<span class="highlight">Tyre</span> <span class="highlight">pressures</span> in mangrove mud

Can't say I have tried either way but given that the last time I walked in mangrove mud I sunk to my nuts then I would be questioning the wisdom of taking a 4by anywhere neare it!

Be interested to see what comes out of this one.

Muddy

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.

The advantage of reduced pressures in sand is (or should be!) well known...

Having spent many, many hours driving around waterlogged paddocks at night (as a recreational fox shooter 30-odd yrs ago), I can assure you that the advantage of reduced pressures is even more pronounced in mud.. (I learned this the hard way;-))
The less air the better, IMO....

Regards, Ed. C

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.

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.

You should be using the lowest possible pressure without rolling the tyres off the rim. Peronally I would have gone to about 10psi depending on what the tyres were.

In competitive off road events everyone uses bead locks which enables you to go as low as 3-5 psi with the right (crossply) tyres

Think the same as you would on any soft stuff eg. snow shoes or skis on soft snow. The greater the area of the foot print the better. However, when stuck up to the chassis rails it's far to late and it's lots of inch by inch shoveling and swear words.

Generally speaking, don't think any variation on tyre pressure will have much influence in mangrove mud. Short of 'web feet', this is what you really need Link

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

Gday,
Id be letting them down.
The only point of pumping them up I would think would be to cut down to harder surface, being that it sounds like there wouldnt be any thing better below, I reckon a bigger foot print would be better. Sounds like a job for a big winch or heavier machinery (or persistance like youve done).
All a bit of fun though....They say we all learn from our mistakes....Besides he did buy the Bundy you said.
Good effort

Cheers

Having sunk a few 4bies over the years in mangrove and blacksoil mud in and around Darwin I would opt for tyre pressures around 25psi max. The problem with mud is that you want to clear the tyre tread to get traction and invariably you are leadfooting it across the ooze. Spinning the tyre off the rims is a real problem. Letting your tyres down more than 25psi will get you even further into trouble!!

It was all good fun then, but nowadays I park and walk out to where I need to be ...LOL

Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!! Reminds me of a couple of years back when we got a mates car unstuck from the mud just south of Karratha (near Maree pool). 4 fourbys all trying to snatch/drag/dig out a 62 series that was stuck up to the doors. It took us until about 1:30am and a heap of beer, a wrecked exhaust jack, 2 broken snatch straps (and a few tears from the owner). It was a great night!! We still have a laugh about it, and none of us drive on salt flats!!

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.

Hi Dave. Are there still mud crabs up there. I was there from 70 to 88, and had my share. We would not take any females always put them back believing you need them to breed.Suppose we were right if you are still getting them.
Cheers Brian

This is all we get now

In bottomless mud you need flotation to get you back on top so depending on the tyres I'd let them down to at least 12 psi & maybe as low as 8 if there are no stumps or rocks to knock the tyres off the rim. Pumping tyres up will cause them to dig down & if the mud is over 400mm then that would be pointless.
Recovering a bogged vehicle in spew requires a slow recovery (winch not snatch) to get it back on top. Bog mats, old carpet, planks or tree branches can be used & the vehicle being recovered should avoid spinning the wheels which will usually only bury it deeper. Once the vehicle is up on top, a snatch strap with extensions to a recovery vehicle on the nearest high ground can be used to pull it quickly accross the top avoiding going over any old wheel tracks a 2nd time.
Cheers Craig...........

Gday Dave (&all)

I've been in that position once, and went to a mates farm and borrowed his ute and 9 chep type pallets. worked a treat, used one as the jack base, got the 2 front wheels on a pallet each, and put 3 in front of each front wheel. Winched up onto the pallets, then towed it off and out as fast as possible. Very good flotation from a pallet, a bit big to lug around though!

Cheers Andrew