Anyone used TRED Recovery Devices?

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Soooooooooo...

Back to the original question - has anyone actually USED the TRED boards?

[Jeffers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jeffers]

Soooooooooo...

Back to the original question - has anyone actually USED the TRED boards?

I haven't actually used any, but I did check them out on a stand at the QME Exhibition in Mackay last month.

I thought they looked ok, and for the price I would consider buying some. At the end of the day they are a recovery device, and if your stuck on the beach or in a bog hole, all you really want to do is get your car out. If Tred can do this at a lower cost than Maxtrax then that is not a bad thing.
I have a little laugh to myself that there are so many "orange eyed" people on this thread, which is fine as everyone is open to an opinion, but a bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone.

Just to add, people say that Brad sponsors events and is involved in lots of different events, Let me say its not because his your friend, its because he is an excellent marketer. Of course he wants to be involved, he wants to make money and we are the people who buy his products!!!
Clever man!

Cheers,

Jeff

[TRED4x4 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close TRED4x4]

Hi everyone, this has certainly been an interesting thread and it is great to see the honest opinions from everyone.

Firstly I want to point out that I believe Maxtrax is a great product. It’s well designed and very well promoted. It has been extremely successful here and overseas but Maxtrax is far from the original polymer recovery device. As far as recovery ramps go, there are many different options available (and there have been many different versions offered over the years all over the world) but few have been as successful as Maxtrax. They simply took something already in the marketplace, improved upon it and poured a heap into marketing.

TRED Design Pty Ltd is a specialist in product design, engineering and manufacturing. They are 100% Australian owned and operated, all TREDS are designed, engineered and manufactured right here in Australia, in an Australian owned factory, using materials from an Australian material supplier. The goal was far from copying Maxtrax as some people have suggested. It was all about taking note of what was required in a recovery product, understanding the marketplace and the feedback and combining all that into producing the best recovery product possible.

TRED wanted to produce a cost effective, functional and incredibly durable product but at a price that was affordable for the average 4WD’er. For example, the material selection process is not about simply using the most expensive material; it is about truly understanding material properties, engineering a functional design, perfecting the manufacturing process and establishing a solid and fair distribution model. Once you have all of this in hand, you are able to truly produce a product in the most cost effective way. This is what TRED has done.

The most common feedback is that Maxtrax is too expensive and is often easily damaged by tyre spin. At $199 for the TRED 800 & $229 for the TRED 1100 they are significantly cheaper than Maxtrax. TRED aren’t cheaper because TRED haven’t spent their fair share in R&D, IP protection or hundreds of thousands of dollars in tooling (remember TRED has 2 sizes). TREDS are cheaper because they’ve been designed and engineered to optimize the advanced manufacturing processes and materials used by TRED.

As far as how they perform in the field, TRED’s work brilliantly. I encourage anyone that has the opportunity to trial them, to do so. TRED’s have been extensively tested across various recreational, industrial and mining applications. TRED has consulted with everyone from the weekend warrior to the true 4x4 enthusiast including off-road equipment manufacturers, to understand what people wanted in a recovery product.

TRED’s work extremely well and include a number of unique features, The dual size offering gives SUV & small 4WD’s the option of carrying TRED’s inside the vehicle while giving large 4WD’s the full benefits of a wider and longer usable track. Even the smaller TRED 800 offers a wider track than Maxtrax. A revolutionary shovel design with comfortable full purchase hand grips that don’t hurt your hands when shoveling, superior grip features to maximize traction and its unique base design offers excellent grip and maximum structural integrity. TRED’s might not win the beauty contest for some but they weren’t designed for that purpose.

A few people have rightly pointed out that competition is healthy and I certainly believe that, TRED has a large range of products across various markets and these products are always being improved upon – that’s life. The key here is to stay ahead of the development curve by continually bringing new innovative products to market. TRED is planning to bring a bunch of new innovative off-road, boating and camping gear to the Aussie market in the very near future.

