped by with his Ford Ranger which also struggled a fair bit to get me out, but with a bit of trying he saved me. Matt if you read this, you're a legend! Now I drive a Pathfinder 08 and still have no gear hence some recovery gear would be excellent. For the mean time I won't head out woth out some mates who cover me.

[@kevinhamilton4647]

my good buddy came over one evening to do some oil changes and after we finished up we went for a drive and found a dirt road we hadn't been on before so we figured we would check it out.. turns out it was full of mud holes. the first few weren't so bad but the last one had a large ice ledge we couldn't see under the water that stopped us in our tracks. also the mud underneath was very soft and we sunk it to the frame. we were stuck there for four and a half hours with no service until a guy with a bigger 4x4 came along and finally snatched us up and out. there were plenty of great winch points but I don't have a winch. Now I truly understand the need for good recovery gear on all my 4x4s

[@sarelsteenekamp7262]

Was lucky enough to get my first 4wd two years ago, 1999 Mits pajero which had been in a little accident. Fixed her up and went on my very first trip which took a turn for the worst when I almost rolled down a big hill, luckily coming to a stop without rolling halfway down the hill. None of us have been able to afford a winch and has to wait two days for a 4x4 club to assist with their winches. The winch would come in very handy as I still don't have one. Great and very informative episode , thanks.

[@danielhoward6102]

Jocko's the man !! I could have definitely used a winch on my last camp trip!! Just one week after owning my patrol I went on a weekend trip to Gordon country. On the first day I was a bit too excited and decided to hit a bog hole which turned out to be very challenging. The water seeped into the rear diff, destroyed the fridge, 12v charger, carpet and worst of all my partner's hand bag. If I had a winch the damage would have been minimal as I would have been recovered a lot quicker.

[@trentwcz2ie4scott76]

Me and a mate were out 4wding on a 14000 acre property, there had been a fair bit of rain in the week leading up to us turning up to the property. We got out of a few dodgy spots ( luckily) We should have already been back at camp hours ago and had a feed and a few cold ones into us, but it all turned bad. We were bogged to the diff and going no where quick. So we had to walk 7km at 11pm back to camp to get my ford Ranger to pull out my mates 79 series cruiser lol, by the time we got sorted out and back to camp it was 2am. A winch and a recovery kit would have been so handy. Great video to Jocko, some real handy tips

[@aaronshores6012]

Took a quick weekend trip on moderate forest service roads in mid-March in the mountains of California USA. Beautiful weather, good fishing and easy wheeling. Around the fire that night, suddenly fog rolled in and it began spitting snow. Woke up to a full foot of mushy, slippery snow. Coming around a hairpin turn on a shelf road my rear slid out and over the edge. MaxTrax and some careful right foot saved the day, but a winch would have allowed for less need to change my pants! I have since added a 12K and it has been great. I don't expect you to send a winch across the world, but I'd take one of those fleece-lined hoodies if you enjoyed my story...or a fresh pair of pants in the event of future disaster! I really love your show and appreciate the fun and the knowledge.

[@youngunXR400]

Winch would've come in mighty handy quite a few times, I'll tell you about the 2 of them! I was having a play in some small dips that had filled with water on a cleared grass area and all was well and fun, all of a sudden I flexed out and dug myself a hole, was in quite a remote area, so me and my then pregnant partner had to walk about 3km in the rain to get phone signal (that I had to climb a sign for) to ring for help, but to no avail, help had to come back with a 4wd tractor to drag me out after trying with their 2010 hilux. Next was a time I was gathering firewood, been to through these same uphill ruts 100 times without any major issues, this one day it had been raining and could not get up no matter how hard I tried, anyway, hit it so hard and fast I bounced out of the rut and into a never ending soft spot, and boy oh boy was I stuck! The recovery car that I called to come winch me out had to anchor himself to a tree! Anyways hope someone gets a laugh from these to experiences, lots more to tell but couldn't narrow it down to one! Keep safe everyone!

