Expedition Ground Anchor

[RichardAllen]

After some correspondence with Simon at x-eng, who has put me right on just about everything, I have come up with this as a ground anchor design for emergency expedition use:

which is pretty much a copy of his longbow ground anchor design, made from the following:

- a baseplate (in green) the size of the cover under the driver's seat with holes so that it can be used as a hi-lift baseplate (like the red plastic things they sell), or a ground anchor blade

- 6 nuts and bolts

- a fabricated triangular bracket (shown in yellow)

- a hilift (shown in red), rack only showm climbing mechanism and handle omitted for clarity, baseplate removed

- 3 shackles (shown in blue)

- a carefully measured bridle with an eye at each end (shown in dark grey).

This will perform nowhere near as well as a x-eng longbow, as it is not a rigid mechanism, the blade is flat giving poorer ground holding, it will be heavier and the handle and climbing mechanism of the hi-lift will make it unwieldy. Also, if you get significant sideways forces, you might bend the rack of your hi-lift which will require either replacement or shortening, depending on where it bends.

However, for emergency expedition use, apart from the bracket, everything may well be handy / tucked away anyway, and it should be reasonable quick to put together, the bolts need not be very tight for example, and it might work.

I have not made one of these, not even as a model, and have certainly not tried it. I will do so when I have finished more immediate jobs. In the meantime, if anyone does make one up, I would be very interested to hear whether it works.

Regards

Richard

[M&S]

Hmm, don't like the "might bend the hi-lift" part...who's to say you'd not bend taht and tehn still find yourself stuck, with no ground anchor and no jack for lifting the vehicle to get it unstuck?

Oh, you'd have a second jack on the other vehicle... so...why the need for the ground anchor?

I like the "everything must have two uses" mantra, don't get me wrong, but if the second uyse is a compromise that risks breaking a (potentially) vital tool then I'd rather compromise some more and get digging to bury the spare .

Just my thinking of course, each to their own

[RichardAllen]

Just thinking about the use of spare, we will have picks, shovels, 4 people and 4 spares, so it is certainly a potential solution for us.

Is there any preferred orientation of the wheel ? And what is the neatest way to attach a winch cable to the wheel ?

Regards

Richard

[widget]

Richard - I think a book you would relish is the Vehicle Dependant Expedition Guide written by Tom Sheppard. It's been discussed herehttp://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=16107

I've scanned a picture from Land Rovers little guide - Winching in Safety. The picture shows a ground anchor pin(?) across the tyre and the winch cable and hook passed through the wheel hub hole.

The only time I did this I used a wheel brace across the wheel to hook the cable off, err, a bit less than ideal. But probably safer than the device of death (farm jack).

[mmgemini]

I keep reading this and now I wonder.

Are you going overlanding or mud plugging.

Really overlanding is a journey, not the Camel Trophy.

[SteveG]

I keep reading this and now I wonder.

Are you going overlanding or mud plugging.

Really overlanding is a journey, not the Camel Trophy.

The overlanding oracle has spoken again!

FFS Mike, take off the blinkers!!

[redneck]

Following on from the snow anchor theme, why not use the hi-lift for an ice axe tee slot anchor, less digging than for your spare wheel.

Very much depend on the ground though. But doesn`t require any extra bits.

[Diff]

Burying the spare wheel is an EXTREMELY labour intensive excercise even in relatively soft soil and would be exhausting, even for several diggers.

If you need a ground anchor, you should think about 3 'T' stakes. These stakes are hammered into the ground in a line, or 'v' formation and linked by lashing a long length of light but strong polypropolyene rope between them - top to bottom, top to bottom. The stake at the front is supported by the two behind.

Have a look here: http://www.difflock.com/offroad/bowyer/winching2.shtml

This type of anchor is very effective and easy to store.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Diff