What is a Good Way to Attach a Pull Line to a Trailer Hitch on a Pickup Truck?

[pantheraba]

Good showing of how to do it...thanks. I downloaded your picts and rotated them to normal on my computer. Then I posted them...guess what...they came out sideways for me too. The sideways picts thing is goofy.

I figured editing them here would make them right.....nope.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I would throw a half hitch on the ball.

 

[SeriousTreesAZ]

Couldn't hurt that's for sure. Redundancy = safety in a lot of cases.

 

[rfwoody]

Beware grease from the tow-ball (just makes a mess), and you could just hang a POW over the ball if in any doubt.

I can't picture how the rope stays aligned, without rubbing on the hitch slug somewhere with an edge.

SeriousTreesAZ, per Sean's concern, from your excellent pictures it appears the rope coming off the hitch (working/running end?) isn't contacting an edge of the trailer hitch.
Evidently you are satisfied that none of the other rope wraps will be contacting any hard edges either during the heavy pulling? Thanks.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I wasn't liking those edges, either.

Hence, the half hitch on the ball to reduce some strain on those edges.

 

[rfwoody]

Do you mean a half hitch on the ball with the running end in addition to the wraps around the hitch?
...so that the full load of the pull would be born by the half hitch?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I think so...

 

[Grendel]

Porty on the hitch.

 

[SeanKroll]

A rag/ plastic bag on the ball helps to keep the grease that should be on the ball from getting on the POW.

 

[Mick!]

Sean, let the whole grease thing go! It's starting to affect your life.

 

[SeanKroll]

Sorry, not meaning to be overboard/ obnoxious.

 

[Altissimus]

Hehehe , on my equipment the ball and pintle are dry ... No grease

 

[SeanKroll]

Why is that?

 

[SeriousTreesAZ]

SeriousTreesAZ, per Sean's concern, from your excellent pictures it appears the rope coming off the hitch (working/running end?) isn't contacting an edge of the trailer hitch.
Evidently you are satisfied that none of the other rope wraps will be contacting any hard edges either during the heavy pulling? Thanks.

Exactly, those edges it's wrapped around are rounded and it's wrapped on itself several times so the tensioned end of the rope does not make contact with any rough/sharp edges.

 

[Tree09]

Although you are supposed to grease all trailer couplings, most smaller (under 20k) trailers and couplings aren't greased because it just gets on everything, and it's not enough weight to matter for most people.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've never seen one greased.

 

[SeanKroll]

Really. Interesting.

I grew up seeing tennis balls over tow-balls. Was told you're supposed to grease them.

You can see wear on the ball much more easily than you can see it up in the coupler. Never heard of a coupler breaking.

Fair enough.

 

[Tree09]

You are supposed to grease them, it's just that the amount of wear on them is almost non existent on smaller trailers. The semis are greased so heavily that walking by them will get some on you, but for your bumper pull trailer, grease is almost pointless for occasional towing (which is what bumper pull trailers are designed for).

 

[96coal449]

Porty on the hitch.

View attachment 81395

Where's the like button?!

 

[MasterBlaster]

You just pushed it.

 

[SeriousTreesAZ]

Yeah I've seen the Porty on the hitch configured a few different ways (i.e. either hung on the hitch like the picture, or girth hitched to the body of the hitch) but I only use that if I'm pulling more than 9000lbs+ worth of tree or so which is rare... Works great.