The word "anchor" in most of us is strongly associated with sea or river vessels, navy and sailors. Anchor-tattoo, anchors on visor tapes, etc. And there is a similar device for land "ships". But if the ship this device is needed in order to stay in place, then the car anchor for the winch, rather, is necessary in order to move.
To help off-road enthusiasts
No matter what the SUV is, whether it’s domestic or foreign, thank God, there are enough places where you can get stuck to the ears on the map of the Russian Federation. Anyone who has encountered a machine that has sat down “on the belly” into liquid mud knows that trying to solve the problem with a shovel is futile. The wheels only sink deeper into the jelly.
The presence of a winch on the "iron horse" significantly expands its capabilities in terms of cross-country ability. A sufficiently powerful device consisting of a drum, a cable and a mechanical or electric drive can pull a car out of any dirt. The winch can be compared only with the Belarus tractor in terms of the efficiency of pulling out seated cars.
But in order to pull out a stuck car with a winch, the end of the cable must be securely fastened to something. The task is facilitated in a forest where there are enough trees with thick trunks and powerful root systems. And what to do in the field (in spring, autumn, and sometimes in rainy summers, the usual arable land turns into an impassable mess), in marshy areas? This is where the winch anchor comes to the rescue. The device allows you to create a sufficiently reliable support for the return end of the cable both in loose sand and in the swamp slurry.
DIY anchor in Georgia: drawing
Some of these devices can be made from improvised materials directly in the field (the simplest is a log buried in the ground to a sufficient depth perpendicular to the tensioned cable). Others, such as the Georgian winch anchor, portable enough to fit in the trunk, will always be at hand at the right time.
Many of these devices, in the presence of a welding machine and desire, are easy to make yourself. Consider one such anchor for a winch, a drawing of which is presented in the diagram below.
An anchor is a metal scrap or a thick-walled pipe with “wings” attached to the central rod by electric welding. It should be noted that the thickness of the sheet metal from which the “wings” are made is not recommended to be less than 4-5 mm. The dimensions on the diagram are given with a fairly large spread. Their specific choice depends, first of all, on the dimensions and the total mass of the vehicle.
How it works
How to pull out a seized car with an anchor for a winch with your own hands will easily understand the one who at least once in his life went for a plow. An improperly adjusted angle of attack of the plow leads to the fact that the implements of agriculture begin to bury uncontrollably into the ground. An attempt to exert a greater effort (to give gas on a walk-behind tractor or to fit a draft animal) only leads to the fact that the ploughshare only goes deeper into the ground and is more firmly fixed in it.
The winch anchor works the same way. A metal cable is threaded into the hole, covering the pipe. The diagram clearly shows that the winch force causes the anchor to dig deeper into the ground. Initially, the anchor is hammered into the ground by striking the heel with a sledgehammer. The angle of inclination is about 30 ° to the soil surface. Then, in the process of pulling the cable, the device is held by a handle resembling the handles of a conventional plow. A large lever allows a person to hold the anchor at a given angle.
The Georgian anchor for the winch works quite well on all types of loose waterlogged soils.
What are still
In addition to the design described, other types of anchors are also used, many of which are easily made with their own hands. After all, what is an anchor for a winch? A device that has good grip on the soil. In some cases, when the car is not too heavy, and there is a section with fairly dense soil nearby, an ordinary scrap, clogged to a sufficient depth, is quite suitable as an anchor. Two crowbars driven in side by side give a force twice as much. And if there are a dozen of them?
In addition to artisanal anchors of this type, there are also factory-made ones.
In the previous chapter, the plow was mentioned for good reason. Some types of anchors for winches almost exactly copy this agricultural tool. The only difference is that the device is specially designed in such a way as to “burrow” into the ground as quickly and reliably as possible.
An industrial plow anchor-plow is easily disassembled and folds into the trunk, taking up minimal space.
Among off-road enthusiasts, options are also popular that screw into the ground, like screw foundation piles, Trofi-Fi type anchors.
Some designs are not much different from ship anchors.