Good winch for pulling 2 ton van?

GervisLooper

tacpot12 said:

Using plywood/OSB sheets or Wooden pallets might work. The pallets will spread the load better, so will be better for any particularly boggy bits. Plywood and OSB sheets that are no longer fit for building use are often sold on eBay.

On the flat bits you can run around to behind the van to pickup sheets that you have crossed and move them to in front of the van.

How do you split quotes to reply to sentence on this forum? Pressing return just does new line and not split the quote.

Yes I mentioned the run around method for sand ladders but that will take ages for 250ft.

Hmm ye pallets might be cheaper than other options! Would they grip sufficiently though when muddy? I could envision them just slipping at the first touch of mud and damp. I guess they would be better than pure mud though.

Will check prices for the full run.

GervisLooper

born_again said:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6583060/good-winch-for-pulling-2-ton-van#latest

Might be better to stick to one thread, so people can see options already given.

That was options given for winches which I have deemed a lost cause due to prohibitive price and setup complexity. This is options for track so thought it deserved a new post.

GervisLooper

laidbackgjr said:

How frequently are you going to be using the field and risk getting stuck? If it's only occasionally, perhaps the best options is to get friendly with a local farmer with a tractor to pull you out. If it's multiple times a day, just get on with planning permission and put a proper track in.

Whole point of the post is I don't want to rely on anyone else to bail me out.

It would be once to twice per week average to drive on it maybe more now and then but once per week average.

GervisLooper

LightFlare said:

Any particular reason you have to be 250ft onto the field in the first place ?

If you only go 10ft on you can ignore the other 240

Answered in other reply.

GervisLooper

Will wood chip or wood in general work? Then it is biodegradeable over time.

Would planks with rung wedge bits work well?

Pallets probably be cheapest though? Will they sustain 2 ton of weight?

SiliconChip

How about the Top Gear solution of turning it into a hover van, then it'll glide across the top of the field (although then straight into the nearest tree if the TG experience is anything to go by)

GervisLooper

If the van is only 2wd and fwd at that is there any point getting more than two off-road tyres since the none drive ones are not doing anything are they? So just buy one for either front wheel?

Tucosalamanca

Being blunt about it, driving a 2wd drive vehicle across a field with an incline and without a suitable track, is always going to be challenging (and occasionally difficult even when a track is installed).

If you've spend any time on a farm/at wet events/campsites/festivals or traveller camps, you'll know that fields turn into quagmires with the lightest of vehicle movements. This is all year around.

Those that choose to live in a field, generally park a run-around on the nearest road and don't drag their live-in vehicle across the field week in / week out (or pick a site where track/gravelled areas already exist).

A couple of tyres or sand ladders will not resolve the problem.
You need a gravel track with a solid base or commercial grade metal track, neither option will be cheap.
Wood chipping / pallets are a temporary measure at best.
A couple of wet months (or years as has recently been the case) will result in the field eventually looking like a Somme battlefield.

As previously mentioned a 4wd with diff-lock and all terrain tyres will work in most situations but at the cost of churning the field up.

There's a reason why you don't see many people doing what you're trying to achieve - it simply doesn't work...

Mildly_Miffed

GervisLooper said:

If the van is only 2wd and fwd at that is there any point getting more than two off-road tyres since the none drive ones are not doing anything are they? So just buy one for either front wheel?

Depends if you want the two ends of the van having roughly the same directional stability or not.

GervisLooper

There's a reason why you don't see many people doing what you're trying to achieve - it simply doesn't work...

I would have thought the main reason is that it isn't a goal for most of the population?