Straightening a building stud with a jeep — dumb?

t00th

t00th

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My father is restoring a cabin that he got for dirt cheap ... because a tree fell through the back wall and roof.

The tree also cracked one of the framing studs of an outer wall (sorry if that's the wrong term, i'm not sure) and he needs to pull it square so he can reinforce it and begin installing the siding.

He asked me to help pull it square ... with my Jeep. How ill-advised is this? I do not have a winch. I have two soft shackles and a front bumper with through-welded clevis mounts. I do not have any straps but plan to purchase for the job. My idea was this:
>Tree saver around stud (or soft shackle if it fits)
>Tree saver or soft shackle to tow strap (NOT snatch strap) to clevis on front bumper
>Pull very slowly in 4L in reverse (I don't have adequate points on the rear bumper)

Done this way, since no pulling hardware is solid and is not attached to anything that would become a projectile if anything fails, I figure it seems safe enough. But there may be factors I'm not considering.

Is a tow strap correct for this job? Does this sound unsafe?
 
If all he is doing is trying to square things up why not use a heavy come along with the Jeep, a tree, or something else as an anchor?
 
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Having a hard time picturing this, is it a steel stud or wood? As mentioned slow, steady, and controlled will be best. Come along sounds like a good ideal, be careful…shit can go sideways fast.
 
@2001slvrstntj it’s a wood stud. Just the outer framing of the structure.

@all:
Seeing overwhelming turnout for using a come-along. Sounds good to me, and I appreciate all the responses and advice.

Probably don’t need to use the jeep as an anchor - there are trees all over the place. But nice to know I can if I really need to to get a good straight line.

As for the come along - how much line do they typically come with? Or is it just the block itself and I need line on both ends? Would this just be in the form of straps?

Sorry I’m entirely new to this. Tell me everything I need to buy. I will probably do it on the cheap and get a harbor freight unit. All the reviews seem positive, believe it or not.
 
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If it is a single stud, I’d cut it out and install a new stud, and if it is bearing a lot of weight put a temp stud in first.

If it is badly damaged it has little structural merit, even if you sister on to it.

The come along is problematic because you can’t add a stud due to the cable wrapped around it - might be as well off to cut it, push it in and sister on to it, unless you have a wall close to use a heavy duty trailer load lock to push it with.
 
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TJ Jim said:
Don’t know if it’s true but I’ve been told pulling backwards can break your differential? Doesn’t make sense to me but maybe
Click to expand...

Never do a pull in reverse. You are putting load on the coast side of the gear in the ring which is the weakest side. Always do a pull going forward.
 
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AndyG said:
If it is a single stud, I’d cut it out and install a new stud, and if it is bearing a lot of weight put a temp stud in first.

If it is badly damaged it has little structural merit, even if you sister on to it.

The come along is problematic because you can’t add a stud due to the cable wrapped around it - might be as well off to cut it, push it in and sister on to it, unless you have a wall close to use a heavy duty trailer load lock to push it with.
Click to expand...

This is the advice I'd follow. You can load up a board in your Jeep on your way to the cabin.
 
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t00th said:
My father is restoring a cabin that he got for dirt cheap ... because a tree fell through the back wall and roof.

The tree also cracked one of the framing studs of an outer wall (sorry if that's the wrong term, i'm not sure) and he needs to pull it square so he can reinforce it and begin installing the siding.

He asked me to help pull it square ... with my Jeep. How ill-advised is this? I do not have a winch. I have two soft shackles and a front bumper with through-welded clevis mounts. I do not have any straps but plan to purchase for the job. My idea was this:
>Tree saver around stud (or soft shackle if it fits)
>Tree saver or soft shackle to tow strap (NOT snatch strap) to clevis on front bumper
>Pull very slowly in 4L in reverse (I don't have adequate points on the rear bumper)

Done this way, since no pulling hardware is solid and is not attached to anything that would become a projectile if anything fails, I figure it seems safe enough. But there may be factors I'm not considering.

Is a tow strap correct for this job? Does this sound unsafe?
Click to expand...

I don’t disagree with any of the Jeep-pull advice but … I wouldn’t do it that way for other reasons. I don’t know what’s going on there, but having done this sort of thing before, I envision a screw Jack between the sole and top plates immediately adjacent to the out of skew stud and a sledge hammer - Jack the top plate, sledge the stud sideways along the sole plate until plumb, positioned and reinforced, then lower the top plate onto the fortified assembly.

A TJ is not a precision instrument and I’d be concerned about pulling force incrementally and directionally. Plus, with the Jeep pull method, you’re reintroducing additional compressive (vertical) force to the skewed stud in an angular fashion as you pull, and also horizontal force to stressed member that’s not designed for that (like pulling a bow string). Studs bear vertical, compressive stress by a significantly larger order of magnitude than horizontal stress. In other words, you could snap the stud right in half during the pulling operation and THEN need multiple screw jacks to right the ship.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...dKgHdvCFXXdZ2vDXhphoCgSEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
1667310300765.png
 
We all seem to have overlooked this precision instrument. I think it could effectively be used to fix a wall.
1667310653003.png
 
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