Recovery Tracks?

Not sure if this is the correct forum? Not strictly Jimny hence the Lounge as opposed to anywhere else. Anyone experience of using recovery tracks. MaxTrax and Tred seem to be the go to boards with the best reviews from Aus but they also cost over £250. Other two which get quite good reviews and cost less than £100 are Rhino and Noryb tracks. Would only be looking to use them for occasional use and to give some additional piece of mind when exploring on my own. Don't want the additional weight of a winch and will not be going anywhere extreme.

In the UK you will see what we call waffle boards
Cheap strong and grippy 
 
 

wrote:

Not sure if this is the correct forum? Not strictly Jimny hence the Lounge as opposed to anywhere else. Anyone experience of using recovery tracks. MaxTrax and Tred seem to be the go to boards with the best reviews from Aus but they also cost over £250. Other two which get quite good reviews and cost less than £100 are Rhino and Noryb tracks. Would only be looking to use them for occasional use and to give some additional piece of mind when exploring on my own. Don't want the additional weight of a winch and will not be going anywhere extreme.

I'm guessing you are in the UK?

I've never used and don't own any sort of track. However I can see how they could be useful in some situations. I suspect their best use is likely proactively, i.e. you spot a situation and use them to prevent you becoming stuck. Using them for recovery purposes is likely a lot harder. I know there are good vids of people in Oz using them on sand and the like. But the UK is generally rather short of that kind of terrain. If you are stuck, you'll likely need to dig to get the tracks where you want them. So you'll need a spade/shovel too. But I'd guess most UK terrain would be bloody hard to dig down to use these.

If by exploring you mean green laning. Then I suspect they have quite limited real world use. The Gen 4 Jimny has traction control, so being cross axled isn't an issue either, which would be the most likely use of a track/waffle board.

I guess you could use them to be able to drive over a fallen tree (assuming the trunk diameter isn't too great). Apart from that, I'm just not seeing many/any situations where I'd consider using them. Taking a friend with you in a 2nd vehicle or fitting a winch is likely a much better investment overall.

Also with the Jimny, physically carrying boards/tracks is its own issue. Not a lot of space for them apart from on the roof.

I'm thinking along the same lines as 300bhpton.Green Lanes are legal routes for any road legal vehicle and are generally acceptable for use without excessive kit such as recovery boards. From experience I would recommend a small hand winch with a 5 metre length of 18mm 3 strand nylon rope together with suitable rated shackles. This setup will pull you front back and sideways. It's compact enough to stow in the small box at the rear of your Jimny. A 1200mm board is inconvenient and limited in what it can do.

Roger

There was one lane I did in 2019 that was quite badly rutted, at one point I just managed to straddle the deepest rut which would have left me grounded on the axel if I was unable to. That is what made me go and buy some tracks, as a couple of them wedged into the bottom of the rut would have been enough to make tyre contact.

I did not realise I would have to justify why.   Recovery boards are marketed as good for sand, mud and snow. Yes not a lot of sand in Scotland but lots of mud and snow. And I intend further trips to Europe exploring offroad trails such as Portugal and the Pyrenees. In an ideal scenario I would always travel with someone else but this is not always practical. Yes a winch would be useful but don't want to carry a winch around for 95% of the time I wont be offroad. I have and am still considering manual winch. However mounting track to the load bars when I go off exploring is very doable. Biggest area of concern for me being mud and that is where I think they would be helpful and as already mentioned my someone else helping you get over some of the more awkward trails as well as bridging gaps. Also useful for levelling the car when camping. So my original question about paying top price for known brand as compared to cheaper less well known brand. Thanks for the suggesting about waffle boards definitely an option worth considering. 

Can you share a link to the type of winch you are suggesting. The hand winches I have seen tend to be fairly bulky and heavy so would appreciate identifying what you have in mind. Thank you

I don't have any but I'm considering getting some. Together with a spade (I carry a small jeep spade behind the front seats) they will definitely help get you out of some sticky spots. Obviously they won't work in all situations, but no recovery method does. I'm tempted by the cheaper ones. The Jimny is that much lighter than most 4x4s that the potentially lower build quality shouldn't be an issue.

Is  THIS  the type you mean, rather than the ones with a crank handle. I guess the crank handle type need a solid surface to mount to?

  Even cheaper  with good reviews.

This is my Jac.Lift. It is/was made by Comet Industries of Richmond USA.
It's at least 40 years old and still going strong. The one shown by Soeley does the same thing and would be more than adequate and is a lot more practical than an electric winch, in my opinion.

Roger