Winch Bar for the Ice

[Chris Raymond]

Last winter was my first season using tracks on my ATV.  As I may have mentioned at the time, there was one day that I stuck the beast...not once, but twice mind you.  The conditions were pretty extreme...12" - 15" of slush underneath 12" - 15" of fluffy snow. 

My first approach at extracting the rig didn't go as well as I thought it would prior to getting stuck.  I thought I could use the same ice climbing screws that I use for anchoring my tent on windy days as an anchor point for my front mounted winch.  However, given the weight of the iced up ATV and tent, it instead caused the screws to bend.  Thankfully I was able to shovel and pack slush and snow to get myself out of the slush field.  The whole incident prompted me to take a different approach in the future if I should find myself stuck once again. 

The result was that earlier this spring I made myself what I'm calling a winch bar but this solution obvious presumes that you have a winch on your ATV or snowmobile.  However, if you find yourself stuck on the ice in deep snow or slush, the winch won’t be much use unless it can be attached to an anchor point.  A winch bar is a small device that can provide that anchor point.  I constructed mine using 3/16” thick 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” x 24” long steel square stock.  In the middle of the square stock I drilled a through hole to accommodate a shouldered eye bolt.  To this bolt I attached a 6’ length of chain with an appropriate shackle.  The other end of the chain was connected back to itself with another shackle to form a 6” loop so as to be able to attach my winch hook.  In one end of the square stock, I drilled a hole and attached an 8’ length of parachute cord.  All eye bolts, chains and shackles were constructed using materials rated between 1800 - 2000 pounds.

To use, simply drill a hole through the ice with an auger, attach the bar to the end of the winch cable, place the winch bar into the hole and tighten the winch cable to where the bar becomes blocked on the underside of the ice. Engage the winch and pull the vehicle towards the anchor point.  By allowing the bar to drop away from the bottom of the ice and pulling the parachute cord, the bar teeter totters such that it can then be extracted from the hole by its end.  Repeat the process as necessary to fully extricate the ATV or snowmobile from the slush field or deep snow. 

Hopefully, I won't need it but I'll have it with me now just in case.  For those using ATVs without tracks it would probably prove even more useful.  Here's a picture for those of you who may be interested in building one.  Let me know if there are any questions. 

 

[52isntbigenough]

Mine looks like that, but I used i bit bigger bar stock ( that's all we had at our shop.) and I put my i-bolt for the rope on the end. I too had a horrendous experience last winter. No matter what I drove out. it would have gotten stuck in this mess. My snowmobile did as well.  I did the chain too, I didn't want to rip my winch rope to shreds on the ice hole edges.

[hockeynut12]

Great idea.

[hardwater diehard]

Very nice job...    

[fishlessman]

i bring a 2x6 that slides down in the hole verticle that holds well enough to the winch but i like yours better. if there was a tow bar mount to attach to the back for someone to stand on while hole hopping it would be multifunctional

[52isntbigenough]

For those who aren't into making one, try this. A grappling anchor for PWC or Dinghies. Tie your rope on the bottom, flip it and the ring slides down allowing it to fold shut.

[JimQ]

Don't drop it!



That would be just my luck.

[Chris Raymond]

Thanks guys.  52IBE, it looks like your rig might have frozen in overnight, yes?  If so, that couldn't have been fun in the least.   

[52isntbigenough]

Took almost 2 days to get her out, both front 1/2 shafts both sheered leaving me with no 4wd and just Reverse to try to get out. 4 of us managed to shore it up with logs and pull it with my sled using 50' of tow rope.

[Chris Raymond]

Took almost 2 days to get her out, both front 1/2 shafts both sheered leaving me with no 4wd and just Reverse to try to get out. 4 of us managed to shore it up with logs and pull it with my sled using 50' of tow rope.

That really wouldn't have been any fun. 

[fishlessman]

Took almost 2 days to get her out, both front 1/2 shafts both sheered leaving me with no 4wd and just Reverse to try to get out. 4 of us managed to shore it up with logs and pull it with my sled using 50' of tow rope.

thats something ive learned over the years, to get really stuck you need the best four wheel drive

[77tech]

Looks like that should work well.  I think I would add a 24" long wood dowel of appropriate diameter that I could drill a small hole through at the center and attach it to the end of the para cord to ensure I couldn't drop it down the hole. 

[Chris Raymond]

Looks like that should work well.  I think I would add a 24" long wood dowel of appropriate diameter that I could drill a small hole through at the center and attach it to the end of the para cord to ensure I couldn't drop it down the hole.

Good idea.  My thought on the paracord was to route it through a couple of the links (I went through too many in that photo) and then use a smaller piece of dowel at the end.  A gentlemen on another medium suggested another bar at the top of the chain to prevent the whole thing from dropping through in the event the cable broke as well.  If that becomes a concern of mine, I'll just use a steel rod inserted horizontally through a link in the chain.  I also have a similarly rated snatch block that I can use if I think there's too much pressure on the cable. 

[SnoHam13]

Hi Chris;  nice design

if you off set the eye bolt so the bar is heavy on one end [or weight one end as is] you wont need the para cord
send it down the drilled hole heavy end up [slowly] , as soon as it clears the ice pull up on it as the bar starts to switch to heavy end down and it will catch the ice.

wen done just lower the rig down and the bar will drop in line with the chain and just pull it out of the hole.

hope this helps

SnoHam13

[Chris Raymond]

Thanks SH.  I did think about doing that but I only had the one piece of scrap and didn't want to over offset it and not be able to engage correctly and then have to buy a new piece of square stock.  My buddy wants me to make one for him so maybe I'll give it a try with that one. 