I hope this clears up some of the misinformation about TRED and its tag of being a cheap Chinese copy. Keep an eye out for some very credible product reviews in the very near future. I hope everyone has a great weekend and if anyone has any questions about TRED, I‘d be happy to answer them or simply check out the website for more info and product updates.

[M.Stark Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close M.Stark]

to answer the original question here is my story....

After moving from Melbourne to Brisbane 2 years ago we decided to purchase a 4x4 as so we could explore the beaches and islands of South East QLD.
We purchased a V6 Holden Jackaroo approximately 6 weeks ago and having no prior sand driving experience I searched the internet for advice on beach driving as well as information on required recovery gear. After scouring the forums I set about buying the mandatory snatch kit and shovel. I also decided to purchase a set of sand tracks as we would be doing most of our 4WD trips with only 1 car. I had a choice between Maxtrax and TRED's, after looking at both products I decided to go with the TRED's and spend the left over money on beer
With the recovery gear sorted we decided to do an easy trip to Bribie Island to start off with. I dropped the tyre pressures to 20psi, locked the hubs and off we went, everything was going great and we were having a ball. We started to hit some really soft sand as we rounded a corner and had to dodge a bogged triton then weave our way through several cars that were parked to help him. Although we made it through we lost a lot of momentum and about 500 metres later we ended up in the same position. My wife was not very happy.... I assured her we would be out in no time and decided to try dropping the tyre pressures first. As i began a ranger pulled up beside us and suggested dropping to 15 psi which I did. I selected low range and attempted to reverse out with no luck, the rangers tried pushing as I tried to go forward and still no luck, it was just too soft. Quick look at my wife told me I need to do something quick!
Thankfully I had the TRED's in the back of the car!! I pulled them out and with the help of one of the rangers we used the shovel end to remove the sand from the front tyres then wedged the ramp end under them. The rangers told me if I got out to drive up to some hard ground and they would bring the TRED's up to me, as I got in the car I heard one of them joke and say "nah we'll just pick them up and head the other way!", cheeky bugger
Anyway I jumped in the car and crossed my fingers, again selected low range and gently accelerated. After a very small amount of wheel spin the tyres grabbed and we popped right out!!! Fantastic!! I still cant believe how easy it was!! The rangers kindly returned the TRED's to me and I thanked them for their help. We had no problems after that and had a great day at the beach.
I hate to think how much longer we would have been stuck in the sand and how much angrier my wife would have been!!! Buying the TRED's was great investment and they have already payed for themselves.

I hope that answers the original question and helps anybody who is deciding which recovery tracks to buy. I know I enjoyed the beer from the savings...

[Racer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Racer]

An interesting read apart from the banter.

It is good to hear Tred is made in Australia using home grown products. Time will tell, I guess it is similar to my purchase of an 'EZ Deflator'. Places like Opposite Lock, ARB etc were selling their branded item for 80-90 dollars, I found one on eBay, identical in every way for $30 (not one of those bogbuster ones either) and it is identical bar labeling of my mates ARB one.

Good on Tred for coming to the party.

[Moz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Moz]

I was about to question why this Holden Jackaroo owner was on a prado website to share his story about these things...

...but whilst flat-spinning, thinking about how annoying the whole "cash for comment" thing is on internet forums these days... i decided to give google a go...

...interestingly a google search of "tred recovery" or "tred recovery device" gives this thread as the top result...

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

IMO, good healthy discussion, and agreement to disagree

I will go to supercheap next time tred's are 20% off at supercheap at about $200 their fair value.
I think $300 for plastic is a a bit dear, but im pretty tight.
By the time eveyone makes their cut thats how much it is.
Supercheap did have max's on special once for $249 a pair so it shows their doing ok out of it.
I think either will work much the same as each other, I have compared both at the shops.
they will work a lot better than none!

we need more competition with all this stuff................ all good................. free enterprise...........

hopefully someone gets china to make some similar for $70 a pair yi-haaaaaaaa!

