Not payin' $300 for recovery boards, nope. So what's left?

Got a set of cheap ones off Amazon, used them twice in the first year with no damage. Used in sand, not bridging anything, not WFO on them either. Last two years they havent been used.

If I was starting off for a few months travel in remote places I would have a better set, but not likely to happen.

 

Just don't buy any?

I go out with friends, but often I go out alone and prefer to have the best tools to aid in recovery -

 

I have a pair of XPV short ones (about 36 inch) and a pair of regular size X-Bull (about 42 inches).
Either brand can get a pair for under $80 now I think. I actually got the xbulls for under 50 local deal some years back and XPVs were a gift.

Have used them a few times on stuck tractors in deep soft mud. No problems so far. If works with tractors, I assume they'd be fine for a truck too if needed.

I like the shorter pair for traveling in truck. Just takes a little less space. Same width and thickness either way, just length varies between the 2 pair I have.

 

i was gifted a recovery bag/kit thing with a foldable traction board. an Amazon driver got stuck one winter getting up the hill to my old house.

i thought it was a cool idea to use this board. he pretty much floored it and the board was burnt/ground and all the traction was gone.

not how you're supposed to use them, but lesson learned i guess

 

Maxsa work well from what I've seen in the wild. an for about $130.00

 

I've got a pair of Rototrax and have used them countless times. They also receive bonus points because they mount with my 4 gal Rotopax. https://rotopax.com/rototrax/

 

Have a set of x bulls that have been used a couple times to level to truck and aid in a few recoveries. They do well for the 130$ but I will be dropping the cash on real maxxtrax next. More flexibility and durability and a much lower profile. Yes costly but I want the ability to bridge with them if it's cold out the xbull get really brittle in the cold and do mot let them sit in the sun they discolouration and deteriorate really fast.

 

I got lucky and found a used pair of the expensive ones on Facebook marketplace for $150.

 

I've often wondered about using pieces of a retired snowmobile track, or some sort of conveyor belt that's tire and ground "grippy".

Have a look around your work and back yard, go get stuck somewhere, and make a YouTube video when you find something that works.

I, and many others, will thank you.

 

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...MI0Zyi-qPQ_gIVZAetBh1PRgU7EAQYAiABEgJqnvD_BwE

I seen the on the shelf but know nothing about them. Anything is better than nothing. I've used conveyor belting in the sand, it works.

 

Amazing photos. Where?

 

Thanks guys. You know, i'm 67 now, been around the block. i've bought quality all my life, and some of those things I still have and use. Still, I fish with $39 reels on $12.67 Lightning Rods. Works as good as the $200 Diawa's i couldn't live without back in the early 90's. I think I'm going with the middle of the road here, and that'll get me out. Lesson I have learned: Put some of it in the bank, because it's a short ride to retirement. ANd I catch the fuck outa' the crappie just as good on those cheap reels!

 

I'm a cheap bastard... One thing I'm planning on doing is getting some 2x6, drilling some holes in it and running carriage bolts with a nut on the end through them. I figure it'll be sturdier and last longer for cheaper. Gotta deal with an extra 15 lbs, but I think it'll work.

 

Been using 2pc of 4ft 2x2 treated beams.
Ratchet them together, they work great in certain scenarios.

 

This. Testing and knowing your gear is the best thing you can do. "We don't rise to the occasion, we sink to our training".

 

“Not payin' $300 for recovery boards, nope. So what's left?”

Carpet scraps are probably free if you find the right dumpster. I’ve seen peeps use rubber mats with traction “ridges” that they diy’d for cheap too. But even if they only save your bacon one time out in the boonies the $300 boards are cheap

 

All this talk about durability has me wondering: has anyone used or thought of using metal ramps or expanded metal panels instead of the plastic traction boards?

Here's an example , don't know if the grip in these specifically is enough, but you get the idea.

Obviously weight and bulk will be a downside, but you can get smaller ones, or cut one in half or something.

 

Those would probably be great, unless you press the edge down into the mud and it comes up to smack you.

Plastic smacking your truck would be bad too, but that would be worse

 

Had to look this up. It's a metal structure called Marston Matting and was used in WW II to build roads, runways, and structures. In the 60's people used sections of it for recovery off road. Funny, a quick search on the Googlez and I couldn't find pics of it being used off road. Here's a pic of some being used as a fence in the Philippines. After WW II they had a lot of it laying around.

 

had some of this in the back of an old land rover. years ago. I've a set of X-bull on my Tacoma roof, and a set on the roof of my Gambler car because you have to have cool off-road stuff on impractical cars!