[@J2Ostudio]

Was off roading in North Wales (UK) doing what was supposed to be an easy track. When we slid off an embankment and rolled the truck on its side. Neither truck had a winch. And there was no good angle to run a strap to the other truck to tow. Ended up using straps and a high lift jack as a come along to very slowly pull the truck back over. Using fence post to prop the truck up as we re adjusted and shortened the straps. Took us 2 hours to get it back on 4 wheels. Poor man's winch 😂 Love the content lads keep up the good work👍

[@franksammut168]

As I'm new to 4wding and still setting up my rig as I go, trying to learn a lot very quickly. A new winch would help me have the confidence to tackle some of the harder stuff knowing I can get out safely if needed. Great channel, love the tips, cheers.

[@chrisdeering8524]

Just starting out new to 4X4 have a 1999 Ford Courier 4X4 and am getting close to the end of the 2 year restoration. Got hooked watching 4X4 24/7

[@dcphotography4015]

New to 4WD'img, alone and exploring (not too far from home) I applied the "she'll be right" approach when faced with a bog hole and a trailer full of fire wood. Next thing I'm axle deep and spraying mud all over the joint. Out comes the wood, off comes the trailer and I got pulled out backwards by a bloke passing by. Several lessons learned that day, including she won't always be right and a winch on the front would be bloody handy!!

[@coopersmith9732]

Thinking back, definitely could have used a winch a few days after i got my P's. My group of mates were all so keen to go out and 4wd but at the time i had the only capable 4wd rig, so not thinking that the tracks would be as soft as they were we set out and managed to get ourselves stuck axle deep in soft sand (winch woulda been handy as there were trees on either sides of the track). We ended up spending the next 2.5 hours on hands and knees with a single shovel digging a path out for the rig until she finally made it to some more hard track. It was a pain but you gotta do what you gotta do with what you got i suppose :)

[@stevebulach5198]

A winch up in the Northern Rivers NSW, with all of the wet weather we've had, would be an asset. I've had to work on some very creative ways to get vehicles out of very sticky & stuck situations lately & a Winch would have been heavenly. Great Vid Jock & a lot very valuable information that should be noted by all, especially the TOW BALL one!!!!

[@LKD__x]

G'day fellas! The first time that popped up in my mind was back when I had my little zook Vitara.. my mate in his MQ patrol tried following me through a mud bog, got hung up on his leaf hangers, I pulled him out with my towbar (with the recovery hitch). I looked at him, he looked at me, I shook my head no, he shook his head yes... and planted it back in, didn't get any further.. this time I hooked it to the front of my car, I pulled him out alright, but I also tore off the front 6 inches of my chassis rail In doing so. Thank God for a dampener blanket. Safe to say, a winch would have saved the day 10 times over, as he got stuck another 10 times during that track trying to follow the little zook that could 😂 Love the content guys! Always expanding my bucket list!

[@jhawto]

Myself and a good mate decided to go for a mud run after a bit of rain we got in Townsville, we are lucky to see a drop of rain 90% of the year so we thought why not right. So we went a local track I know of which is notorious for some mean bog holes. We got through the worst parts of the track (what we thought) until we reached the salt pans that we were planning to cross to get a nice fishing spot along the creek line. I was leading the way and got though the normal route I’d usually take, until I realised my mate behind me in his single cab navara was up past the side steps in mud. Safe to say the only recovery gear I got was a pair of Maxtrax so the recovery took us all of 2 hours working into the night. Please send me some recovery gear guys, love your work as always 👍🏽

[@alexanderm4098]

Was driving through Glasshouse one morning and missed a turn, figured I’d dart down another side track instead.. not thinking about it (I was only in 2wd) and went through a mud puddle (#1) no issues, the old Gu pulled through fine.. 2 mins later I came across another Mud puddle and this time wasn’t so lucky, drove in and that was it! Couldn’t manage to pull out and ended up calling a mate and shouting him a carton to be pulled out.. so if I ever needed a winch that would of been it! Love ya work mate, episodes are extremely knowledgeable for the folk like myself that need the experience!! 🍻

[@nathanpovopack1056]

A winch would most definitely be an advantage for us when we toured the cape solo. Lacking a winch and being solo limited us to attack tracks that we were confident we could get through, thus we missed doing the Frenchmans track which was on our bucket list but due to rain prior to our arrival it wasn't a viable option. Its still most definitely on the bucket list once we install a winch.