:roll::grin:

[KIMBOPRADO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KIMBOPRADO]

Latest Anaconda catalogue is advertising "new product" TRED 1100mm for $209.99 (reg $229.99) and 800mm $179.99 (reg $199.99) - still like my maxtrax.......

[justin1979 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close justin1979]

We used them and maxtrax on our recent trip with no difference between the 2.

[Whatever Member Find all posts View Profile Close Whatever]

Bloody hell there is a lot of crap talked on hear support the aussie made and owned. 4wd tv do this 4 WD action support alot of cheap overseas crap. Wake up guys I would rather buy and use aussie made stuff than support shit from overseas. I research that much to make sure what I buy is as close to 100 % aussie as I can rather my kids have a job in the future thank send it over seas wake up if ya don't like them fine if ya do fine but lets support aussie gear.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Bloody hell there is a lot of crap talked on hear support the aussie made and owned. 4wd tv do this 4 WD action support alot of cheap overseas crap. Wake up guys I would rather buy and use aussie made stuff than support shit from overseas. I research that much to make sure what I buy is as close to 100 % aussie as I can rather my kids have a job in the future thank send it over seas wake up if ya don't like them fine if ya do fine but lets support aussie gear.

Which one are you suggesting is not Australian?? They both are from what I understand.

Cheers Andrew

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

Saw Treds being advertised on/by Simon Christie on his 4wd pro show over the weekend, they were described as made and designed in Australia

[Chewbacca Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chewbacca]

Saw Treds being advertised on/by Simon Christie on his 4wd pro show over the weekend, they were described as made and designed in Australia

I saw that to, when they tried to use them as a shovel to clear away the rocks they looked pretty ordinary! The plastic also appears to be a bit more flexy and maybe not as tough as maxtrax. My opinion is that if you can pick them up on special the maxtrax are certainly worth the extra dollars.
Cheers, Matt

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

Hi everyone, this has certainly been an interesting thread and it is great to see the honest opinions from everyone.

Firstly I want to point out that I believe Maxtrax is a great product. It’s well designed and very well promoted. It has been extremely successful here and overseas but Maxtrax is far from the original polymer recovery device. As far as recovery ramps go, there are many different options available (and there have been many different versions offered over the years all over the world) but few have been as successful as Maxtrax. They simply took something already in the marketplace, improved upon it and poured a heap into marketing.

TRED Design Pty Ltd is a specialist in product design, engineering and manufacturing. They are 100% Australian owned and operated, all TREDS are designed, engineered and manufactured right here in Australia, in an Australian owned factory, using materials from an Australian material supplier. The goal was far from copying Maxtrax as some people have suggested. It was all about taking note of what was required in a recovery product, understanding the marketplace and the feedback and combining all that into producing the best recovery product possible.

TRED wanted to produce a cost effective, functional and incredibly durable product but at a price that was affordable for the average 4WD’er. For example, the material selection process is not about simply using the most expensive material; it is about truly understanding material properties, engineering a functional design, perfecting the manufacturing process and establishing a solid and fair distribution model. Once you have all of this in hand, you are able to truly produce a product in the most cost effective way. This is what TRED has done.

The most common feedback is that Maxtrax is too expensive and is often easily damaged by tyre spin. At $199 for the TRED 800 & $229 for the TRED 1100 they are significantly cheaper than Maxtrax. TRED aren’t cheaper because TRED haven’t spent their fair share in R&D, IP protection or hundreds of thousands of dollars in tooling (remember TRED has 2 sizes). TREDS are cheaper because they’ve been designed and engineered to optimize the advanced manufacturing processes and materials used by TRED.

As far as how they perform in the field, TRED’s work brilliantly. I encourage anyone that has the opportunity to trial them, to do so. TRED’s have been extensively tested across various recreational, industrial and mining applications. TRED has consulted with everyone from the weekend warrior to the true 4x4 enthusiast including off-road equipment manufacturers, to understand what people wanted in a recovery product.

