THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

lets say youare driving(mudding) on your pinz 4x4, what would be your choice of gear when aproaching to a big,long,deep puddle of mud??, thinking that you need some momentum to go through, would you choose low range on 2nd or 3rd gear,,, or 1st gear on high range??

My approach, ask someone else to go first

If you are solo find a bypass

Otherwise make sure you have a good recovery strategy.
Mud brings a lot of uncertainties. But if one is hell bent,
I'd do it low-low gear with slow but steady momentum and
don't touch the clutch or breaks.

Here in Tasmania we have not much but deep muddy holes. Unless I know the hole or have just seen someone go through it, I will always go low 2nd at first. Low 3rd is good for a bit of momentum and is sometimes needed, but with it comes more speed and if there is a rock in there, you risk damage. Also if it is thick mud, unless it is a short section, the Pinz will run out of puff before you get through it and you'll be forced to change down or stall, either of which will bring you to a halt.
I generally find if you are on a formed track that has seen other traffic, you will be fine creeping through as the Pinz has so much more clearance than other 4x4's, if they have been through before you, even winching themselves, the Pinz will normally walk it.

Low range 2nd and not afraid of the skinney pedal. Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

In my experience, Pinzgauers don't do well when pushed. Low range and locked axles always seems to produce better results for me.
But then again, I'm not fording mud pits that much. In Colorado, we have lots of rocks and not much mud.

Most of the time on gravel roads with mud and puddles I would have just kept the Pinz in high-range as that 1st gear is really low. When really off-roading in demanding conditions low-range is superb as it still allows reasonable speed in 4th and 5th yet gives you the power torque and low speed control needed for difficult obstacles. In water you rarely want to stop so pre-selecting the right gear becomes more important. Make sure you are in 4x4 and perhaps engage the rear diff-lock especially if the route is straight through. I used to leave the front diff-lock for getting me out of trouble (not into it)

Wow that looks like a lot of fast moving water - very dangerous even in a Pinz!

That was a ford on a tarmac road

Great ford and great photo! By luck is the pinz high on his wheels!

One problem we found in Iceland was that prolonged water crossings soaked the hub brakes making them ineffective, constant left foor braking eventually dried them out but often not before either a steep descent or the next water crossing!

This track was basically the shallow edge of the lake (Iceland 2008)

ScottishPinz wrote:One problem we found in Iceland was that prolonged water crossings soaked the hub brakes making them ineffective, constant left foor braking eventually dried them out but often not before either a steep descent or the next water crossing!

Sure does, and you want to hope the water doesn't have a steep exit slope that you fail to get up. If they are ineffective going forwards, they are non existent at stopping you rolling backwards
Luckily, the handbrake is spot on.