Traction Aid Devices... post your creative solutions!

Hell of a rig. Though I think I can make a rack for mine about a quarter of the size.....maybe haul a spare donut up top. Or a teddy bear. Or half a gallon of water.

 

for the dunes i carry 2 rolls of carpet, 2ft x 10ft, that will get you out of most situations.

 

Anyone here have any experience with the pulpals?

 

I've heard they work well, but they scare me... Haha

 

been thinking about building a collapsable one. but until that happens, if digging/ramps don't work, it's back to burrying the spare tire in a 3' deep hole, with the winch line on it.

 

Was just about to ask about this. I had looked them up in the past but it sounds like they are hit or miss as to whether or not they'll get you unstuck. Mostly based on manufacturer/design and terrain conditions.

I was snow wheeling in a remote area of WY and got stuck at the bottom of a hill far from any winch points. After several hours we made it only halfway back up. Sheer luck, we were able to get our gps coordinates out via text. SAR picked us up that evening and we hired a snowcat to recover the trucks.

In a situation like that, I doubt if those pull-pals would help because of the frozen/rocky soil.

Would the maxtraxx (or similar) help? Using them in somewhat of a leapfrog technique up the hill? Would you be better off using two sets of them?

Also, I can't seem to find anyone who sells the Treds? They don't appear to be available on the TJM site.

 

Sierra Expeditions sells them...

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=12721

 

Put your hood up, you'll be fine.

Yeah... I read a writeup somewhere, might have been expedition portal, a guy built one and had a lot of troubles getting the angle right. It would either dig too steeply and come over the top or not dig deep enough. I dont have the skills or patience to be successful building one.

 

I've wondered myself about the frozen/rocky terrain, which is what is mostly here, putting them out of commission. Damn high desert anyways.

 

the problem is that the apropriate angle of the blades to each other, and the angle ot the entire unit relative to the pull direction will change based on soil type. you really need to build in adjustments for the blade pitch, and another one on the arm change how agressively it pulls into the ground.

 

I would think the pull-pals would tear the hell out of the ground too. Kinda goes against the whole 'tread lightly' mindset.

 

I'm all for tread lightly, but if it means me getting out and going home. I'll do what I need to do.

 

That's true I suppose. Are there any 'stake' type winching anchors available? Use a 4lb mini sledge to get in in the ground and then a hi-lift to remove it...

 

x2. plus you could argue that small hole in the ground is lighter treading than an abandoned vehicle.

you see that kind of stuff in rocks, but that would really really scare me in soil

 

I've heard of guys carrying rebar and pounding it into the ground as stakes.

There was a link to a thread in a utah off road site, a guy had put his T4R in a bad spot and was in danger of going over the edge. The local guys rigged up some pretty awesome stuff to get him out. I'll see if I can find the story.

 

If they're angled enough, I don't see why it would be an issue. Use the same thing as those large tents (like you see at the county fairs?).

Or something like this to keep it from pulling toward you?

 

that blade on it is the key. so much force on such a small surface area would be like using a cheese wire depending on the ground conditions. the blade on that spike helps spread out the load. spread out the load enough with a large enough blade, and low and behold, you've got yourself a ground anchor. a spike could also dislodge a lot quicker than an anchor, potentially turning itself into a javelin without warning. could be something to keep in your back pocket as a last resort, but i personally, would exhaust all of my other options before attempting a stake/spike/rebar pull. and even then, i'd toss my spare tire down on the ground and losely strap the spike to the tire, so that if it did break free, there was something to stop if from spearing me or the truck.

 

This thread

and

This thread - This will take hours to read, but its worth it if you have the time.

 

We stock and sell both the TREDS and MaxTrax and I will say hands down that MaxTrax blow the treads out of the water.

TREDs aren't a bad option for their price point but I have found that the will not hold up nearly as long as the MaxTrax will and the construction as others mentions is much thinner than others and I have seen pictures of them cracking or breaking. I have found that the "shovel" end of the TREDs is almost useless and I would much prefer the bi directional option the MaxTrax have.

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=12721

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1012