Having a winch on your Jeep is almost as standard as a lift but having the right winch accessories should be standard too. A winch snatch block and tree strap should be a standard addition to your gear.
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These two items can probably comfortably fit into your winch gear bag, you have a gear bag right? Having them at the ready will likely make a stuck situation easier to tackle and make a tree happy.
What is a Snatch Block?
The first piece of winch gear is a snatch block. A snatch block is simply a heavy duty pulley and in this case is designed to work with the power of your winch. This pulley effectively doubles the pulling power of your winch (when it’s connected back to the pulling Jeep) by creating a mechanical advantage. In addition to the mechanical advantage created by the snatch block there is also the change in direction.
The ability to change direction when using a winch is sometimes crucial to solving the current situation. The most common use of a change direction is when you are winching another vehicle and there isn’t room for a straight pull.
We bought this snatch block from BPA Racing off of Amazon. The pulley and body are well made and the grease fitting for the pulley bearing is a nice touch to keep it operating smoothly.
Attaching the Snatch Block
Often on the trail the most likely thing to attach your winch cable to that’s not a vehicle is a sturdy tree. A winch cable whether it is steel or synthetic can cause damage to a tree, possibly killing it. This is where a tree saver strap is crucial instead of wrapping the winch cable directly around the tree.
What is a Tree Saver Strap?
The second piece of winch gear is a tree saver strap. A tree saver strap is usually sort in length and maybe 8 to 12 feet long. This strap is often very wide making it much less prone to damaging a tree.
Its short length makes it easy to wrap around the tree and attach to. The weight rating of the tree strap should be appropriate to the vehicle. When using try to keep the strap as low as possible on the tree.
We picked up this TGL 3 inch wide, 8 foot long tree saver strap from Amazon. I carries a 30,000 pound rating and is in a nice yellow color.
Winch Gear in Use
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So far there hasn’t been the opportunity to use the snatch block and tree saver on the trail but it was extremely handy to use when moving a rock behind the jeepfan.com garage.
