anyone experience with recovery boards?

[perelaar]

As the title says, any recommendations on / experience with recovery boards, sand plates, waffle boards etc?

Don't want to spend €€ on a winch, and most places I drive there is nothing to winch from (driving around on our rough shoot area). No dry sand, only wet grass and clay/mud. Preferably something I could carry inside the car, so I cannot forget them.

Got stuck this weekend, parked on the wrong place. A slightly sloping grass field, all ok when I parked, but then it rained some. Mud tires are not possible, won't pass Belgian MOT with them and I mainly drive on hard surface roads...

 

[Blocky10]

Boards would be ok but there is a ground anchor for exactly those situations. Rick knows about them. Think he's going to make one:thumb2 obviously you'll need a winch though.
There's also mats and there's nets or ropes?

 

[johnb5177]

One of the canniest self recovery options I've seen, was on an ex mod truck......wheel winches.....extended wheel rims that winched in the rope as the wheel turns.......:nenau

 

[elty001]

A couple of bits of flat planks strapped to the wheels are quite effective.

 

[perelaar]

As said, no intention to get a winch (don't want to spend a whole lot more money on the car), and no time in a shoot day to dig in a ground anchor...

A board of some kind that could be used to bridge a small ditch gets extra points!

 

[solarman216]

If you look at the pics when you first log on, you will see Bat21's truck with boards, Rick

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Not used them myself, but I have seen guys using them at a pay and play...

Main issue I saw was that ideally you need to use them to stop your self getting stuck in the first place, as using them once stuck leads to a lot of work.

Getting them under the wheels seems to be the hardest part... Often once the wheel is full of mud, it will refuse to get enough traction to climb up onto the board.

One time I did see it used, it took a lot of digging to make a mud ramp and then sink the boards under the wheels, to do this, they lifted the wheel with a Hi-lift jack and a chain onto the wheel spokes, and then once the board would pass under the wheel, lowered it back onto the board.

Another time, they used an air jack to lift the vehicle and put the boards under the wheels, which seemed to work a lot better, but means more gear, and more mud to clean up after.

Other than that I have only ever seen them used with a winch to ease recovery after a vehicle has travelled a distance before actually sinking in.

 

[don simon]

I'd look at a hi-lift jack to either get the motor high enough to get the boards under or to throw the car onto more solid ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qa48Z2Rbx4

 

[solarman216]

To be honest if you are likely to get stuck like that then for speed and a result then winch and a ground anchor is the best way, jacks and boards in the mire are just very hard work, may not work and time consuming, Rick

 

[elty001]

Don't know if these would be any good for you??
http://www.milneroffroad.com/universal-parts/4x4-tyres-and-wheels/4x4-recovery-tracks

 

[solarman216]

I'd look at a hi-lift jack to either get the motor high enough to get the boards under or to throw the car onto more solid ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qa48Z2Rbx4

Yea watched that, what a plonker, so he has bellied out in mud, that jack with its small footprint would not lift the motor, it would just bury itself, OK so you have a 3 foot sq plank to put the jack on, still not a lot of good, it will not lift it high enough, Rick

 

[solarman216]

Don't know if these would be any good for you??
http://www.milneroffroad.com/universal-parts/4x4-tyres-and-wheels/4x4-recovery-tracks

What are we looking for elty, it just takes us to the normal site, Rick

 

[don simon]

Yea watched that, what a plonker, so he has bellied out in mud, that jack with its small footprint would not lift the motor, it would just bury itself, OK so you have a 3 foot sq plank to put the jack on, still not a lot of good, it will not lift it high enough, Rick

Understood, but Perelaar is faced with this.

Got stuck this weekend, parked on the wrong place. A slightly sloping grass field, all ok when I parked, but then it rained some. Mud tires are not possible, won't pass Belgian MOT with them and I mainly drive on hard surface roads...

 

[solarman216]

Understood, but Perelaar is faced with this.

Understood, but still do not think a jack is the answer, even if he could get a board under the wheel/wheels, jacks come into their own when on hard stuff and ground chassis out, not on slippy soft stuff, also a jack needs to be able to lift the wheel not the chassis, still go for a winch, nothing beats it, Rick

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Understood, but still do not think a jack is the answer, even if he could get a board under the wheel/wheels, jacks come into their own when on hard stuff and ground chassis out, not on slippy soft stuff, also a jack needs to be able to lift the wheel not the chassis, still go for a winch, nothing beats it, Rick

I have an attachment for my Hi-lift, called a Lift-Mate, which is basically 2 hooks on a bracket that go into the wheel spokes, and allow you to use the jack to lift just the wheel... I also carry a big foot attachment for the jack...

Not perfect, and definitely no match for a winch, but as a way to get out of trouble if you only get into trouble once in a blue moon, it does work... You can also use the Hi-lift as a winch, provided you have a good sample of straps, shackles and a place to fix to.

I think for Perelaar, a ground anchor... and a High Lift, or Tifor would probably be more use than the board.

I saw a really nice army ground anchor, that basically is a 2 foot long plate full of holes, and you drive 18" stakes through the holes, fixing the plate in place. You can use as many stakes as you need. Seems to be a great bit of kit.

 

[perelaar]

Guys, most of the times I get stuck is not belly deep in mud. As said, it is when ferrying people around on our shoot, parking on not so stable ground.
I'd love to splurge on a winch and ground anchor, but there really is no time to dig in an anchor in this situation. I'd hold up the entire progress of the shoot.

I have gotten out of scraps in the past by using the rubber foot mats from inside the car under the wheels, but they get shredded in the process. That's why I was looking at these boards.

Elty001: these look good, any experience with them? They seem on the short side (59cm).

 

[elty001]

What are we looking for elty, it just takes us to the normal site, Rick

edited the link so should work now.

 

[elty001]

Guys, most of the times I get stuck is not belly deep in mud. As said, it is when ferrying people around on our shoot, parking on not so stable ground.
I'd love to splurge on a winch and ground anchor, but there really is no time to dig in an anchor in this situation. I'd hold up the entire progress of the shoot.

I have gotten out of scraps in the past by using the rubber foot mats from inside the car under the wheels, but they get shredded in the process. That's why I was looking at these boards.

Elty001: these look good, any experience with them? They seem on the short side (59cm).

personally i have never used them.
will see if there is any info from folks that have on the web:thumb2

 

[Gazza]

One of the canniest self recovery options I've seen, was on an ex mod truck......wheel winches.....extended wheel rims that winched in the rope as the wheel turns.......:nenau

Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trrEKbc6uqE

 

[Fez_uk]

Waffle boards work well, only downside is they get caked in mud and get really heavy. If you end up sticking them back in your motor they get mud everywhere even when you bang the mud out of them.