[@jordankeane1819]

I followed my dad in getting a navara last October. we went out about a week after I bought it and didn't really know much about offroading, next thing you know we are both sitting on our diffs in thick mud which took about 5 hours and 7 other vehicles to pull us out 😂, a winch plus much more wouldve been very handy that day

[@roberto3roberto]

I don't even own a 4WD and I love watching these videos. I'm sure there will come a time where the knowledge gained in this video about the triple line pull will come in handy 😅

[@tpv59]

Me too, not alone!!!

[@rictus_invictus670]

Thanks for the excellent advice, Jock! I'm just now getting into 4WD, and this type of content is invaluable to me. Much appreciated!

[@frfforeverfree3879]

So many times I’ve needed a winch and always seems to be the times that you don’t have one installed haha. Now I definitely need one, have been slowly doing up my ln167 luxy and just about ready to ditch my stock bullbar and buy an aftermarket winch compatible one so to win this prize would be perfect for me! Everything that I’ve learnt on the tracks have been self taught and by watching videos like the ones you and Shauno bring out so I appreciate it a ton! A couple old old winches I’ve had definitely got me out of some sticky situations and now I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they are much needed if you want to save your vehicle and even yourself if your alone! Cheers

[@explore_moor]

Friday arvo, picked the kids up from school early to beat the high tide at Teewah. Traffic was a nightmare and hit the beach at sunset towing a 2T camper. Tried to move off soft sand to harder stuff and the trailer dragged into a sand drift and bogged at the high tide line. No cars around, kids in tears and mum thinking we were going to lose the car and trailer. Dug and dug and dug, 2 sets of maxtracks, dropped pressures to 6psi and drove out. Winch would have been amazing to get it out quicker and with less stress for the family. Cheers guys.

[@user-bb7jx8tc8d]

Absolutely could've used a winch 2hrs into owning my first 4wd... Only 17 and too excited, took it to this little muddy area around town, not even a proper track... Bogged it instantly as I hadn't even looked at how bald the tyers were, had to walk 2hrs to get home, got my brother's little work ute and a ratchet strap. After 30min of trying to pull it out a postie came past on his bike taking a shortcut back to the PO and offered to hop in the recovering ute. Finally after over 4hrs of being stuck she was finally free! A job when a winch would've had me free in minutes 🙄 I've learnt my lesson!

[@michaelasummerfield2407]

I went on my first 4wding trip ever with the boys. I was the only one without a winch (I couldn't afford one and our plan was for the boys to winch me out if I got stuck). I have a 150 series Prado and we decided to tackle Billy Goats Bluff in the Victorian High Country. My car got stuck in a pretty sketchy position on one of the steep inclines and was just sliding around on the rock steps. There was no where safe for another vehicle to winch me up safely. We got my car out and away from the ledge with a good spotter and one of the boys with more experience wheeled my car up, but a winch definitely would've been handy to get out of some hairy situations in the High Country. Now I am determined to go back next year (hopefully with a winch), rebuild my confidence and tackle it myself knowing that I have a reliable recovery system to get me and my car out of hairy situations.

[@Slug-Anderson]

I've never done a winch recovery on my own and thos has been super informative and answered a lot of my questions. Good onya boys as always!!

