Tyre pressures in mangrove mud
Submitted: Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:15
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Member - Dave A Karratha(WA)
Well all, we have spent the last 2 days recovering No1 sons Hillux from the mangrove mud between Cowrie Cove and Watering Cove on the Burrup in
Dampier W.A, in the end it took 2 vehicles 5 snatch straps, an exhaust bag, and plenty of digging and patience and a neap tide but we got it out.
The question is, we all know that we let our tyre pressure down in sand, but what about the mangrove mud ?, do you let them down or do you inflate them more ? , my mate inflated his Patrol to 40 Psi and I left my Cruiser at 32 Psi, and over plenty of Bundy ( supplied by No 1 son) the question arised. So, does any one out there have an answer??
Thanking you all in anticipation of your answers.
Cheers Dave
Reply By: Andrew from Vivid Adventures - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:32
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:32
My nuts have had similar experience to Muddy's - Mangrove mud can be very sticky. I was walking around in sandals - as Willem would say - those Israeli sandals, which do up pretty tight - still managed to get them stuck deep in the mud requiring up to the shoulder retrieval by hand.
Anyways, I did get a little bogged in mangrove mud on the banks of the Pentecost downstream from the GRR crossing with a trailer attached. I am sure the blokes camped there fishing thought we were crocodile dinner when they saw me digging.
There were vehicle tracks across the area, but I just ended up in a patch that had become more boggy for some reason. Now, I hadn't let the tyres down at all, and wasn't surprised to bog in a little. I must say it wasn't wet mud mud - not like my sandals were in - it was more like biscuit mix consistency, but I can confirm that letting the tyres down made getting out possible. I can't see that any additional bouyancy from the extra pressure could possibly compensate for the reduction in footprint and the vehicle weight spread over that smaller area.
For me, I'd be much much lower than 32 PSI if I really had to venture out there.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dave A Karratha(WA) - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:38
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:38
Thanks for that Andrew.
Like yourself he started on the dry, made a wrong judgemnet and down he went.
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Follow Up By: Andrew from Vivid Adventures - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:51
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:51
Oh, one other thing - there is time to get out in mangrove mud - even if it is in sandals and not tyres! That is the feed of mud-crabs that makes it all worthwhile ...
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Follow Up By: Member - Dave A Karratha(WA) - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:55
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:55
Thats why he was there, for a good feed of muddies!!
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Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:17
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:17
Ahhh
young Andrew
You are a worry....l
Methinks it is time you switched to boots as those sandals keep on getting you into trouble....LOL
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Andrew from Vivid Adventures - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:25
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:25
Well Willem, when I had boots on Joe Blake bit me, so perhaps I should stick to sandals?
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Reply By: Member - Jeff H (QLD) - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:47
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:47
Dave I reckon your son has a pretty neat ole man.
Can't offer advice, but onya, eh.
I reckon "oil-on-oil" =all the same. So where's dry land or a stump?
Dunno what I'd do in a similar setup. Drop tyre pressure, dig like all get-out, and try to pack it with vegetation? Dunno.
Onya Son for supplying cane-cutters.At least he was dragged up right.
(I'm gonna have nightmares tonight: crab sangers- Missus - mud).
Thanks very much.
Jeff.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dave A Karratha(WA) - Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:54
Monday, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:54
Thanks Jeff, unfortunately dry land was 700 metres away, and vegetation and rocks were shoved in copious amounts under the drivers side of the Hilux ( both wheels) which was leaning at about 40 degrees.
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Reply By: Member - Jeff H (QLD) - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 00:20
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 00:20
Dave that's, that's, that's MAMMOTH!!
Any one with a camera survive?
Strewth, must have caught it in a neap tide cycle. I'd have thought suction would defy lift from a Skycrane even.
May I have your mobile No. mate? Sounds like you beat the odds, (and I hope to be over your way next year).
Gees, good on all of you.
Jeff.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dave A Karratha(WA) - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 02:12
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 02:12
Jeff,camera............ah,yes.
I"m going to be putting a few photos together in a frame for No 1 son as a momento of his little jaunt into the mangroves as a reminder for him so that next time, and rest assured he will head there again ( in the quest for the illusive mud crab) he will heed on the side of caution and will only get his knees buried and not the Hilux.
And feel free to drop us a line if ever in this neck of the woods and we will take you on a guided tour of our beautiful part of our great nation. ( Without the mangrove mud sojourns)
Thanks all for your comments.
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Reply By: Sea-Dog - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 09:49
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 09:49
Although I have never driven in Mangrove mud and never intend to I have spent a heap of time playing in it as a kid on motorbikes etc and can give advice based on that alone.
Firstly this mud can change character from one moment to the next so what gets you moving in one place may not work 10 ft away in another section.
for the most part the very top lay of the mud is very soft and squishy but shortly after you punch through that it tends to stiffen up... but whether it is stiff enough to support a car is the other question..
For my money I would be letting the air down as much as you feel you can without rolling a tyre and getting the recovery vehicle stuck also.
maybe 15psi for a standard set up vehicle..
Then I would be trying to slowly move the vehicles with as little wheel spin as possible... the last thing you want to do is to spin the tyres up if you are sitting on a solid crust as you will find yourself at the axles in no time flat.
I would be trying for momentum snatches (assuming you didn't have a winch to do a controlled recovery with slow cable drags) to get the stuck car moving but keep a careful eye on the ground under your tyres on each approach as each time you drive on that patch of mud you will probably be drawing water up making it softer with each run.
One main problem you will probably find is that the mud will block the tread in the first couple of seconds so you will have next to no traction so using heaps of wheel spin will help clear the lugs of mud but at the same time will be helping you head south.
It is the exact same principles as sand driving with the exception that it can also be a bit of trial and error as each section of mud will react differently to what you do..
Sounds like a good challenge though! lol
Cheers
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Reply By: Russ n Sue - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:30
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:30
G'day Dave,
a little story for you. When I moved to
Karratha in 1982, my neighbour to his 3 week old Landcruiser down onto the mud at Hearson's Cove. He followed what he thought was good advice and let his tyres right down to bag them out.
All went
well until he turned bck toward
the beach and the (possibly) 3 degree upward slope was enough to stop his progress.. Unfortunately for him, he tried this during the Spring tides and as the tide turned and marched back in, he didn't have time for a recovery.
After two succsessive swampings the vehicle was recovered, stripped, washed, reassembled and trade in on another new one.
Subsequent to this I have seen or heard of at least four other vehicles that suffered a similar fate. (Including some Telecom guys in a company fourby - oops).
The moral to the story....DO NOT DRIVE ON MANGROVE MUD! EVER!
Cheers,
Russ.
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