What is your definition of "tread lightly"?

What is your definition of tread lightly? How do you approach established tracks and what are your thoughts on those that disregard the principal?
I have my own opinions and have spent some time watching others on youtoobe today (f all else to do today) demolish tracks and create damage of the mechanical kind and to the tracks just because they can.
Just interested to get opinions from others. Is it conquer the pathway at all cost when there is a viable alternative or is it a test of driving and machine ability?

The old saying, "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary" applies here. Dont know how others feel but i think if you cant do it slow and leave the track as you found it (for next time and for others) you shouldnt be on it.

Check this out, for those who are interested, its a good old clip (part 1 of 3) demonstrating how you "should" operate offroad. following these steps you can drive overland without destroying it.

YouTube - Basic Offroad Driving Skills Part 1

be interested to see others take on this thread too.

I guess it all comes down to what you want from your 4wd'ing.

Some will happily stay on hard dirt tracks, do no damage to their vehicle, and thoroughly enjoy it and be happy that they are seeing the country and having a very low impact on the environment.

Others will see a rock cliff face and think "I can do that!"

I personally will have a go at anything thats looks remotely do'able, I don't beleive I have ever 'demolished' a track. I stay in 4wd on soft tracks so as to not dig them up. I won't knock down tree's or anything silly unless it was essential.

I will no doubt do mechanical damage to my vehicle over the next few years, but that goes with the territory of what I want to do with my vehicle. We had the same arguments on bike forums when I was riding. We used to take our near new bikes out to the racetrack and flog the guts out of them, all the while aware of the very real chance of crashing and doing big damage to the bike and ourselves. It all comes down to what you want to get out of the sport/vehicle.

will said:

The old saying, "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary" applies here. Dont know how others feel but i think if you cant do it slow and leave the track as you found it (for next time and for others) you shouldnt be on it.

Check this out, for those who are interested, its a good old clip (part 1 of 3) demonstrating how you "should" operate offroad. following these steps you can drive overland without destroying it.

YouTube - Basic Offroad Driving Skills Part 1

be interested to see others take on this thread too.

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Thats where I'm going with this

As opposed to Peanut here in V84x4 who uses the loud pedal rather than skill shown by his counterparts.
YouTube - AULROVIC's Channel
But the question remains. Why take the difficult route when there is an obvious easy way round? Tread lightly would dictate taking the easy route whilst minimizing damage to the trail and vehicle. As indicated in the above Utoobe link.
Edit Opinions are my own and not of the forum. Dont want to start a interforum war but have tracked him back through their own forum and even he has admitted to using brute force vs skill.
Copied from his blog
I had an interesting day on Saturday, I attended the Aulro vic meeting out at Blackwood and was lucky enough to lead the drive. Our first stop was an unmarked hill climb that i thought would be challenging but quite acheivable. My vehicle is a v8 Disco with 37 inch super swampers, 2 diff locks and 4 inchs of lift. She made it with engine roaring and all four wheels spitting rocks like a tommy gun on speed. I consider this brute force. It was a loud and messy operation. Now, i've been 4wding every weekend for the past 12 months, my disco started as a bog stock affair till i drowned it a week after purchase and put a conrod through the block. I lifted her four inches and put a set of 33s on. I was still getting stuck so I cut the gaurds, fitted 37s and 2 diff locks. The vehicle is now pretty well unstoppable, see www.youtube.com/mudsloth, but i can't help but think I may have robbed myself of somthing. Experiance. I don't have to choose the right line. My vehicle MAKES the line for me. I don't have to think about hanging a diff in a deep rut, even if i hit steel to dirt the diff locks, big tyres and high revving v8 pull me through. Sure, i've learn't some techniques, you can see them on the youtube site, but I still feel lacking when I watch guys with smaller vehicles and no diff locks get through stuff that has had me push a little harder with the right foot. I think from now on I'll be leaving the Diff locks off and let the experiance soak in. Four wheel driving isn't drag racing, this weekend and that little hill opened my eyes to the benefits of choosing the right line, when to accelerate and when to back off. Kinda of like that immortal song about playing cards. Experiance and common knowledge is only gained through mistakes, victories and more mistakes. Next time you're faced with a challenge, take the time to choose your line and you may find you're just as capable as your vehicle.

I try to do as little damage as possible, I like the gratification of completing some difficult stuff, but I'm not trying to push the line where I'm rolling a vehicle or revving the piston's through the head.

I also believe in taking out everything you take in.

Jason said:

I also believe in taking out everything you take in.

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In the words of Dave Matthews, "Leave only your footprints".

I always take it slow, hence the reduction gears, but i feel the whole tread lightly stick to the track is flawed, how come someone else got to make the track and why cant i?, having said that ive only ever made my own track once, and that was to help get 3 other vehicles out of a section of ruts that had become a waterfall, wed already been there for 4 hours trying to get 200 metres and even the twin locked trucks were winching(this is when the nav had factory tyres).
On any other day this section is a walk in the park.

I recon if the track is a public area you should do your best not to tear it up, the likes of the Glasshouse Mountains forestry for example as we are not the only ones using these tracks, there are forestry workers, rural fire brigade and government departments that use these tracks as access for their work and if every bloke went in and tore up the tracks just because they can we will soon see more and more track closures.

