http://www.blitz4x4.org.uk/play_safe.htm
Kinetic Ropes aka Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope (KERR) or Bungee
A new KERR broke after 12 uses - the rear door won't open
A new KERR broke after 12 uses - the rear door won't open
Possibly the most effective yet dangerous piece of kit we have access to. I've seen cars turned over by unsympathetic recoverers, 'recovery points' and tow hitches ripped off, so here's some information (some a bit scientific) and tips.
So we're stuck in Landie in a peat bog up to our knees and a passing Suzuki offer to help. Yeah, right. Like a 1200kg Zuk will have any kind of chance at pulling out a stuck Landie. Out comes the KERR and is fixed to both vehicles (more on that later). the Zuk roars off (OK,OK, get over it!) and get brought to a quick stop after about 10 metres. The Landie had moved forwards by 6ft! Back up and try again and with all engines revving and mud flying out they come. Job done.
The Science Bit
What we observe is a recovery vehicle speeding off and being slowed smoothly by the stretch of the rope and the stuck car popping out. How?
A KERR is a storage device. It takes the momentum of a moving vehicle and stores it as kinetic energy which is then applied to another to overcome the inertia that has it stuck in the mud. Momentum is the tendency of a moving body to want to keep moving whilst Inertia is the energy required to get the damn thing moving in the first place.
Weight and Mass are 2 different things. Weight is a force - i.e. the force applied by gravity on little old me is my mass x gravity. 90 x 9.81(acceleration by gravity=9.81ms-2) = 882.9N (newtons). On Planet Earth I weigh 90N. On the Moon, however, where gravity is 1.64ms-2 (1 sixth) I weigh 90kgs x 1.64 = 147.6N but my mass on the moon is still 90kgs! So if I'm running at 1 metre per second on Earth you'd need a rope with a breaking strain of at least 900N to stop me, how strong would it have to be on the Moon........
Right, I know this is like being back at school but the answer is easy, STILL 900N! My mass is unchanged.
Lets apply this to MUD. A Landie with mass 2000kg is proper stuck. It will require 40,000N to get it out. Along comes 1000kg Zuki with a KERR which needs to accelerate at 4 ms-2 to generate the necessary 40,000N of energy. 4ms-1 = 9.09 mph. SO the Suzi must accelerate to 9mph before the rope starts to stretch. Easy, huh. No, not yet. Now we have to take into account energy losses, e.g. friction, noise, resistance to stretch, the weight of the rope being pulled, slack taken up, stretching of metal components and, most importantly, the inefficiency of the rope itself. These may add up to 30% losses that must compensated for. We can see, therefore, that either the Suzuki must accelerate to at least 12mph in 7 metres or take several bites at the Landie.
Phew!
Joining Forces
What do you do when you need longer than 7 metres? Join 2 bungees together with a shackle? NO! The forces involved in a KERR recovery are so much greater than you think that if you were to use a tested 3.5 tonne shackle (ie a big one) to pull out a stuck Landie 110 with another 110 the approximate force would be somewhere near 120,000N on the basis that the stuck 110 has had it's weight increased by 21/2 by the stuckness and the recovery 110 has a V8. This is the equivalent of a mass of 12 tonnes being dangled from the shackle, and even with a safety rating of 3:1 you're way past the breaking point. When it does, it'll kill someone!
General points
· Plan your recovery – talk it through and take responsibility for listening, everyone knows their vehicle best
· Keep everyone clear
· It should be the person being recovered who is ultimately responsible for deciding what should happen but if the recoverer disagrees they’re entitled not to do it!
· Plan it through again and make sure everyone knows what going on
· Listen to others, you may just learn something
There are few hard and fast rules, sometimes you have take a calculated risk but in 99% of recoveries slow is safer and better. Take your time and think safe and we’ll not kill anyone, break our cars or fall out with each other.