[@DirtySpanner87]

Got a call from a friend around 7pm, he'd been bogged since 11am, had broken his winch rope, snatch strap and then gone home and grabbed his dad's ute. After bogging that about 50m behind his, he went back and got the wife's car. After realising he couldn't get close he called me. We spent 2hrs out there, had to tie his winch rope to a snatch strap to try get the distance to pull him out without bogging our ute. End of the night resulted in a busted side mirror and couple of dents in the tailgate as his strap snapped twice during the recovery. Having a winch on the front of mine would've made the recovery so, so much quicker and easier. It's definitely on the wish list

[@reefwebb7548]

The winch would have been handy when my son decided to get his boat serviced on a wet day, we live out on a property and our NARROW driveway is a shocking concrete, as I drive through the gate I completely lose traction and navigate towards a tree whilst the trailer jackknifed completely blocked out our driveway so no one could get in and out of the driveway. We had to drive the Mrs Nissan x trail through the mesh fence and to the neighbour's house with the decked-out ford ranger to pull us out. The rig has seen better days and the boat is still in good nick. The car is now a customised offroad tourer a winch and recovery kit would be pretty handy before I go to Fraser island later this year. Love the videos great work and good advice.

[@michaeljmk04]

I was on my L’s when I went out for my first 4wd in my own car. It was all going smoothly until I miss judged a bog hole as being shallow. I got my car stuck and my dad and I spent an hour or two trying to get it out to no prevail. With no winch, mud mats or mud tyres, we were properly stuck. We eventually called a mate who had a winch, and waited another hour for him to arrive, only for him to get more stuck less than 3 meters from my car. We went to winch him out with his own winch, but we didn’t know if it worked at the time and ended up needing to be re-spooled. After multiple winches to get him out, it was finally time to get me out, and in the end we didn’t even use the winch to get me out but opted for a snatch recovery. Great learning experience for my first time out and I had fun learning what to do when stuck 4wding but all could have been avoided if I had a winch.

[@scottminer7702]

Great content. One of the biggest things in my decision process when choosing whether to winch or use my kinetic rope is the weight of whatever I need to recover, how buried it is and if I can anchor my Jeep.

[@talstar279]

As soon as a got my ps I went on a camping trip with the boys. We went down this sketchy as old fire trail which the floods had completely eroded. I made it down fine ish and we all had a great night, anyway it pissed down all through the night and when it had come to leave I hand to turn around, and the only spot I could turn around was this boggy little corner. I ended up getting completely stuck, even after digging out a track and lining it with sticks and bark for traction. I thought I was going to have to leave my Ute there until it dried out. But thankfully I guy up the road came and pulled me out in a triton with a spear wheel on none the less. I was shocked he made it out. Essentially I wish I had a winch on me because it would have made that whole situation a lot easier and less stressful

[@TheYoyo2369]

I had just gotten married, bought a house and started getting into wheeling. The group I'd normally do stuff with was older than I am and wealthier too! We decided to do a trail not too far away that was rated as medium on several different forums. At the time, I had a Honda Pilot (I've since upgraded to an Xterra which I've done all the lifts and work on myself) and figured I'd need some under belly protection, so I decided built from scratch some skid plates, which REALLY came in handy on the trail! We got the the trail and was having a great time until we hit a section that I knew I couldn't make as well as another car, and since we didn't know where the trail would lead, and knew we couldn't make it back up this section, we decided to turn around. Problem was, we were already at a pretty steep incline with no way to turn around and since I didn't have 4lo in my Pilot, I was essentially stuck. I could have really used a winch to just reverse pull myself out the just 50 meters off a couple of the many trees nearby, but since I didn't have one, the car that was up the hill, in case we couldn't make it back, had to come down, strapped themselves to a tree to avoid sliding down, winched me up with me assisting in reverse and had to adjust a couple times! It was definitely a hell of a story an adventure, but for sure, a winch on my rig would have made the recovery 100x easier!

