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Do some research and familiarize yourself with the mechanism before trying to use one in an emergency situation. The handle can whip around if you let go of it at the wrong time, or the whole thing can fall if one of the pins hangs up. There are some good Youtube videos covering how they work and how to use them safely.

Completely agree. They can damage both your vehicle & yourself. I use mine infrequently enough that I always take 5 minutes & refamilarize myself with it after I take it off the truck before I use it. The dropping thing & the handle kick back are the most unpredictable if you don’t know about them.

Try Craigslist - there are always tons on ours for giveaway prices (though the PNW is clearly offroad heavy). They last forever - mine is 20 years old & no doubt, people probably have 30 & 40 year old ones

I have used them as a winch before. Prevented some serious cosmetic issues when I was stuck and the only movement I could obtain was crab walking sideways further into a tree trunk. Then as a winch again when maneuvering down a muddy slope peppered with trees. Mud was so slick I could either maintain just enough friction to stay stationary if I did a brake stand or slide forward with no steering response from my mud caked tires. Jack was used to pull front end tow hooks left/right to avoid trees as I foot by foot slid down the hill until it leveled out

Many/some VQ’s burn oil...... there’s a good portion of them that do, know that if you buy one, or test drive it for long enough to find out.