Anyone have luck with “budget” traction boards?

Looking at getting a set of traction boards in the near future.

I plan on mounting them in the bed along with my double bit axe and shovel.

I dont do any serious off-roading. Just mostly a piece of mind for some of the bad winters we get since i live and commute through the mountains.

Also back roads throughout the year and hunting season.

I live about a mile from a ski resort so we occasionally get hammered with snow at my elevation.

Any suggestions on budget friendly boards? Thanks in advance

 

I had the X-bull ones for quite a while before I sold them to @eltacoutah

They worked well enough. Got me unstuck from snow and earth a few times without hassle. They def aren't made to the same quality as the Maxtrax I have now, but for <$100, they are def worth the money for peace of mind.

 

I’ve heard decent things about the smittybilt ones, and pretty solid reviews on TREDs

 

Yeah i've used them a couple times. For under $100 they're worth the money. Especially if you're not out a lot like me. If you're constantly out then I would invest in Maxtrax for sure.

 

They do fine in snow. Recovered many an out of state tourist from the finest ditches the Wasatch has to offer on the way home from the ski resorts.

 

Buy once....maxtrax

Ive used them to help a city bus stuck on a slope during a snow storm 6x the rated weight
https://youtu.be/SydERyIqwS8

 

This guy does a side by side test of xbull and maxtrax. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xkI2qPsa96I

 

I was actually looking at the xbull.

I most likely wont use them alot but i sure dont want one time use quality

 

Thanks again everyone for their input.

 

Mine have gotten a good few uses out of em. Are they the best? Def not. Will they get you out of a bind? Very likely.

 

Thats really what im looking for since im not an avid offroader, more out of necessity really.

 

I bought TRED originals when they were 150/pr verses Maxtrax at 300/pr. I kept the lifetime warranty and receipts. They’ve been used ~5 times over the past 5 years and are holding up well enough. The common failure is having the boards split lengthwise, but I haven’t had that happen.

 

A couple of three foot 4"x4" boards work pretty well.

 

https://youtu.be/dechvhb0Meo

 

Thanks for pointing out the obvious. It wasnt my intention recording that video, i was on IG live having fun with peeps while helping stranded people during the storm, thats how it got recorded and saved, couldnt really do much. Video was funny

 

Kinda where I'm at. They won't see regular use. At all. Just need them for that one time to get you out of a jam.

 

Ha ha ha, at 9:58 he says "So these are the 5 I was jacking off..."

 

Do they work with standard mounting hardware meant for maxtrax or tred?

 

So, just some food for thought:

You probably don’t even “need” budget traction boards.

I’ve done quite well in the past just being creative with what you find in nature. Rocks, branches, etc... I can see a need for them when you are routinely getting yourself in sticky situations. But for those “occational” or once in a blue moon situations, just stack some rocks or some nearby branches.

I’ve never not been able to get unstuck using what nature has provided, so never really felt the need to carry big orange plastic plates all the time.

Spend a lot of time in the dunes (with no nearby foliage) and that is a different story. That said, I spent a fair ampunt of time down in Pismo, and back in the day before these thigs were available, we always just used floor mats or got creative with whatever we had on hand.

 

Floor mats do nothing, other than take time an mess up the mats. This is not a useful suggestion imo.

Do you just not use a cell phone because back in the day they had pay phones and you can just use that?

Traction boards are amazing. Once you use them you realize all the stuff you 'try to make work', is just a PITA. Even if once in a blue moon, id rather get out of the ditch in 30 minutes with little effort and less damage. Than 2 hours with tons of effort and more damage.

I had cheap boards for 2 years, they worked well until they all exploded on one very stuck day

I have now upgraded to nice high quality boards, ActionTrax brand made in the USA. With metal studs on the tips, were you need the traction most. All other studs are replaceable with the same when you mess them up. Just some nuts, bolts, and washers.

Pics for effect. Recovery boards and a shovel got me out in 1 hour.