Sand Ladders

The old aircraft stuff was known as PSP (Pressed Stell Plate) or PAP (Pressed Aluminium Plate) Big difference in weight but it works great. A simple little trick that I have seen is tie a short length of rope from them on to the back bumper. When you get going you do not want to stop till you reach firm ground again, then yo would have to trudge a long way back to pick the ladders up if you have not tied them on.

John, AFAIK they were also popular with the Lassiter mob when trying to find his reef in the 30's. Back then they were probably made out of wood. I know they had to use em time and time again to get the Thornecraft over dunes and up slippery creek tracks. Of course that was west of Alice, not the Simpson.

Actually PSP stands for Perforated Steel Plate.

They don't have to be heavy nor hard to pack to work, its just a matter of a little lateral thinking.
My fist trip into the desert many years ago was with an unsuitable 4WD (insufficient ground clearance). So, lowering the tyre pressure made little difference in crossing dunes as the car bottomed out in the wheel ruts.
What got us through were 6 lengths of 25mm x50mm section mesh, about the length of the bull bar and about twice as wide than the wheels. They could be hooked together to make a long track. It was a simple home made solution that did the trick.
Yes, they got a bit bent after the car passed over it but they were easily straightened by jumping on them. They were carried tied to the bull bar when not in use, easily got at and they packed away just as easily, fairly light too as the wire was only 3mm thick. The hardest part was finding them again after passing over as they just disappeared in the loose sand, ended up tying colored ribbons to each to spot them easier.

A few years later I did the same trip in a more suitable car (my troopie) and had no problems with the dunes until I decided it would be a nice place to take a picture and stopped on top of one. Troopie bogged, had no LSD nor any diff lockers back then. The grids saved a lot of digging and got us rolling in no time. Even the weight of the troopy did not bend them beyond usability, I still have the grids in the shed ready for a future trip.
I would imagine they work well in mud too, did not have to try that one yet ;-)

Klaus

Good stuff Mister Troopie. Can't agree with you more on the lateral thinking. Here's a tip for anyone that gets bogged on the beach with no one in sight and no recovery gear. Maybe you do have recovery gear! Lay beach towels in front of your spinning wheels in the same way you would a 'ladder'. Hey presto! It works a treat. The towel doesn't get sucked underneath the tyre and spat out behind; it seems the surface area of the towel on the sand and the weight of the tyre/vehicle keep the towel in position (well, that's my theory). You just need someone to run back and recover the towels and shake the sand out before putting them back in the vehicle (partners and kids are very handy at this point in time).
But who would go sand driving on deserted beaches with no recovery gear except beach towels? Certainly not me; my brother's mate's girlfriend's uncle said it happened to his neice's boyfriend's mate's brother ;)

I wonder if that cross hatched plastic fencing / edging you can buy from garden stores would do the job?