Originally Posted by
Wraithe
Damn, I missed most of this...
I have noticed all these 4WD shows seem to make the weekend 4wd campers think they are experts...(not aimed at you Tank, riggers and crane drivers are mostly very good, if not they dont last)...
I have a niece and her husband, they deck there 4WD's out with all the gadgets and dig holes with there big fat 4WD tractor tyres. I continually give them heaps about taking the deepest, roughest and most stupid route when going bush. They tell me how hard it is to get to some spots they go, yet my son took me to a spot they love and we went all the way to there camping spot, had a boring look around and drove out that arvo, in a commodore ute...
I know they would struggle going to where the landrover takes me, already proven my road tyres on a stock landrover can make a Nissan Patrol, big 37" muddies, 5 " lift kit, turbo'd with all the gadgets, look like a road only vehicle...
I always get picked on for my non modified Landrover and get told it wont go anywhere they go... It really has less to do with the vehicle than the ability to judge your ground, understand the vehicle, think about the approach/exit and possibly a lot to do with not trying to be a hero but get from A to B... Actually "Common Dog F%^&" or common sense for those not fluent in Australian...
Any truck driver that does paddock work can tell you how fast you can bog a truck but how hard it is to get out... Paddock work with roadtrains takes even more common sense and the one thing I teach people about taking trucks into paddocks, slow and steady.. One thing I will pass on here, (remember trucks where mostly manuals and I didnt drive auto trucks), IDLE! If you go into a paddock thats soft, idle, who cares how long it takes to get from one side to the other, but get there not get bogged... I would go up greasy rises while idling and watch others go backwards... Tyre speed needs to be slow enough to get traction thus you go forward, increase that speed and you loose traction and stop... Sand is the same, slow and steady and if its rocky you go slow so you dont shake the **** out of everything....
Pulling out is generally heavy pull only but snatch straps seem to do well, but like all vehicles, a heavy anchor point... Even trucks have weak points to be careful of... I have never used a snatch strap on a truck or 4wd so cant comment on there use but Tank can tell you, chains snap easily so you take pressure up slowly and then load them...
I feel sorry for the young fella that died, he didnt learn the lesson and now his family and friends suffer...