Tug: Winch & Recovery Calc — Support

Need help?

Email roman.kopaliani@gmail.com with your question. Please include:

• What you were trying to do
• What happened instead
• The app version (Tug → More → About)

Frequently asked

What's free and what's in Tug Pro?

Free forever: the Winch Size Check (including verdicts on the winch you own) and Recover Safe. Tug Pro ($6.99, one-time) unlocks Pull Force, Layer Truth, and Rig It. No subscription.

What size winch do I need?

Per WARN's Basic Guide to Winching: take the gross weight of what you'll pull — vehicle plus cargo, fuel, and gear — and multiply by 1.5. Never exceed the rating of the winch or its rope. Heavier is headroom: mud and slopes eat the margin fast, which is exactly what Pull Force estimates.

Why does my 9,500 lb winch stall below 9,500 lb?

Because the rating is a first-layer number. Rated line pull is measured on the first wrap of an empty drum; every added layer costs capacity, and a full drum can be a third down from the sticker. Spool out more line before a hard pull, or rig a snatch block — both put you on a stronger layer. Manufacturers publish per-layer specs; Layer Truth shows the typical curve and your own spec table wins.

What does a snatch block actually do?

Rigged double-line, it roughly doubles available pull and halves line speed — and by taking more rope off the drum, it also moves the winch to a stronger layer with less motor load. Real blocks lose a little to friction, so treat multipliers as approximate.

Why won't Tug let anything override the tow-ball warning?

Because tow balls shear under shock load and become projectiles — people are killed this way every year. Recovery rigging goes to rated recovery points and frame-mounted shackle mounts only, with every link (shackles, straps, blocks) inside its Working Load Limit. That rule doesn't bend, in the app or in the field.

Where are the kinetic-rope calculations?

Not in Tug, deliberately. Kinetic recoveries store and release energy — different physics with different failure modes — and honest math there needs its own treatment. Tug covers winching; a snatch strap is a different tool with different rules.