[hardwater diehard]

I like your design C R ...why not keep it exactly how you have it ...just make a loop in the para cord and just add an ice anchor ..secure the para cord to the anchor EZPZ...I always have my Eskimo ice anchors handy .

[FISHFORPIKE]

Chris - great idea - I been carrying a similar setup on my tracked wheeler for years.  As far as being really down out (i.e. broken drive shafts and such) - I had been thinking hard on that one - I managed to find two "long" toboggans at garage sales this summer.  I'm hanging them on the walls of my enclosed trailer and figure maybe, with some digging and prying, a few guys could get the wheeler up on the toboggans and be pulled off the lake.  Just an idea - better than none, I guess.
I have not been stuck - YET! 

[Fisherman 1]

I have not been stuck - YET! 

You're not trying hard enough..

[FISHFORPIKE]

You're not trying hard enough..

That's not it -    I just haven't had the pleasure of running through the "right" conditions on the ice.

I did have a guy follow me, once, through a slushy area.  Ever see how those sleds at tractor pulls work?  Well he had an open (no cover) flip behind him and as it filled with slush and water - well, you guessed it.  There is definitely a limit - just have not hit it yet.

[Jiveturkey3]

I highly highly recommend a winch line weight. Personally I prefer synthetic line but a weight will help. Being the I off road a lot I have heard and saw WAY to many nasty accidents with cable winch line. That said the idea is great, but I would NEVER use such a device. The chain is the first major no no as that becomes a bullet. The next issue is the entire device becomes a damn cannon ball when it blows throw the I've under 1,000 pound plus force. Either way you MUST use a weight on that line.

[kasilofchrisn]

I may have to build one of those.
No winch on my snowmobile but I do have a couple of rope alongs at home and a spool of 3/4 in rope.
Usually we have 2 snowmobiles but there are times where this would still help or keep from having to drive the second machine close to the bad spot.
I could even leave it in the truck with the rope along and rope then just hike back if I really needed it.Or only take it with if the conditions looked questionable.
With this sitting in the truck whenever I needed it it would be there to grab instead of sitting in the garage at home.

[Chris Raymond]

Maybe this does the same thing but whenever I've used a winch or comealong, I've placed my heavy coat over the cable figuring it would kill the whiplash if a cable broke.  Is that not enough? 

[Whopper Stopper]

Maybe this does the same thing but whenever I've used a winch or comealong, I've placed my heavy coat over the cable figuring it would kill the whiplash if a cable broke.  Is that not enough?

A coat will take much of the whiplash out of a broken cable. We have had a few occasions at work where our anchor let loose and the jacket did its part to help deaden the cable. A rope on the other hand is a different animal.

               WS 

[Jiveturkey3]

A coat is better than nothing but not the best. A synthetic cable is the ticket for winching. I won't even help guys on the trail anymore if they are using cable. In this case of the anchor, chain, or ice fails a weight won't do anything. Well I mean it will put a nice hole in the users face but that's about it.

[FISHFORPIKE]

As far as the dangers in winching with cables/chains - the job needs to get done and the best thing being aware of the danger(s) and doing what you can to minimize them.  I'm not leaving a tracked wheeler planted in the slush to freeze in if I can help it.  Plain and simple - the risk is worth it to me.  BTW - I use synthetic line on my winch. 

[52isntbigenough]

As far as the dangers in winching with cables/chains - the job needs to get done and the best thing being aware of the danger(s) and doing what you can to minimize them.  I'm not leaving a tracked wheeler planted in the slush to freeze in if I can help it.  Plain and simple - the risk is worth it to me.  BTW - I use synthetic line on my winch. 

Ditto to this and I use an anchor chain for the first 6 ft of my winch bar.

[Chris Raymond]

I'm in PFP's and 52IBE's camp in that it's best to get out and deal with the what-ifs (in a what-if situation to begin with) as they may or may not arise.  Having said that, I did try to over-engineer the components as all are rated at 2k pounds or above or help prevent some of the what-ifs. 

[52isntbigenough]

All it takes is getting stuck once to make you think twice.

[Jiveturkey3]

I didn't mean any post in a negative way. Having pulled cable and line litterly 1,000's of times I have a pretty good idea of how to best do it. I have read an attended muiltpule winch "classes". As far as if it's stuck deal with it, I disagree. My trucks, buggies, crawlers, and my Rzr can all be replaced. I could careless personally what happens to them, I want to get home safe even if that mean leaving a vehicle and gear somewhere. Just be safe and know what you are working with and the actual forces involved.

[52isntbigenough]

Chris - great idea - I been carrying a similar setup on my tracked wheeler for years.  As far as being really down out (i.e. broken drive shafts and such) - I had been thinking hard on that one - I managed to find two "long" toboggans at garage sales this summer.  I'm hanging them on the walls of my enclosed trailer and figure maybe, with some digging and prying, a few guys could get the wheeler up on the toboggans and be pulled off the lake.  Just an idea - better than none, I guess.
I have not been stuck - YET! 

I've brought 2 old kids sleds out of retirement for this duty. I'm considering strapping them down to my shanty I pull out. There's nothing worse than getting stuck on extremely cold days.