[@baileyharling2310]

Got my 80 series about a year ago, took it out bush with a mate literally the weekend I got it. My mate went through soft mushy black mud, 76 series, 3” lift on 35s. Breezed through it. I went through on a sagged 2” and 31s. Bogged straight down to the chassis. Tried snatching from the front and rear but nothing worked (neither of us had winches) after 4 hours of digging and trying to snatch I was still stuck. My mates partner called her uncle who come out in a 79 WITH a winch and finally got out after another 2 hours of winching. Safe to say it’ll be handy having a winch 😅

[@michealbabacock3002]

Offroading with friends in a 1978 Ford Bronco could not make the muddy hill, so backed back to bottom to take bypass. As i turned to take the other trail my bronco sank to the frame. 78 Broncos are kinda heavy so first chevy pickup gave it a good go i thank you for the effort. So another guy gave it a go, an then my axle shaft broke. That made things more dificult. Well he was able to drag the old girl up out of her new found grave but couldnt get her all the way to the top. Spring time mud here in Vermont is quite greasy in some places. Long story short she spent the nite in the woods an we got it out the next day back the way we went in.

[@nedwhiting6033]

Driving up a 30°+ hill known as "trition hill" (named after the car that rolled the entire way down). Got to the very top of the hill and the car stalled out. Couldn't get it started again as all the fuel had shifted below the pickup in the tank. My 60 series was fitted with a factory PTO winch.....which was now useless with the engine not running. No option of reversing down due to the nature of the track. My mates winch wasn't strong enough to pull my car up so ended up having to be lowered down with lots of additional straps connected in-line as I got further down the hill. Total came to: 2 winch ropes at full extension, 2 snatch straps + 2 winch extension straps to get me close enough to roll back down. A reliable electric winch would have saved me sitting with my foot on the brakes as hard as possible for hours and will definitely help in future situations!

[@jaydanv1439]

Bogged on Fraser Island with the tide rising and in the middle of the quiet season with no one to be seen. Never dug so fast in my life hahah a winch would be amazing!! Great stuf fellas awesome content once again

[@Liam-wq7bv]

Hi there. I am in love with 4 wheel driving but unfortunately I don’t have a winch yet. I would love to be able to win this winch. The main thing I would use it for would be to pull trees down in my backyard, go through deeper bog holes while on trips as I’ll know I’ll be able to be recovered by the winch!

[@shanelines9397]

Great episode Jocko. The one time I really needed a winch was with the fam on a snow trip. Another car coming down the track lost traction so I had to quickly put my rig into a washout to avoid a collision. Couldn't get out and old mate just left me there.a nice fella helped out an hour or so later as he was passing by 🙃

[@frankclements903]

I recently went out onto the back of a farm to get a trailer load of firewood. Went down a steep hill with an empty trailer but after filling the trailer the vehicle did not have enough traction to drive back up the hill. Had to unhook the trailer and go get help from the farmer who brought his vehicle which did have a winch, hooked up the trailer and pulled it up the hill effortlessly. I need a WINCH!!!

[@tomrussell5498]

Great tips jocko. I own an ln106 as well and nothing can stop them. Iv got a winch on mine but it’s completely broken and there is no saving it so it’s makes situations even harder when your stuck,everyone saying “oh you can just winch out”, “Nup doesn’t work”. I was once stuck in a bog hole for 8 hours and snatching wasn’t working at all, first track into a day of wheeling. If I had a winch probably would of be out in 30 min. Ended up calling afew Mates with a winch and 8 hours later a winch came to the rescue. And I was out. Big pain but I’m out now

[@JFTM_]

Glasshouse Mountains are my local, I’m wheeling an n60 Lux on 31s. I can’t think of a trip when I didn’t need a winch! Probably most memorably though, the day when I was fully bottomed out of south powerlines, a bit difficult to drive when all 4 wheels are in the air! Thank goodness for mates who wheel with you

[@HugoLuizCruz]

I am not a mechanic but I decided to rebuild my Toyota Surf 1991 engine to keep her alive, it's took almost 3 years on learn and find the correct information to do it right. The winch would be very handy every time I need to move the Tiyota inside the garage to finish some job, because it doesn't have engine running yet I need to use sailing boat blocks to pull it up in the driveway.

