Hands-On Hunting: Getting down and dirty...

MAXTRAX

The Maxtrax fresh out of the box and ready for work.

I LEARNT a lot about the Maxtrax system today.
I took the new 'get out of jail free card' with me into the swampy mountain country to see just how effective they would be in getting a vehicle out of a bad bog.
The promotional material is glowing but experience has taught me to discount that sort of thing by about 50 per cent to get close to reality.
Even so, I expected too much...

I took the Maxtrax with me on a pest control trip up onto a high country station, known for its steep slopes, game animals and bottomless bogs.
The pigs were active and four were taken off the mountain side before I attempted to cross a particular soupy creek near the northern boundary. Predictably I went down to the axles in front and almost as far on the passenger side rear.
And so began a series of mistakes based on my belief that the Maxtrax would be like a magic spell that hoisted me out of the mire in minutes. They are designed to provide a grippy track to reduce wheel slip and create firm footing in the slosh. However, they won't do it properly unless you do your part.

The Hi-Lift jack plays its part in making way for the Maxtrax. The tracks are tough too. Mine were belted into place with a lump of wood without any apparent damage. (might void the warranty though I suspect...)

Lesson 1: Make sure you attach the recovery straps to the Maxtrax before you start.

The recovery straps are crucial to the whole operation. They allow you to drag the plastic tracks out of the bog once the wheels have passed over them. Leave them until later like I did and you'll be on your stomach in the mud trying to lever the tracks out of the suction to use on the next stage of the recovery.

Lesson 2: Get plenty of the track under the wheel.

The tracks have a dynamite look but you have to make sure you give them the chance to work properly. Too little track under the wheels in muddy conditions and nothing moves.

Lesson 3: You still have to do all the other basic stuff.

The advertising says 'no wheel slip' but you can get them to slip and that's a fact. Just leave a wall of mud behind the buried front wheels while you attempt to reverse. If you don't clean out a path for the front and there is enough of a wall there, your back wheels will slip and then can slide off the side of the Maxtrax to sink again.

So did the Maxtrax work?

The short answer is yes, they did. They provide a great base to hold your wheels up out of the rubbish and a surface that allows genuine grip in bad conditions. They replace the hours of searching for suitable packing (logs, rocks, useless passengers...) to put under the wheels after you use your Hi-Lift jack or whatever to get the vehicle in the air. They will not, however, save you from getting muddy or wet in the mountains. You will still have to engage your brain and put your back into it. You will need to use your shovel to help provide an escape route by removing mud or rocks that provide anchor points for trailing wheels.

Would I use them again?

Definitely. In fact I might get another pair to go under all four wheels to allow the vehicle to develop the momentum that can be the difference between a quick exit and hours of dirty work. For the minimal amount of space they take up when they are stacked you may as well have four as two to give you a better chance of a speedy getaway.

Don't buy the Maxtrax thinking you will never be bogged again. You will and it will take time and effort to get out of it. However, they will provide the serious tester of four-wheel-drive capacity with an effective tool to speed up your exit in a safe and manageable way.

And another thing...if you do go down the Maxtrax road, watch the instructional DVD before you get bogged, not after. And whatever you do, attach those recovery straps from the word go.