Which one would you choose?

No question in my mind, Maxtrax or similar. I've survived for many years without a clunking heavy Tirfor.

if we are sticking to the 2 options only I would have the Maxtrax.

The trifor hand winches are not all that user friendly.

It will be interesting to see where this thread goes from here.

Cheers

Let's put it this way.............. you are bogged on the beach, the tide is coming in and there is not another car in sight. Will you struggle to get the Tirfor out and set it up then get the spare out and start digging a deep hole to bury it......... or will you just lift the MaxTrax down and shove them under the wheels and drive out?

Sold my hand winch some time ago - too heavy and bulky to cart around, too old to be using it if stuck anywhere - they are hard work. Would not leave home without my Maxtrax !!! They have got me out of strife more than once.

I chose the Maxtrax

Was bogged on the beach near Robe SA a few years back and the tide was coming in.
Luckily I had mobile coverage and contacted a tower to come and get me out.
Cost - $300

Since bought a pair of MaxTrax for $275 and have never had to use them since. Cheap insurance I reckon.

Where do you go driving?

Desert/sand, then the tracks are a clear winner. Using a hand winch in soft sand is never much good, I tried it twice; the vehicle was a better ground anchor than I could build with a shovel and a spare tyre. The second time I ran out of straps before I could get to a tree.

In the mountains or mud, then I'd be inclined to go with the tirfor. With one of those you can pull forward, backwards or sideways, pull trees off the track, pull yourself back on, lower yourself down steep hills or skull drag a dead vehicle off a rock or out of a creek. They also work well on trailers.

I can see the merit of maxtrax (or equivalent), but I have never used them myself. I have done a lot of beach/sand km and have only "failed to proceed" a hand full of times due to driver error, all those times I have pushed, snatched or dug my way out. I find that being conservative with tyre pressures and airing down early sees you drive most things reasonably easily and reading the sand helps a lot. Most maxtrax fitted to vehicles are more badges of honour and will rarely be used, but at least they will work as advertised, unlike the winches on every 3rd forbie that probably never get serviced.

..
Not sure where you are Gazza, but if you do beaches Maxtrax hands down.
Have saved me (and quite a few more others vehicles) several times down on the very soft Coorong / Limestone Coast beaches.

Funny enough, have taken them on a few Simmo crossings, but never needed them in that sand.
So, I don't take Max with me every trip, just beaches.

You mentioned water crossings ?
Hands down snatch strap (pre fitted), and of course a mate to tow you out, failing the available assistance the most practical way out is electric winch, that means a decent winch bar etc, so maybe stick to what's within the vehicle / drivers sure capabilities there, and hook up wiht another vehicle or two for those sorts of trips.

I have a brand new trifor, never needed (or used !), if you're in SA make me an offer !!
Would be useful if no other means in high country etc, or as a back up / keep vehicle stable of slope, etc.

Hi Gazza

Each to their own and I have owned MaxTrax for years.

I will now ask what you would do in this situation. No one ever wants to get into situations like this, but look seriously at the photos. What they do not show is that the distance in front of the car is the same as the rear, so where could you set the winch up?

The mud was over 30cc deep and you can guess the rest.

So now you answer your own question........do you buy a winch or MaxTrax???????



Cheers



Stephen

Maxtrack, or in my case treds.only used them once so far, truck jumped out of the sand !

I bought a tirfor in the late 80's, have just about always taken it 4WDriving. I've used is stacks of times in the bush it's been a priceless piece of gear for me over the yrs. I still have it and throw it in the car even though I've had an electric winch for about 10 yrs. I've never used Maxtrax but I can see myself getting some one day or maybe some Muputrax for bridging ruts etc when I start going to some more isolated regions they look like a good modern day piece of recovery gear.

So the Maxtrax would be very handy and quick to get you out of a variety of situations but I would chose the tirfor based on my yrs of experience and that I have never needed the Maxtrax product as yet or I would have definitely purchased some by now. I suppose you could say in a way the equivilant to them would be trees and branches that we all have used as a substitute for Maxtrax over the yrs and there are still plenty of trees left.

I carry both, 1x tirfor and 2 sets of maxtrak. The tirfor because I tipped her over on her side so it was a side lift ( also handy to pull fenders out) and the traks get used a lot, particularly soft sand and they are brilliant.
Incidentally I always carry all the recovery gear and mostly help "others" out who carry "none"....go figure.

Winch every time.
The recurring theme above is sand, and if three feet of board can get you going again in sand, you weren't set up correctly in the first place, because it isn't that bad.
My Brahno hand winch has been indispensable over the years for recoveries in dire situations where if someone suggested I used max tracks I'd wrap them around their heads. In combination with a winch for popping an undriven wheel back up onto the surface, they work great rather than pushing whatever you are bogged in. Most times I see maxtrax getting deployed on the beach the situation was avoidable and there are better alternatives.

