Ground Anchors

Matt,

Carrying a lump of steel around is not good. If it is stored in the vehicle it would be most likely be on the bottom of the cargo area and as far away from the back door as possible. It is not something that you will want every time you stop.

I have not used one because I have not had to. Another vehicle is a good ground anchor if winching in soft sand. The only time I have seen them in use is in the some of the competition events.

If you are by yourself it is just as easy to dig a hole and drop the spare tyre into it and secure the winch cable.

Letting the tyres down will also help with the vehicle not to get stuck in the first place.

Wayne

I have one here. They are the bees knees in soft sand if you're by yourself and the tide is on the way in. They aren't terrific in stony ground. Main drawback is their weight, but they fold up and travel well if stored correctly.

prt

About $550 from arb .

I carry four star pickets cut down to the length of the rear bumper and stored along it. I find they make a reasonabley good ground anchor when driven well in and tied together. Cheaper than a commercial ground anchor, but can be a real b**ger to get out after recovery - I usually end up using the 4by to pull them out.
Alex

Malcolm Douglas demonstrated a ground anch on Ch 7 "the world around us" on satdy 11feb it worked very welll would be a good gadget to have i tink

I've had a Terra grip ground anchor for about 20 years, pretty useless in hard ground, very difficult to wind into hard stuff.
Works pretty well in the soft stuff though, sand and mud are what it is designed for I suspect.
Pretty heavy thing to lug around and I don't bother if travelling with other vehicles but if we are on our own usually take it with us.

Try to get hold of a plough disc. They stack almost flat, don't weigh much and make a wonderful barbecue plate as well.

Jim C

Matt ,
A lot more success here than on the Overlander chat site !

Never seen anyone use one.
You can bury your spare tire and use that just as successfully.

And no they are not all the same.. watch some outback challenge vids to see how pathetic some are!