[@bsumm1992]

The day I bought my latest 80 series, I couldnt wait to give my new car a good trial, so went out with a couple of mates to Julimar state forrest, I had to have a go at the one tracl my friends suggested "they'd never seen a car make it through". Unfortunately, I was another one, struggled slightly on the clearance side of things (at the time only had 31" tyres). I ended up having to head out of the track in reverse and on the way out doing minor panel damage underneath my rear tail light. Not the end of the world, but otherwise my 80 series panels were/are immaculate, definately could've been avoided with a winch. Cheers guys 🤙

[@MrRygaard89]

This is a great tutorial. Thanks Jocko. I off road a tiny Suzuki Ignis 4x4. Suzuki Swift SE Z In Australia. On my last beach run on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark, I got stuck so many times, and because I don’t have a winch (yet) we used a SNATCH rope like 15-20 times! So a winch would come in handy. Love your show!

[@TheOjarrett78]

My first ever 4WD trip as a kid in dad’s brand new “unboggable” Range Rover back in the 80’s. Coorong in SA, soft wet sand, bogged to the eyeballs. We were all digging and digging. Mum had to walk for hours to find another 4WD to help out. We only just got out before the tide got us. A winch and a spare wheel or dead-man would have sorted us out.

[@benwilliams8865]

Hey Jocko, Another excellent video & very useful for us 4WD Newbies. I absolutely needed a winch the first time I went out to the Glow-Worm Tunnel at Lithgow. The Pine Plantation had just been logged & the old fire trail was a complete quagmire for 4km in the middle. I made it through but got well & truly bogged coming out. Ended up getting recovered by another 4WDer, Total humiliation complete. LoL

[@tonyandhannahjessup9494]

Thanks Jacko, great demonstration on how to go about safe recoverys. I mow lawns for a living, and one wet day the ride on lawn mower slid straight down a bank and into the bushes. The whole recovery would have gone a lot easier if I had a winch to help out.

[@cameronknust7567]

Decided to go exploring in some muddy tracks on HT tires when I first got my ute. First big hole sank straight to the axles and had no way out. After many many attempts, was able to get a mate snatch me out backwards as there was no hope going forward (snatching out of mud is certainly less than ideal!) Winch would have been an absolute life saver!

[@DionWassell]

Am part of a number of 4wd recovery pages, and head out every chance I can to help other wheelers that need to be recovered (at no charge of course). Having a good quality winch will help me when I am out helping others.

[@ryannichols7751]

On one of my first adventures, I was with my friends driving through a national forest in the snow, when we decided to turn around. Our 4runner immediately sunk into the powdery snow up to the frame and we spent the next two hours digging the 4runner out....

[@jamesharmsworth4513]

Hey Jock.. It was 1990 and I was out in my 69 HJ45. It was change of season Autumn heading into Winter, it had been raining couple of days earlier. I was driving home from work and running late to have dinner with the inlaws, so I cut through this large area of grassed bushland. What I didn't know was that it was a storm water catchment area. I travelled about 50m in and the firm ground soon turned to swamp land. After hours of farm jacking, using some paving bricks from the tray to no avail. The ground was swallowing up the bricks and was getting nowhere. I eventually walked to a phone box called my brother-in-law and to bring lots of rope, chain what ever he could find. He came, we hooked it all up and his 60 series had me out but not before some near bogged moments for him also with more rain and water flowing in like high tide. Another couple hours later I was out. Muddy, cold and very late, a no show to the dinner. A slab of beer for payment to the bro in law who missed out on dinner also and not living that moment down for years. Definitely could have used a winch that afternoon.

[@wildfiretouring]

Doing most of my travel solo and wanting to do A LOT more solo, this Winch would be the perfect fit for my current build! Been hesitate with past vehicles due not ever having one, now setting up my forever build, my Isuzu MU-X, this would be a great addition and get me out exploring more less travelled parts of the country 🤙 Great vid jocko!

