Ever been bogged down?

[lenny]

Got bogged down this weekend attempting to reverse over wet grass, only got about 3 metre's , Was'nt too bothered cos I am getting used to the new van and it was'nt a big deal but It got me thinking of what aids you can carry to get you out of this rut.
A few years ago I was leaving a building site inn a large mobile crane and trying to climb a greasy incline when my wheels started slipping and sliding all over the place, 6 wheel drive engaged,diff locks engaged, the crane (weighing 75 ton) was going nowhere, stop and think, nothing on site big enough to pull me out, just then looked in my mirrors and two paddy groundworkers appeared with wheelbarrows and started chucking this grey powder under my wheels and formed a track of this stuff across my exit route, Try again Geordie they said, I got traction and the crane was out in a jiffy The powder was cement,now I'm not saying carry a bag of cement with you but what other aids are avilable and/or feasable?

PS Sorry if this bored you

 

[Trevor]

Got bogged down this weekend attempting to reverse over wet grass, only got about 3 metre's , Was'nt too bothered cos I am getting used to the new van and it was'nt a big deal but It got me thinking of what aids you can carry to get you out of this rut.
A few years ago I was leaving a building site inn a large mobile crane and trying to climb a greasy incline when my wheels started slipping and sliding all over the place, 6 wheel drive engaged,diff locks engaged, the crane (weighing 75 ton) was going nowhere, stop and think, nothing on site big enough to pull me out, just thenlooked in my mirrirs and two paddy groundworkers appeared with wheelbarrows and started chucking this grey powder under my wheels and formed a track of this stuff across my exit route, Try again Geordie they said, I got traction and the crane was out in a jiffy The powder was cement,now I'm not saying carry a bag of cement with you but what other aids are avilable and/or feasable?

PS Sorry if this bored you

Sand mats what the use in the desert and aye i have been stuck in the mud a few times, so Lenny what you have to do is run back home and get your crane and lift your van out of the mud or fit a landrover winch to the front of your van and hope there is something like a tree to hook onto and hey presto your out.

 

[Deleted member 2636]

Its an interesting subject because Motorhomes are pretty bad at getting off the wet stuff.
The biggest joke item has to be the rolly mats made by Fiamma. I'd like to see the Joker who thought them up try them.
The best stuff has to be Perforated Steel Plate-PSP but it is very heavy. There is now an aluminium version but you could probably have a month in Spain for the cost of the stuff
Something that does work and does not take up very much space are bread trays.
You will need 4 of them. Cut the sides off and then place them so that the ridged sides are facing out (for grip) Get a jumbo economy pack of zip-ties and join them together.
When you are going somewhere silly, stop and have a look first. Put the mats down and drive onto them. They can make the difference between having to stay an extra day or not.

 

[hillwalker]

naa joost say till it dry's oot,u'll be fine at least u'll get a goodnites kip

 

[lenny]

Sand mats what the use in the desert and aye i have been stuck in the mud a few times, so Lenny what you have to do is run back home and get your crane and lift your van out of the mud or fit a landrover winch to the front of your van and hope there is something like a tree to hook onto and hey presto your out.

Thanks Trev, Wanted Landrover winch, 12 volt, must be cheap or free,don't need trees , just drive in some kind of anchor.
Now you've got me thinkin

 

[lenny]

Its an interesting subject because Motorhomes are pretty bad at getting off the wet stuff.
The biggest joke item has to be the rolly mats made by Fiamma. I'd like to see the Joker who thought them up try them.
The best stuff has to be Perforated Steel Plate-PSP but it is very heavy. There is now an aluminium version but you could probably have a month in Spain for the cost of the stuff
Something that does work and does not take up very much space are bread trays.
You will need 4 of them. Cut the sides off and then place them so that the ridged sides are facing out (for grip) Get a jumbo economy pack of zip-ties and join them together.
When you are going somewhere silly, stop and have a look first. Put the mats down and drive onto them. They can make the difference between having to stay an extra day or not.

Haway ,Balloo, they might do the trick,and even if they don't, I'm sure the Fiamma girl could keep us entertained till help arrives

 

[scotchjock]

Griptrack

We spent the festive season at Glenmore (Cairngorms) and we had some very heavy rain. Time to go home-3900kg was going nowhere. Put the griptrack down under the driving wheels in 2 inches of standing water on grass and away we went. The time before that was Bridlington in August and again griptrack got us away.

 

[hillwalker]

We spent the festive season at Glenmore (Cairngorms) and we had some very heavy rain. Time to go home-3900kg was going nowhere. Put the griptrack down under the driving wheels in 2 inches of standing water on grass and away we went. The time before that was Bridlington in August and again griptrack got us away.

beutifull part of the country the gorms....