TRED’s work extremely well and include a number of unique features, The dual size offering gives SUV & small 4WD’s the option of carrying TRED’s inside the vehicle while giving large 4WD’s the full benefits of a wider and longer usable track. Even the smaller TRED 800 offers a wider track than Maxtrax. A revolutionary shovel design with comfortable full purchase hand grips that don’t hurt your hands when shoveling, superior grip features to maximize traction and its unique base design offers excellent grip and maximum structural integrity. TRED’s might not win the beauty contest for some but they weren’t designed for that purpose.

A few people have rightly pointed out that competition is healthy and I certainly believe that, TRED has a large range of products across various markets and these products are always being improved upon – that’s life. The key here is to stay ahead of the development curve by continually bringing new innovative products to market. TRED is planning to bring a bunch of new innovative off-road, boating and camping gear to the Aussie market in the very near future.

I hope this clears up some of the misinformation about TRED and its tag of being a cheap Chinese copy. Keep an eye out for some very credible product reviews in the very near future. I hope everyone has a great weekend and if anyone has any questions about TRED, I‘d be happy to answer them or simply check out the website for more info and product updates.

Tred, I for one appreciate you getting on hear and providing a response.

to answer the original question here is my story....

After moving from Melbourne to Brisbane 2 years ago we decided to purchase a 4x4 as so we could explore the beaches and islands of South East QLD.
We purchased a V6 Holden Jackaroo approximately 6 weeks ago and having no prior sand driving experience I searched the internet for advice on beach driving as well as information on required recovery gear. After scouring the forums I set about buying the mandatory snatch kit and shovel. I also decided to purchase a set of sand tracks as we would be doing most of our 4WD trips with only 1 car. I had a choice between Maxtrax and TRED's, after looking at both products I decided to go with the TRED's and spend the left over money on beer
With the recovery gear sorted we decided to do an easy trip to Bribie Island to start off with. I dropped the tyre pressures to 20psi, locked the hubs and off we went, everything was going great and we were having a ball. We started to hit some really soft sand as we rounded a corner and had to dodge a bogged triton then weave our way through several cars that were parked to help him. Although we made it through we lost a lot of momentum and about 500 metres later we ended up in the same position. My wife was not very happy.... I assured her we would be out in no time and decided to try dropping the tyre pressures first. As i began a ranger pulled up beside us and suggested dropping to 15 psi which I did. I selected low range and attempted to reverse out with no luck, the rangers tried pushing as I tried to go forward and still no luck, it was just too soft. Quick look at my wife told me I need to do something quick!
Thankfully I had the TRED's in the back of the car!! I pulled them out and with the help of one of the rangers we used the shovel end to remove the sand from the front tyres then wedged the ramp end under them. The rangers told me if I got out to drive up to some hard ground and they would bring the TRED's up to me, as I got in the car I heard one of them joke and say "nah we'll just pick them up and head the other way!", cheeky bugger
Anyway I jumped in the car and crossed my fingers, again selected low range and gently accelerated. After a very small amount of wheel spin the tyres grabbed and we popped right out!!! Fantastic!! I still cant believe how easy it was!! The rangers kindly returned the TRED's to me and I thanked them for their help. We had no problems after that and had a great day at the beach.
I hate to think how much longer we would have been stuck in the sand and how much angrier my wife would have been!!! Buying the TRED's was great investment and they have already payed for themselves.

I hope that answers the original question and helps anybody who is deciding which recovery tracks to buy. I know I enjoyed the beer from the savings...

Seriously? One post.... call me a cynic but even I can bullshit a better AND more believable story....

Each to their own, my support is commonly known and displayed. I was surpirised by the number of Treds bought to the GTG, that was uhm, hang let me look back at the picture...


mlc

[ondaboat Coopers Pale Ale Find all posts View Profile Close ondaboat]

I think none, oh hang on yep definately none. Perhaps you should buy some MLC and we can do some PP research. I did see an add/test for them on a 4WD show the other week but to be honest thought it was a little "lame" think i'll just stick to my Maxtrax. I've seen them used too often now in different recoveries that for me IMHO even for $600 for 2 sets, is money in the bank, the best insurance, even if I never use them again.

Regards Adam