[@harmeetgp]

I'm a full time uni student, i use camping as a way to getaway to clear my head and to have make some memories with my mate. Lately with the rain in WA, I've been pulling out the shovel a lot more, and im not talking about the campsite duties. Got bogged at preston beach on 10psi when i was by myself, the sand was not having it while turning around. couple of hours digging in the rain and lowering my tyre presures to 8psi i got maybe 20 meters. lucky a local came to my help whiched me out. i have saved up for a winch but i would rather spend that money on fuel to get out there!

[@Mharbor03]

I was out in the sand dunes and got stuck in some soft sand and had a few trees close by but it took a good amount of digging to get my rig out. With a good winch I could have saved a good amount of time. I just got my bumper and this would be the icing on the cake! Thanks for the winch knowledge!

[@benjaminbianco7997]

Great video guys will certainly come handy for us all but the time we could of needed a winch was when my dad was crossing the river with his hilux but then we must of got a big surge of water and then draged him down the river but dad managed to stop the car but the water kept on rising and then the water came up to the windows and long story short we pulled it out and then when we got it on dry land since its a Toyota hilux it started up first go and running perfectly but the NRMA said that it want be to safe on the road because the wiring could get a mold or something but that is when we could of needed a good winch..

[@bradleybolland9862]

I just bought a px ranger, the first day I got it I got it bogged!, a winch and proper quality recovery gear would definitely come in handy for me and the rig cheers.

[@1995Kakashi]

On one of my first trips I ended up helping out several vehicles that were stuck in the sand. At the time the only recovery gear I had was a shovel. Long story short, we got them all out and had a good workout too. A winch or recovery rope woulda helped heaps.

[@peterjohnston4710]

Always had a winch, so no stories where I needed a winch but a story last time using my dominator winch. Out at glasshouse went up a track got so far in and come across a 1200mm deep rut. Was wet too. Tried to go through it in my dmax with no success. We decided to use my winch to keep me on the slanted side of the rut and keeping my car at a 45 degree angle pointing into the bush to keep me from going backwards into the wall while moving across the rut. This took us 3 changes to the anchor point to get past the 20m long rut. Was a very fun and muddy day lol.

[@rileyandjeffy1305]

Bought a 96 LR Disco last week to take my 8yo son out in. He is 4WD 24/7 obsessed! Shauno is his idol. On our first trip out I realized the previous owner had put the control box on upside down and was full of water, completely rusted out! A decent winch would have saved us from re-laying the Maxtrax about 13,000 times 😂

[@millardlife6634]

Our solo family tourer is a GQ with 3” lift and 33s, nothing extreme but yet very a capable vehicle, so when we do get stuck we are in a bit of a pickle. A winch has been on the list of mods for ever but going from 100k a year to centerlink.. well a winch won’t be anywhere in the near future. Ps loving vids like this, jocko explains it all clearly and in a way that’s easy to understand

[@shankaran999]

All those solo 4x4 explorations I have been doing over the past few years. Always called it halfway on many tracks because of no winch and not wanting to get stuck myself. A good winch will definitely make me go explore more fun tracks.

[@crazyjester900]

I've been spening a lot of time up in the Vic high country. Each time, i push in further and steeper. I dont have a winch and have been considering one for some time. Last trip saw the need really showed up when assending to the top of a super steep track when I lost momentum. Stopped on the hill I really needed the security to stop and work out the safest way to get me over the step. Instead of having to bump it up, way higher than I should!

[@benradcliffe2717]

Man you should teach in schools, I'm a hands on person to learn, literally got kicked out of all my schools cause my attention spand, but this IS FASCINATING

[@fester.]

fantastic tutorial, my d4 fell down a banking,my mate got his winch on the back but if i had a winch i could of pulled the front up which would of saved hours of hard work,great video as usual,keep up the good work lads,i will share this video with everyone i know im sure it can really help them thanks

[@kurtismccall750]

On a way to a trip, 2 cars got written off on the way up (both had winches) we agreed to keep going. 3 cars on a track we had no idea about. No maps or reception and warm beer... Stuck at the bottom off a very slippery hill with a fast rising creek due to a large storm that hit. 3 cars all trying to get up the other side was near impossible but somehow done. Can confirm we were all very wet. A winch would of got us out in no time. Thanks guys 👍🏽

[@loosenova3914]

i work as a volunteer recovery vehicle for my local drift club in my 2010 n70 hilux, only have snatch straps and the hitch for the tow bar, the winch recovery's would come in handy in a lot of the recovery's. definitely the next investment for me

[@simplicitycampers5885]

I learnt the hard way that snatch straps & snow can get very sketchy whilst performing a recovery in heavy snow at Nundle outside Tamworth. Most definitely wouldn't try that again without a winch for safety reasons. Cheers, Glenn.