I feel if you want to go and let it all hang out goto a 4wd park like Landcruiser Mountain or similar. These places are there to drive, have fun and if the tracks get cut up so be it.

Wheelspin is the enemy!!

I'm on the side of tread light for conservation purposes to allow others to enjoy the forests/parks after me,
as,
over the many years I've lived here, I've seen 1st hand the degradation of tracks and forest alike, and vandalizing of gate locks,
causing more and more closures due to mindless morons.

kitch76 said:

I recon if the track is a public area you should do your best not to tear it up, the likes of the Glasshouse Mountains forestry for example as we are not the only ones using these tracks, there are forestry workers, rural fire brigade and government departments that use these tracks as access for their work and if every bloke went in and tore up the tracks just because they can we will soon see more and more track closures.

I feel if you want to go and let it all hang out goto a 4wd park like Landcruiser Mountain or similar. These places are there to drive, have fun and if the tracks get cut up so be it.

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I second that,my thoughts exactly.
We are losing more ground than we are gaining.

This thread is another can of worms, whats good for one person is bad for another, plus in vic we dont have anything like 4wd parks, really if we keep on going like this no body needs to install mud tyres or even all terrains because a set of highway terrains will take you as far as you like when driving sensibly, i say sensibly because if you do take a muddy rut there is more often than not going to be the possibility of wheelspin, woops bad choice, should of taken the chicken track, hmmm maybe il just sell the 4b and take my commodore out again.
Tracks get maintained and i enjoy challenging tracks that make me think what i can do next to enjoy myself, iv never mad a big rut, never had the tyres to do it and i never will make a big rut, but if i think i can make it through something il give it a crack, if i cant do it i stop and get snatched or winched out.

SOLID D22 said:

This thread is another can of worms, whats good for one person is bad for another, plus in vic we dont have anything like 4wd parks, really if we keep on going like this no body needs to install mud tyres or even all terrains because a set of highway terrains will take you as far as you like when driving sensibly, i say sensibly because if you do take a muddy rut there is more often than not going to be the possibility of wheelspin, woops bad choice, should of taken the chicken track, hmmm maybe il just sell the 4b and take my commodore out again.
Tracks get maintained and i enjoy challenging tracks that make me think what i can do next to enjoy myself, iv never mad a big rut, never had the tyres to do it and i never will make a big rut, but if i think i can make it through something il give it a crack, if i cant do it i stop and get snatched or winched out.

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I knew it was going to be a can of worms and thats why I started it.
I understand the challenge part of 4x4 as much as I understand the conservative side of things. looking for opinions and where everybody is at.
To just follow the main tracks around the bush in 2wd is as boring as batshit but how far do you take it in regards to treading lightly and pushing it to the limits?

Cheer up mate.

once all the forests are closed,

you'll still be able to watch Roothy's 4WD Adventure DVD's.

Yeah its hard to talk about this topic, i love driving through muddy ruts but i also know my limits, i think no matter how hard we try to look after the bush and tracks, its always going to fall back on the greenies saying that 4wd are destroying the nature/bush and ulimately thats what leads to track closures, thats if they havn't been abused by 4wd's.

SOLID D22 said:

Yeah its hard to talk about this topic, i love driving through muddy ruts but i also know my limits, i think no matter how hard we try to look after the bush and tracks, its always going to fall back on the greenies saying that 4wd are destroying the nature/bush and ulimately thats what leads to track closures, thats if they havn't been abused by 4wd's.

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If you think you've got it tough,

try being a licensed shooter.

Here's the tough part.

For every considerate, thoughtful person, there are 200 morons with V8 Discoveries and 37" tyres yadda yadda.

The government will not make an exception for you, just because you WERE considerate. They'll hand the park over to NPWS and keep the morons out.

I'm with Jason & Will on this.

Leave next to no visible sign that you were there, and only take away your photos and memories.

Krankin said:

If you think you've got it tough,

try being a licensed shooter.

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Hey krankin....i am!
I know how you feel.

Like most I agree that leaving the bush as close to the way you found it as possible is always the best option but that shouldn't mean you can't play in the mud as well. There is a difference between playing in the mud and creating your own mud puddle.

We collect a lot of fire wood around here and in most cases its on established tracks or even old APM tracks that have been abandoned, at times they get muddy and at times we get stuck, it comes with the territory but that doesn't mean we are leaving the place worse off just because we needed to be pulled out. The track still remains for others to follow and still have fun.

The wrong way to do it was the day we were getting firewood and found a great dead straight tree of about 100 foot that would eventually make veranda posts. It was in the scrub and because of the trees and bushes around it even scarfing the tree didn't help it fall and it fell right next to it's stump still standing upright. Now the tree was too go to leave for someone else but that didn't mean that one particular person (whom we don't trust in the bush any more) needed to go and get a tractor, doze a path through the scrub and trees to the one we wanted and drag it out with chains.

To me that is the difference between leaving a trail and not leaving a trail, sure people might still be able to see where you were but if only traveled in places you are supposed to and don't destroy other parts of the bush then there is little problem.