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West Central Wisconsin | Thanks for all the replies on this subject. There was alot of useful information brought up and some constructive criticism, (which I can handle). My intent was like the title says, "Be careful using a twist clevis", plain and simple. I learned a valuable lesson and luckily noone was hurt. Did I ever imagine that clevis would open up under load, NO! It did, however, and I accept that. As JDpastor mentioned if it prevents someone else from getting hurt it was well worth my embarrasment. To clear up a few things, by rope I mean 2 inch tow rope made for pulling stuck vehicles. They are meant to stretch relying on momentum to sling shot the stuck vehicle out. The pull tractor was on semi frozen ground, would not dig, thereby makeing the first attempt with a short chain impossible. The tow rope was attatched to the pull tractor using a threaded clevis, or as I learned here the correct name is threaded shackle. The stuck tractor also had the same shackle with the chain still attached although by this time it was buried in the ground. This is when I should have gotten a shovel and dug down to access it. Instead I dropped a draw pin through the twist clevis further ahead on the draw bar. This is where I did wrong. I did not use a hairpin key and I don't think it would have made any difference. Using the forward momentum of the pull tractor with the tow rope obviously was too much for the draw pinned twist clevis. I am not blaming the equipment, I blame myself. I picked up some larger threaded shackles this morning and will never use a clevis with a drawpin again. If someone else can learn from my errors I have done what I set out to do by posting this thread. Joe | |
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Be careful using a twist clevis.