[@henryhemley8491]

Went driving up the forest not far from the farm in an ln106 single cab with only 1 car and while driving back from the tracks after a big rain we tried to go around a bog on the clay road but when only 1 wheel made it up the small slippery gutter the rest slid along and before we new it we were in it. we were there till 10.30 and only got out with logs because no maxx traxx either. very under prepared. could use this on the new hzj75 build

[@lockeddiffbro6177]

Love it Jocko! Winch maintenance is so overlooked!

[@devojet]

We have a property that the family goes camping on. The ground is normally very hard, but at Easter a mates 4wd broke through the grass on the surface and sunk to its chassis after other cars had driven over the same spot. We only had 2 recovery tracks and a shovel, plus a snatch strap. After lots of digging in the sticky mud we managed to snatch it out. As there wasn't much room for snatching a winch would have made it a simple recovery. A winch would also be great piece of mind for future camping trips with my family.

[@davefajardo9645]

Could have been hella a lot useful when i was bogged closing in to the exit at drop zone. I needed 4 winches just to have me pulled out of that bog hole. Thanks to some members of penrith 4x4 and helped me out. Muddy rigs and broken bumpers, brakes, and many more for a quick "in and out" run we did.

[@M3rVsT4H]

Awesome vid, picked up a couple of good tips. Took a few friends in a Feroza on a dozer blade cut trail down a steep sided gorge up near the Glasshouse Mts, to go for a swim. Good little car and it drove us down there no probs. But while having a swim, rainclouds appeared rapidly and as we scrambled out of the creek to the car the rain came down. It just instantly turned that cut into a clay slip-n-slide. I left half the ppl to walk back up due to the sketch factor, and once I got that thing moving I pretty much smashed it up the hill rally style. Got to the top, and all I had to do was make a 90deg turn left, through a gate, and I was home and hosed into the forest. Instead, I bogged it up to the axles in the poop soup that you get around well trodden dairy farm gates.. And still full of adrenaline from the drive up the hill, I bogged it in there real good. right in the middle of the gate.. Ripping out the buried leccy fence wire while I was down there. Led to an unplanned overnight and a very salty farmer just before dawn the next morning who dragged it out with a tractor, swearing at me the whole time. Sure wish I had a winch that day. :D

[@nickstark7644]

4 years ago I got an 80 series. Take it to Kenilworth stock with a mate to drive some easy tracks. Be impressed how capable it is. Find a boghole and think I've bought maxtrax, we'll be alright! (we weren't alright) Bogged and had to walk 4k back to campground to ask someone to pull us out. Live and learn! But definitely could have used a winch in this situation :)

[@caleblindsay7253]

Most favourite bogged experience ever!! had 3 P plate utes stuck next to a creek when a flash flood came through with no winches. I got out with the suzuki vitara and they stayed there till the next day ;)

[@stevewilson8689]

Definitely need a winch when we were in Lithgow stuck in mad and by myself. It will be very handy. Thanks guys. I’m really enjoy your video

[@aussieo684]

Going down the Jamieson track in the Otways at night after spending the arvo swimming in the local waterfalls, found myself a bit over my head as the track turned into a steep descent of rutted clay mud. That wasnt too bad but the ascent that came after was... a winch would have been a god sent!

[@graniterobotrobot5891]

I would have loved to have this winch when I was high centered by myself on my way to a friend's place for wheeling, this was back in 2021 on a fire break.