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Recovery Mats-Maxtrax-Waffle boards etc Recovery Mats-Maxtrax-Waffle boards etc
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 24 Mar 2010
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Recovery Mats-Maxtrax-Waffle boards etc
As anyone out there tried the different forms of recovery
boards there is even some Pillows that you put under your truck
see ebay 4x4 recovery....:confused1:

Come on someone must have just done a Overland trip and had to use
them or been green laneing etc....Which ones shall i look at...:confused1:

There is quite alot out there MaxTrax from australia seem to be popular
any Views will be greatly Appreciated.

Hope there is someone whos been on the road 4x4ing for sometime who
can put across there apinion on this Grey area.

Cheer's........Drive safe to all....
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  #2  
Old 24 Mar 2010
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Waffle waffel
Hi, I started a mile long thread about this 18 months ago & ended up buying cheap-ish fibreglass waffle boards for my trip from the UK to Cape Town. They worked perfectly. I expect there will be some other opinions on their way!
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  #3  
Old 24 Mar 2010
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I've used ladders (welded together angle iron) - worked well and were cheap but heavy

Waffle boards - they are actually cut up flooring sold in the UK - the humvee i was doing a competition in broke them eventually but it was probabily too heavy a vehicle for them anyway but they worked

Cut down PSP sheet - available from anchor surplus etc , again good but heavy, you can cut a 3rd off its width and cut off all the little tabs that hook it together to make it lighter and safer

Have seen plywood used succesfully - very cheap and quite light

Currently have 4 2 metre lengths of aluminium sheet because they came with the truck , not used them yet

friend also has the roll up recovery track but don't remember ever using it successfully

Maxtrax look good, but not used them (probabily cos they look expensive)
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  #4  
Old 24 Mar 2010
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ah pillows....

Pillowtrack 4x4 Traction, Self-Recovery System on eBay (end time 22-Apr-10 00:01:10 BST)
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  #5  
Old 24 Mar 2010
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Hi,
A little note on the waffles.....
They're great and i do carry them, but, i will now be taking a set of aluminium sand plates as well from now on.
I've just got back from Morocco where we had an 'interesting' situation with a Discovery. It basically ended up on its side in a deep gully at the foot of an assent into a Jebel. There was no chance whatsoever of extracting it backwards (downhill) so i had to try to tow it out with me reversing up the loose slope. The problem was getting his front wheels onto the lip of the boards. Because the waffles are so thick, i just couldn't get the traction to help him onto them. As soon as we laid the aluminium plates as a leader onto the waffles he was out in about 15 mins.
The waffles are usefull in so many situations, i believe they are worth their weight to bring. But the weight of the alu plates is negligable so i'm now in the market for some of them too.

Sam
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  #6  
Old 26 Mar 2010
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I used Maxtrax on my last trip and they were absolutely brilliant, so much so that I am taking a couple of sets out to Egypt later this month for local guides, they were also very impressed with them.

Previously have used waffle boards & they could be difficult to get over the 'lip', the locals used the heavy steel ones, but soon forgot about them once they had used the Maxtrax, so much easier to handle, far better traction etc etc

Yes, they are not cheap, but they work!!

Andy
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  #7  
Old 26 Mar 2010
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to get over the lip, why couldn't you just dig down/scrape 2 inches to place the waffles? for future use, could you not angle the leading edge of the board by cutting it back?

I think the waffles are far more versitile for a variety of reasons, most importantly as a bridging aid. You cannot do this will light Alu sand ladders, dont know about PSP (limited?) and the maxtrax ones have to be doubled up which again is of limited use.

All this is dependent on your location and destination (terrain encountered)

I chose waffles because we greenlane 12 months of the year and nothing else cuts it in the mud

G
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  #8  
Old 26 Mar 2010
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Hi G,
Believe me, if it was as simple as digging away a couple of inches, we'd have done it! The rocky ground was inpossible to dig under one wheel and the other plate needed to be at quite a steep angle to get the truck back out of the hole.
I did miss a trick though, when i initially started, the problem wheel was about 2 feet off the ground. If i'd put the plate down before the initial 'try to get all 4 wheels on the ground' pull, we'd have been laughing!

Crap pic i'm afraid, but it tells a story! This is after we had sured it up and got all the wheels back on the ground with several initial pulls.
(Please no LC vs LR jokes, i think we've heard them alll by now!!)


I meant to cut a wedge on one end of them before i left (a la Maxtrax), but i've just lost access to the band saw i was planning to use. I will be trying this in the future, hopefully the thin end will still be strong enough so it isn't destroyed the first time i use them.
Last edited by Niva Say Never; 26 Mar 2010 at 15:23. Reason: sp
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  #9  
Old 26 Mar 2010
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Best in sand
Depends on the terrain. For sand I carry 4 Maxtrax.

They're light and easy to handle. Pointy ends and handgrips so you an use them as a shovel for clearing sand. They're small enough to stash inside a vehicle. The best bit is the knobbles - as soon as the tyre has grip you're out.

OK, OK, I know they're expensive but they work. I've used them loads of times for sand recovery and we've got the car moving before the sand ladders have been unloaded.

Happy trails, Jojo
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  #10  
Old 9 Apr 2010
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Try these, cheap and light as a feather.

Ch
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  #11  
Old 9 Apr 2010
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Cheap works for me!
Have you used these yourself?

Cheers
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  #12  
Old 9 Apr 2010
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Of course! On sand they all do the same thing up to a point, so ease of storage and deployment is what counts - and nothing is easier to handle or secure than a mat made of giant ping pong bat material.

All I did was cut the corners off at one end to get under a tyre better. I only use a pair. In sand so much of it is about not getting stuck in the first place.

Having said that, I suspect waffles and maybe Maxtrax will work better in Congolese mud, and better than PSP too.

I got a pair of Maxtrax to try for next time (but I'm sure glad I didn't have to buy them at crazy UK prices!)

As for those pillows.... Has anyone actually bought and tried some?

Ch

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  #13  
Old 9 Apr 2010
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Thanks Chris,
Congolese mud is definitely in my not too distant future, so i won't junk the waffles just yet. They are an unnecessary faf in sand though for sure, lighter/easier to manage sounds very appealing. I may well have to invest before the next desert trip.

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