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Thread: Fibreglass recovery tracks

  1. #1
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    Fibreglass recovery tracks

    Had a chance to experiment with a material called "Fibregrate"- a fibreglass grating used in places where corrosion is a problem for ordinary steel or aluminium. Got a couple of lengths about 250mm wide by 1.2 metres long.

    The sand we were playing in had been wet so it was pretty firm and heavy. We couldn't get Sandy bogged on the flat so we found a nice lump, drove Sandy at it slowly and then gunned it so he buried his wheels to the axles.
    Got out the shovel, dug some sand away from in front of the rear wheels, and placed the tracks there, and tried to drive out.
    First tip- the friction material on this stuff isn't coarse enough to get a good grip on tyres, so you they don't pull in the way MaxxTraxx do. But with a little rocking, once the tyres got up onto the track we drove forward to the other end quite easily. So the stuff works, but not quite as easily as the MaxxTraxx. A few serrations cut into the grating at the ends might help solve this problem.
    When we picked the grates up they were full of sand, but a quick tap on the tow bar and it all fell out.
    Conclusion: not as good as MaxxTraxx, they weigh about 5kg each, so a tad heavy, but they do the job. This was a pretty severe test, we had Sandy buried far deeper than we would normally allow, and the sand was very heavy.
    Cheers,

    Coop
    Recovery Tracks Test1.jpg
    Recovery Tracks Test2.jpg
    Recovery Tracks Test3.jpg
    Recovery Tracks Test4.jpg

  2. #2
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    AFAIK the advantage is that you can use them as bridging ladders, but I bought Maxtrax as they are much lighter.
    Regards Philip A

  3. #3
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    I carried a set around for ages, they were given to me but never really tested them. I did use them as a ramp at the 60 th land rover gathering. They are quite heavy for there size. Great idea but I think max trax has captured the market

  4. #4
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    Used to use hem on my winch challenge truck for bridging and other stuff great things but dont let mud dry in the squares can be a git to get out

    I have a set of carbon fibre sand ladders in my truck. Came from a car that did the Dakar. Very light and strong. Hand to have when I did my trip around Australia
    95 300 Tdi Defender 90
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  5. #5
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    Where does one get these fibreglass thingies?

  6. #6
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    sounds like these

    GRATEMATES

    meybe someone could organise a aulro group buy,

    for all my poohooing of this type of thing they actually look pretty good

  7. #7
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    I used a set of these round oz. Very handy when digging out a cruiser stuck in sand with an incoming tide in WA. Landy didnt get stuck! Used them to level the camper trailer on the odd occaision too.
    "Dolores" my '97 model 300tdi D1 and "Donkey" my '20 RE Himalayan.

    Previous: ‘00 D2, '04 110 wagon, '96 D1 and '95 110 ute, plenty of other bikes and cars too :angel:

  8. #8
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    the exact gratemate types can be bought from a place in mandurah WA for 120 a pair, cheapest in OZ

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ade View Post
    the exact gratemate types can be bought from a place in mandurah WA for 120 a pair, cheapest in OZ
    Seems they are the manufacturer, Thanks have sent them a msg .

  10. #10
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    Looks like someone has done what I hoped they'd do- put them on the market!
    I'll have to go and take a look to see if they are made of the same stuff that mine are made of. They certainly look the same.
    Mine are "recycled" grating- offcuts from much larger pieces used in an industrial construction project.
    Cheers,

    Coop

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