ustralia is a country with diverse terrains and often extreme weather. When combined this can make for challenging situations – particularly regarding vehicle recoveries. Whether in a remote desert, a snowstorm, thick mud or a deep gully, recovering a vehicle stuck in these extreme conditions is no simple task.
Far from a regular tow, vehicle recovery in these scenarios requires specialised equipment, experience and skill to navigate and ensure both the vehicle and any occupants remain safe.
For those who may unfortunately find themselves needing a vehicle recovery, understanding how the experts handle these situations can provide valuable peace of mind. From mastering difficult terrains to using innovative techniques, here’s how professional towing recovery teams get vehicles out of the toughest spots.
Assessing & Understanding The Terrain & Conditions
Understanding the environment is an essential first step in successful vehicle recovery, particularly in extreme conditions. Whether it’s an off-road situation in the Australian Outback or a vehicle plunged off a roadside in torrential rain, each situation poses its own unique challenges.
Recovery experts are trained to carefully assess the ground surface, incline and any obstacles that may complicate the process. Using this knowledge, they then determine the best strategy and tailor their approach to ensure the safest and most efficient recovery. For instance, in muddy, wet areas, they may need to avoid further bogging the vehicle down, while on icy roads, poor traction must be worked around.
Utilising Specialised EquipmentÂ
Standard towing gear just won’t cut it when a vehicle is seriously stuck, wedged or overturned. Instead, recovery experts rely on heavy-duty, specialised equipment designed for extreme conditions. Often used in combination, some of the most common tools used include:
Winches
A key tool for vehicle recovery, winches use a high-strength, steel cable and motorised spool to pull vehicles out of tricky spots. Winches are incredibly powerful and especially helpful in challenging conditions like mud and snow or when dealing with steep inclines. Fixed to a tow truck, they can be used to both extricate a vehicle to a safer spot or pull it directly onto the truck for towing elsewhere.
Snatch Straps
A snatch strap uses kinetic energy to ‘snatch’ a vehicle out of a stuck position and is often used in recoveries involving soft sand or mud. The snatch strap is securely fixed at each end of the tow truck and the trapped vehicle, allowing for the latter to be pulled and hopefully released with a sudden tug.
Traction Boards
When tyres lose traction in sand or snow, traction boards provide a surface to regain grip and help vehicles escape the surface they’re stuck on.
Shovels & Hi-Lift Jacks
Often, digging the vehicle out is part of the process. Recovery experts use shovels to remove sand or snow, and hi-lift jacks can raise the vehicle high enough to place traction boards or even rocks underneath the tyres for a better grip.
Skilled Handling & Safety Protocols
Of course, vehicle recovery in extreme conditions isn’t just about hauling the car out – it’s about doing so safely and effectively.
Experts follow strict safety protocols to ensure the recovery process doesn’t endanger anyone or cause additional damage to the vehicle. This involves clear communication between the recovery team and the vehicle owner, understanding weight limitations and ensuring that any winch or towing cables are properly secured.
Without this careful approach and skilled handling a safe and successful vehicle recovery is far less likely and could make the situation worse.
Complex Vehicle Recoveries – The Expert Approach
Engaging the vehicle recovery services of a trusted professional can help to make a difficult time far more manageable. Highly skilled and able to leverage specialist equipment to their advantage, they are trained to remain calm and composed in even the most challenging of circumstances.
Prepared for anything and able to adapt and find solutions, these experts are best placed to ensure that both you and your vehicle are safely recovered with minimal damage and stress.
