23 replies to this topic

[HAM2]

straycollie2, on 30 November 2011 - 05:59 PM, said:

Heavy duty roofing felt has a very abrasive texture. (Try dragging your knuckles across some and see how effectively it removes skin!)
Place a strip under / infront of each driving wheel and hey presto - traction! Or at least better traction than you get from mud and ice. And if you can find some offcuts / leftovers from anyone re-roofing a shed with a leaky roof (mine doesn't leak, thankyou for your concern) it's cheap too. Plus it rolls up neatly for storage. It certainly managed to extricate the delivery driver who got stuck on next door's driveway during the bad weather last year.

Ahh reet, I've got a roll of the stuff...it's very heavy

[copemech]

HAM2, on 30 November 2011 - 11:04 PM, said:

Ahh reet, I've got a roll of the stuff...it's very heavy

Yea, he uses it for toilet paper!

[HAM2]

[Laverda3ce]

ormplus, on 30 November 2011 - 08:59 PM, said:

cheap idea get the land owner with his 4x4,that what i done at the last trial.didnt cost a penny.

Wot you said
Just carry a towrope, theres always somebody with a big fancy 4x4 at a trial wanting to show how good it is at towing stuck vans out of fields.

[heavywrecker]

Right you lot,

Liked the roofing felt tip, a lot! I shall steal that!

Letting down the tyres on the car/van works, ( would have thought guys running 4 psi in the tyres of their trials bike would think of that!). 10 psi would do the trick (but blow em up again asap obviously).

Try pulling away in second gear with a slipped clutch, if the field looks slippy, again use your trials experience!
Walk the spot you are going to park on first, ditto!

Taking the 150lbs of Trials bike off the backrack of a front wheel drive car works too.
Getting folks to push endangers their achilles tendons, sit them on the boot (rear wheel drive) or bonnet (front wheel drive) and make them bounce up and down a lot

Folks might look down their noses at my 1963 Land Rover, but towing out a 50+ grand Range Rover/Porshe Cayenne is very satisfying indeed! I've towed 16 tonners off fields with it too. Tyres make a hellova din though! And I have a lot of extra metal welded up to strengthen the rear chassis

Back in the old days you could by Town&Country tyres, much like modern Snow tyres and a mate in the tyre trade is selling a lot of those this year.
Get yourself a pair of secondhand rims from the breakers, fit snows, stick them on the drive axle for the winter, simples!

Always carry your own lump of rope, and get a couple of 1 1/2" u-shackles (never tighten a shackle all the way up), you don't want 8" of knotted blue string on the towing eye of the motor for the next few years!
On modern cars/vans the tow eye is in the boot/toolkit & screws into the crumple-bumper (hidden under a circular blanking plug on the plastic bumper). Never tighten these eyes up, wynd it home and back off a half turn or it will stick.

If you are really stuck, and there's no one to tow you out, jack the car up and use the floormats under both the wheels. ( Carry a 9"x9" piece of ali treadplate in the boot for the jacks foot, great for resting you bikes sidestand on too).
Try starting the vehicle in 1st or 2nd gear, using the starter motor to (wynd it out) get that first bit of traction might just swing it!

Oh and a spade, not a shovel, comes in handy sometimes.

Why's my forum name Heavywrecker? Used to tow lorries for a living.....

Edited by heavywrecker, 17 December 2011 - 06:25 PM.

[pindie]

1. Always park facing down hill.
2. If no hill take 4 8ft scaffold plank to park on.
3. Carry a narrow "border spade" in the truck. These are excellent for digging in hard to reach areas.
4. Drop tyre pressure as required.
5. Always be gentle when using clutch and throttle.
6. Try a dab or brakes on spinning wheels.
7. Use planks to span ridges & ruts.
8. Take a long 2 inch diameter rope (25m). Learn to tie a "bowline knot" so you can always undo them no matter what load has been applied.
9. Be aware you vehicle has never been designed for "off road" applications. All tow eyes etc are not designed for the added suction that mud applies. Shock load these and they will snap off or wreck your vehicle.
10. Park somewhere else.

Edited by pindie, 04 March 2012 - 01:25 PM.

[martvw]

i find although all these methods above work but sometimes if you can get a nice big run up before the muddy parts. get the toe in and go for it dave knight style flat out !!!!!! i have a jumbo transit and even the tractor had a job to pull me out it started to wheely ;-)

[Nigel Dabster]

pindie, on 04 March 2012 - 01:24 PM, said:

6. Try a dab or brakes on spinning wheels.

Would like to see your dab from a moving van!

[rallymadsam]

straycollie2, on 30 November 2011 - 05:59 PM, said:

Heavy duty roofing felt has a very abrasive texture. (Try dragging your knuckles across some and see how effectively it removes skin!)
Place a strip under / infront of each driving wheel and hey presto - traction! Or at least better traction than you get from mud and ice. And if you can find some offcuts / leftovers from anyone re-roofing a shed with a leaky roof (mine doesn't leak, thankyou for your concern) it's cheap too. Plus it rolls up neatly for storage. It certainly managed to extricate the delivery driver who got stuck on next door's driveway during the bad weather last year.

A mate of mine needed to get to his Gran's a couple of years ago in a sudden, heavy fall of snow and his Rover 214 wasn't very keen, so he found a roll of roofing felt in the shed, cut it down, wrapped it around the front tyres, tied it on with rope through the holes in the wheels and managed to drive over the big hill on the way there with ease, leaving all sorts of 4x4's stuck on the hill!