Ronny Dahl reviews Recovery Boards

[Greg]

Ronny always does thorough technical 4x4 videos, this time he tackles Recovery Boards!

 

[BlackSheep]

Pretty conclusive results there!

 

[H-K]

....aaaaand I still can't decide...

 

[Gravy]

I see no point when the good ones cost as much as a winch...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I see no point when the good ones cost as much as a winch...

Maxtrax (the good ones) are $299/pair. What "good" winch is that price?

The Maxtrax excel in the exact places a winch fails... sand dunes, snowfields, silt beds or deserts full of scrubby bushes and no legit anchors.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Maxtrax (the good ones) are $299/pair. What "good" winch is that price?

While I do agree with your point. You are putting words in his mouth. He never said a "good" winch. There are new winches to be had for $299, and they're not even that bad.

Every tool has it's place and I always say, get the best tools you can afford.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

While I do agree with your point. You are putting words in his mouth. He never said a "good" winch. There are new winches to be had for $299, and they're not even that bad.

If you're going to compare the "good ones" to a winch, why wouldn't you compare a similarly vetted winch? You can by Chinese traction boards for $40 which are still more useful than a $300 or $3000 winch in the sand or silt beds dunes for many recovery scenarios.

Every tool has it's place and I always say, get the best tools you can afford.

To me it's like saying I don't need a 5/8" wrench because you have a 5/8" socket. Doesn't matter how nice of a socket you have when you need a wrench.

 

[Gravy]

I'm saying most people should spend their extra $300 on a winch not a traction board.
If you don't wheel alone, you can winch off someone else in most of those situations.
Even a $300 lockrite is a better investment.

The key modifier in my statement wad "I" as in I don't see the point; your experience may vary.

I'd hardly say it's even remotely comparable to a wrench and a socket. There is probably a large majority of the folks on RME who get down in the dirt and have never used or needed a traction board. I'm not even insinuating you haven't used one and there aren't situations where they are useful- with good results even.
When I tried one in the sand- it was worthless. A good winch or tow strap or even a locker instead of a limited slip would have got me out (and did) in a moment.

If you've already got these these things AND you plan to wheel alone - sure buy one.


Furthermore I'd argue there are a half dozen good winches at the $300 mark.
I've used a Smitybilt 9.5 for the better part of a decade, Come-Up, Rugged Ridge, even Harbor Freight's $300 winch tests well.

 

[Greg]

...When I tried one in the sand- it was worthless.

If you're talking about the Winter trip to Little Sahara where we used my TRED boards... that was a pretty unique situation. The top layer of sand was wet and hard, with dry and loose sand underneath, which I think had a lot to do with what happened there. Your rear tires weren't doing anything for forward movement to get you onto the board, just spinning on that hard, top layer of sand resulting in... nothing. If you had been in a 4WD vehicle rather than the 2WD prerunner, I think it would have been totally different because the front axle would have helped pull the vehicle onto the board.

Winches and recovery boards have their place, obviously from Ronnie's video the quality and reliability of recovery boards varies widely with the price... and you get what you pay for. There is no doubt that the MaxTrax are the best option out there for frequent, hard use.

My TRED 800 have performed very well for me several times, getting me out of trouble enough to justify carrying them with me. I realize they're limited with what they can do and the 800's are know for cracking and breaking when used for bridging. If I bridge with them, I double them up and use caution. They do have a lifetime warranty and didn't cost a ton. I would love to have 4 MaxTrax... anyone want 4 TRED's?

Back to winches and dunes.... when I got stuck out at White Wash in the Gladiator, having both recovery boards AND the winch made getting out easy. I think there are a lot of people that think it wasn't that bad or that I somehow set up that situation.... which is not true. I was stuck in a bad spot and having a quality winch and good recovery boards did the job to get me out. I think if I didn't have the winch, recovery boards and PullPal, I would have had a long walk to find help and cell service.

 

[Greg]

TRED 800's saved the day again.... got the Gladiator stuck in snow today. It was deeper than I expected, I hit it hard with the lockers on and all 4, 37" tires dug as deep as they could and we were left sitting on the diffs. Got the shovel out, removed snow behind the tires and dropped the TRED's behind the tires. We grabbed traction right away and were back in action less than 5 min after getting stuck!

 

[Medsker]

It's always great to get unstuck that fast. Did you try it again and make it through? I have the Smittybilt ones and have carried them all over but have never used them. I admit when I was on Fraser Island (a sand island) in Australia I was kind of hoping to get stuck in the sand and try them out but that Hilux just wouldn't get stuck

 

[UNSTUCK]

It's always great to get unstuck that fast.

I should have something clever to say about this, but it's too early in the morning I guess.

 

[Greg]

It's always great to get unstuck that fast. Did you try it again and make it through? I have the Smittybilt ones and have carried them all over but have never used them. I admit when I was on Fraser Island (a sand island) in Australia I was kind of hoping to get stuck in the sand and try them out but that Hilux just wouldn't get stuck

I didn't try after getting stuck, then out. The drift was probably around 100' long and we may have made it 30' into it before getting stuck.