Recovery Boards

Type in maxtrax and you'll get all the info you need.

Quentin, we got stuck on the river stones at Carawine Gorge WA, letting tyres down was not enough, and there was nowhere to attack the winch. Try shovelling in those stones :O. We have a heavy caravan on our way around the country, and just one pair of MaxTrax saved us.

We don't go looking for trouble with our caravan, so the MaxTrax were a just in case purchase and only needed once. They worked like magic and at times and places like that, yourselves and magic is all you have.

Recovery boards, sand mats/channels have been popular since vehicles have been heading into sandy areas. Folded up metal sheets worked and the military has been using pierced steel planking since it was invented during WW2. They used them to cross the Saraha before 4WD's were available, the Long Range Desert Group and SAS used 2WD trucks, low tyre pressures and sand mats in Lybia and Egypt to cross the desert before Jeeps came along and if you watch the Dakar desert racing, everyone is using some variation on them to get through.

Yes they work and can make your life easier. I think some of the nice bright plastic ones have become a bit of a fashion accessory, a bit like winches on a lot of vehicles.

A shovel is always good, but often in sand you have to dig your whole vehicle down to get traction. With traction boards you can shovel sand into the hole, then stick a board on top to get out. Much less work. You can also stick them on a dodgy bit of ground to get through and not get stuck in the 1st place.

I made my own Elcheap-o version. Go into the hardware store and buy multiple 2 lengths of 1m plastic grate. Stick them on the ground, side by side, with some short lengths of rope tie a knot in the end, loop it through one grate and into the other and then tie another knot. It gives you a 30cm x 100cm length of track for about $14 each. They are quite flexable, mine have been bent 90 degrees and not cracked, but can still spread the load over soft ground and stop a tyre spinning and digging in.
I have 2 pair, so i fold them out flat and use them at the bottom of the ladder to the tent. it gives somewhere to stand while you kick the dust off your feet.
Some of this stuff: https://www.masters.com.au/product/900008088/reln-rain-grate-black-1m.jsp

What I have found is if I forget to take my maxtrax 4wding then I'm guaranteed to get bogged. If I have them on the roof then I never get bogged...go figure lol

wizzer

I don't have any but have been considering getting some , type in maxtracks into YouTube .

Hi, we have done a bit of 4wding , up to the Cape and the Kimberley, would not leave home without our maxtrax, they have saved us many times, but go with the originals not copies.
Happy travels Judy and Laurie

we where up in the Sunset and Big Deserts a couple of weeks ago and used the 4maxxtrax to retrieve my son in laws landcruiser and camper trailer out of soft deep sand. They are a bit pricie but who get a good product.These were of my choice after reading many forum replys and watching various footage on youtube.

I own 2 pairs. In the last 3 years Ive used them once in 2012 to get my own 4wd out of very deep boggy sand. I've lost count how many times I've used them to get others out. All end up being MaxTrax believers.

Quentin S Looks like I am the only one who does not use recovery boards. I have a set but never had a use for them. My 2007 Prado has diff locks and never had a use for them either. I suggest tyre pressures are the most important determining factor in beach driving. Second is momentum. Keep your peed up. Most new chums use too high a gear to give instant power in that soft spot. Anticipation is essential.
Running at 16 to 18 psi with 4 wheel drive engaged has got me through the softest sand. If you do get stuck let your tyres down to 12 psi then reinflate once out. By soft I mean the diff centres leave a deep groove between the wheel tracks as they drag through the soft bone dry sand. I have been beach driving on a regular basis since 1980 and have not been stuck yet. I did engage front and rear diff-locks once and that simply dug into soft sand. Disengaged them and drove out with open diffs. Turning is a no no in soft sand. The tighter the turn the more likely to dig in. Overloading is obviously a recipe for getting stuck. Wider tyres look tough but if excessively wide are detrimental as they push a wave of soft sand in front of the tyre which has to be climbed over to get progress. For many years I ran standard 7.5x16 size tyres. Kitbags

There is now a much cheaper version than Maxtrax Same S*** different bucket virtually.

Google Treds and Ridge Ryder at least $100 cheaper than Maxtrax

Like a lot of people here I have Maxtrax as insurance as I often travel alone and try to avoid getting stuck.

I've only had to use them twice (for others) - once to recover a certain tour vehicle from soft sand in a creek that is normally dry, the other time a plane that got onto the soft edge of taxiway after rain.
Both times invaluable - & I doubt the pilot would have appreciated a winch :D

Quentin, don't disregard maxtrax for inland use either.
I was winching a stuck 4wd on wet track off the side of a hill. Every time the 4wd drive was winched towards my truck it slid a few inches sideways down the hill and off the track onto wet grass. The only way I could winch him up and not lose the 4wd down into the gully sideways was due to the use of Maxtrax.

These things are great.

In the past I always carried an axe and machete to cut up branches or fall small trees to use for recovery which is probably frowned upon these days. Quentin there is also a mob called Muputrax which have taken an old idea of using grate for recovery boards and come up with some great uses for them worth a look just click on the link below..http://www.muputrax.com.au/

Thank you all for your valuable and no nonsense responses. I think I am convinced that a good recovery board system should seriously be considered. The Maputrax has got to be a sensible multi functional affordable system and worth a look which we will do. Thanks again. We would appreciate further views on this please.

We are off to the Kimberley soon via the Kidson track. I think they may be helpful over the washaways. We are getting 2 sets of bench legs and no table legs as we already have a good foldaway table. I really think that this product looks the goods and the mob that sell them are easy to deal with.