 

[Trevor]

If you read my post with a photo of my van at my mates place near Alston
I got bogged down there and my mate tried to pull me out with her small van no luck so she got out her big merc hippy bus and bobs your uncle came out no probs, now i dont belive any of these fancy mats would have saved the day.
As baloothebear said it depends what the ground your on.

 

[Deleted member 2636]

Haway ,Balloo, they might do the trick,and even if they don't, I'm sure the Fiamma girl could keep us entertained till help arrives

The off-road racers have a similar item to the bread trays. The difference being that they cost over £100 a pair
The cut up trays really workbut, like you say, not as pretty as the Fiamma Girly

 

[tresrikay]

The off-road racers have a similar item to the bread trays. The difference being that they cost over £100 a pair
The cut up trays really workbut, like you say, not as pretty as the Fiamma Girly

I carry cut down bread trays too, only used them once when i thought the ground looked a bit iffy. I put them down and reversed onto them and when it was time to leave just eased off and once on hard stopped and picked them up. Word of caution, file off any bakery identification from them as they dont like people using them and you could be done for pinching. The fiamma yellow waste of times are useless, I once tried to use them when stuck in an icy c.l. and they just disintegrated into a million shards. I still carry some but only to place in front of the bread trays. I always park with my drive wheels as close to hardstanding as possible and I always survey the ground to find the best available spot. Consequently the only time i have been stuck was on that icy c.l. 4 years ago now.

 

[sundown]

I have never been bogged down to the extent of needing to be pulled out.
I think that being careful "where" you park and even more careful of "how" you drive off is the easiest answer!
but rather than expensive solutions,
why not carry two pieces of strong plywood
15" x 30" and reverse your drive wheels on to them
when you park, ready to drive off easily in the morning.

 

[avandriver]

For the past couple of years I have hired a transit van to tow my trailer with my stationary engines to the shows up and down the country .

And I have allways done what Nick has done and that is to park my driving wheels on a solid board .

I used a decorating plank cut in two and parked on them leaving about 6 feet of board in front of the wheels by the time you have reached the end of the plank you have enough momemtum to keep you going Even with 3 quarters of a ton in the trailer .



Steve

 

[lenny]

I have never been bogged down to the extent of needing to be pulled out.
I think that being careful "where" you park and even more careful of "how" you drive off is the easiest answer!
but rather than expensive solutions,
why not carry two pieces of strong plywood
15" x 30" and reverse your drive wheels on to them
when you park, ready to drive off easily in the morning.

Sounds like good advice, Nick, But does'nt the board lift up when the wheels drive off the edge of them, risking damage to the underside of the van?

 

[sundown]

I suppose that could be possible!
but its never happened yet
maybe revving it in 1st gear could make that happen
but driving off in 2nd gear at a controlled speed
usually does the trick

 

[Deleted member 2636]

I'm amazed that Fiamma still manage to sell those dopey roll mats. You would have thought that all the various Forums would have slagged them off enough by now

 

[avandriver]

A good idea that the 4x4 guys use when using boards is

Tie some rope to the back edge of each board and attach the other end to the back of your van , That way when you drive over and of the boards you will not have to stop on soft grass to retrieve the boards you can just drag them behind you untill you get to firm ground


Steve

 

[Polly]

yellow perils

oh dear
being a novice I bought a pair of these yellow mats. I must leave the lap top now and go and find my receipt dustbin collection tomorrow. That was lucky.
I am now going to go into my blue refuge bag. be back later.
I will then be able to take them back and get my £10 back from go camping.
I have got 4 black rubber mats from the pound shop.

 

[Polly]

found it

found it
after I went through fridays chinese, the small bag of throw outs found a B & Q receipt and a Tesco and an Asda thought I wouldn't find it .It is always the way the last small bag with the left overs in the ucky stuff It's what is called 'sod's law'
anyway I can now take them back and get my £10.80 back.
When I get stuck I will call on my FRIENDS (if I have any! Ha Ha )
FRIENDS are priceless.
With that £10 I can buy 3 bottles of red from asda and share with my friends (I'll have loads then only joking)

 

[walkers]

after getting stuck on a c&cc site in august on a wet clay field, after being told 'it'll be ok as long as you don't go on the boggy patch at the bottom of the hill' i have decided to walk on the wet field before driving on and getting stuck if its wet it can be ok but that clay is like grease once you start spinning just forget about driving out you need pulling off that stuff. the only time i have ever been stuck and i have been on wet fields before that what annoyed me was the site management didn't have the sense to work out that wet clay soil field and motorhomes don't get on all that well and it's best to turn someone away than have your field churned up pulling them out. have to say though whilst waiting for a tow out i watched a volvo and caravan drive through the boggy patch and somehow not get stuck i am thinking he must have had traction controll or something