Chris Dittmar and our 4WD expert Ricky Esser head down to Deep Creek Conservation Park - set on over 4500 hectares it's the largest block of Wildlife Habitat on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Chris and Ricky put their 4WD vehicles through their paces and Ricky demonstrates how to recover a vehicle safely.

Deep Creek Conservation Park 8204 1910 www.environment.sa.gov.au


Step By Step Guide to Recover a Vechicle
1.Check the vehicle is in 4wd
2.Get the shovel out and do some digging to minimise the amount of effort required. This will reduce the risk of damage to Equipment, Vehicles and possible injury.
3.Get everyone out of the vehicle except the drivers and clear bystanders a minimum distance of 1.5 times the length of the strap in any direction. Most straps are 8mt so 12mt safety zone is a good guide.
4.Use an equalising strap on the front of the vehicle being recovered - this ensures an even load on both sides of the chassis.
5.Put the loop of the snatch strap through the equalising strap and extend to the recovery vehicle. Make sure there is a 2mt loop in the centre of the strap, this enables the recovery vehicle to gain momentum to retrieve the stuck vehicle.
6.Place dampners 1/3 of the way from each end. This can be a hessian sack or a 3-5kg bag with depending on the severity of the recovery.
7.Connect the strap to the recovery vehicle. Put it into the square tube of the tow bar and us the pin for the towbar tongue to secure the strap. At this point DO NOT STEP over the strap as it is "live" and has potential to cause injury.
8.The vehicle being recovered must be in Low range 4wd, 2nd gear ( Kinetic energy in the strap acts a 1st gear) and the vehicle doing the recovery must be in Low Range 4wd, 1st gear (gives the pulling power to do the recovery).
9.The first recovery is a tow and if this doesn't work, go back and set up again and use a little more momentum.
The recovery vehicle keeps going until the vehicle is fully extracted .
10.A good idea if possible is to appoint a co-ordinator to supervise the recover . If there is a problem or the recovery needs to stop, one blast of the horn from either driver should be used as a signal .

***NEVER JOIN 2 STRAPS TOGETHER WITH A SHACKLE AND NEVER PUT THE LOOP OF THE STRAP OVER THE TOW BALL.***