The entrance to my bit of woodland has got a bit churned up recently due to the ground being so soft from all the rains, so much so that it's very difficult now even for my soft-roader (part-time selectable 4wd) to get in and out. It's been OK up until this year.
I reckon that I may need to make the entrance and the first 20-30m or so of the track some sort of an all-weather surface. It will only get very light use from the occasional motor vehicle, and a tractor a couple of times a year (which shouldn't have the problem!).
There seem a variety of options available from ground reinforcement grids (example) - which seem to need a fair bit of surface prep. beforehand, ground protection mats (example), tracmats (example) which are off-road bridging ladders, ground stabilisation mesh (example) - another one that needs a lot of prep, PAP or Perforated Aluminium Planking - although this is said to provide poor traction in mud, to getting a load of hard-core in and a contractor with a mini-digger thing to do the job for me. Perhaps even a bunch of railway sleepers could be used?
I've looked at snow chains as well but there seems some disagreement as to how well they work in mud. And it's a bit of a pain to put them on just to drive 20 or 30 metres. And take them off when they're muddy!
Perhaps, given the fact that this is the first year there's been a problem, the best idea is a bit of hard-core at the entrance and rely on something like 4 x tracmats if I do get bogged on the track.
Any experiences, recommendations, suggestions, ideas out there?
Many thanks.
I reckon that I may need to make the entrance and the first 20-30m or so of the track some sort of an all-weather surface. It will only get very light use from the occasional motor vehicle, and a tractor a couple of times a year (which shouldn't have the problem!).
There seem a variety of options available from ground reinforcement grids (example) - which seem to need a fair bit of surface prep. beforehand, ground protection mats (example), tracmats (example) which are off-road bridging ladders, ground stabilisation mesh (example) - another one that needs a lot of prep, PAP or Perforated Aluminium Planking - although this is said to provide poor traction in mud, to getting a load of hard-core in and a contractor with a mini-digger thing to do the job for me. Perhaps even a bunch of railway sleepers could be used?
I've looked at snow chains as well but there seems some disagreement as to how well they work in mud. And it's a bit of a pain to put them on just to drive 20 or 30 metres. And take them off when they're muddy!
Perhaps, given the fact that this is the first year there's been a problem, the best idea is a bit of hard-core at the entrance and rely on something like 4 x tracmats if I do get bogged on the track.
Any experiences, recommendations, suggestions, ideas out there?
Many thanks.