Gazza,
If you can try to borrow and use a Tirfor on your own. They are very effective but heavy, hard work, slow to deploy and pack up. The wire rope seems to always have hypodermic grade strands sticking out. They take up a surprising amount of room too and never seem to fit anywhere.

I have Maxtraks and a winch and would not go remote without them. My roof rack carries the maxtraks, a spare tyre (not wheel), Hilift jack and a long handle shovel. That is the max load I like to have up high. I have seen strips of conveyer belting used very effectively. and they roll up for easy storage.

The choice is governed by where you tend to go and how much you push when the going gets tough. As we get older we are less inclined to continue when the going gets bad but still like to push on a bit. I like having the recovery options.

I also carry a bottle jack and big base that can be used when the vehicle is bogged down. This allows easily lifting the wheel and packing stuff under.

Not really knocking winches...... they would be useful in the High Country, but I never go there.

But remember what Len Beadell said after his "retirement trip" to the deserts......... "The winch was wonderful. It pulled out 6 trees!"
Typical Beadell expression. LOL

Use whatever you have got, or can get.....
But my first choice would be a good compressor, followed by a winch, but a friend with a snatch is usually the go.

This is a random selection, in no particular order.

Friend and winch.

Very big tractor (a 'normal' tractor had already failed).

Dramatically reduced tyre pressures.

20% less air.

Snow chains. They are spectacular in mud with some sort of 'bottom'. Stuart Highway, 1974.

Turfor combined with very low air pressure.

Turfor and 3 connected fence droppers about 500mm long each.

Turfor and buried spare.

Margaret... :-) Sat strategically above the spinning wheel.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

First of all,a big thank you to all of your responses. Much appreciated.

A bit of background to my question. My partner and i travel alone unfortunately on our bigger trips. We have lots of friends who like camping they are just not so keen on being on the road for 6/7 weeks at a time which we love. Whats not to love!

Our vehicle, not by choice, is a 2013 Colorado 2wd. It is a company vehicle that i can drive wherever i like as part of my salary so we make do. It has got reasonable clearance and so far we have conquered roads such as the Tanami , Gibb River , Savannah Way, into the Bungles, El Questro etc with no issues so far towing our Trak Shak camper trailer..No beach work obviously. We travel to the conditions and drop tyre pressures as necessary and carry plenty of spares.

I guess (and maybe foolishly so) i have always thought if we got into real trouble someone would come along to help out, at least on the roads mentioned above in peak season which is when we travel. I understand this may not be the case in really remote areas which at this stage we stay away from.

As i cant go adding all the bits and pieces to the vehicle that i would like, i was thinking what would be the one piece of recovery equipment that i would be more likely to use on our travels.Was thinking hand winch or Maxtrax, hence the question.

We are planning on doing the Strzelecki, Oodnadatta and Birdsville track early next year so thought it maybe a good time to be a little more prepared. We are also hoping to go to the Cape in August via the Bloomfield track and the PD road.

I think it will be the Maxtrax for me.

Cheers Gazza

I'm totally happy with my Bog Out if I have to winch.

https://youtu.be/MoofMb2pnGI

It's cheap, it weighs nothing, takes up no space and it works...forwards or backwards.

Sand ladders were the go in Saudi. We used offshore fiberglass deck grating. Helmut at GordiGear in Southport has similar in a pack that can also be used as bench and table. Probably even a bridge at a small gully. Cheaper than the plastic things (maxtrac, etc.) and way more robust.. No connection to GordiGear, bah bah.
Abqaiq

maxtrax are the more practical choice....we have them but don't wear them like a bright orange bandaid on the back of our car LOL..we hide them...we have a tirfor, but have never used it in 15 years!

We only crumpled to the purchase after erring on the side of caution for a more remote trip..
Never had the need for the maxtrax on our recent Madigan trip...They remain zip tied together back in their box in the shed now LOL

Don't go for the cheaper option..our companions tried their" t...s" brand out..the lugs snapped off first go, even though were using them correctly...maxtrax are Aussie and worth the expense I reckon.

For a novice definately recommend grabbing a set of Maxtrax. Over time with more experience & a better set up vehicle you may find you wont need to carry them any more.
Being old school very few I travel with carry them yet somehow we managed to drive some of the most difficult tracks in Australia & when we did get stuck always got out in fact every time I have seen others use Plastic Trax of various brands they took way longer to recover their vehicle than other available options.
I had a giggle when a few of my newbie mates got bogged at Beachport & built a road with 24 Maxtrax taking 2 hours to get out exclaiming how they saved the day. (That's $2500 worth) Irony was a Patrol was driving back & forward on the same beach mocking their predicament as all they really needed was 5 minutes with a shovel & 10 psi less!
As for Tirfors not so useful in central Oz with limited anchor points but would be far more handy up the Cape or High Country. Problem is they are very hard work & you'd need to be fit to use one for any lengh of time.