Maverik Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 Hi folks, I'm presently looking into a small project where there is a need to classify a number of off-road tracks for there off-road "severity". Does anyone know of or have used any kind of road severity rating system at all. I don't want to re-invent the wheel if there's something that fits out there. Cheers Mav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 There's a fair few around, but they tend to be very broad brush and vehicle specific. For the UK I tend to go by 'Explorer Adam' (Fb) based on his use of a bog standard Dacia Duster. I would try driving the lanes in a base vehicle, without a spotter, then work your way up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 Guess it depends what the classification is for - plenty of lanes I'd drive my Freelander down that some folks would not touch with a more capable vehicle because they are tight & scratchy, for example. Or plenty that are easy in summer but need snorkel & a bit of gumption in winter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 2 hours ago, Maverik said: Hi folks, I'm presently looking into a small project where there is a need to classify a number of off-road tracks for there off-road "severity". Does anyone know of or have used any kind of road severity rating system at all. I don't want to re-invent the wheel if there's something that fits out there. Cheers Mav I don’t know of a system. But what is the info you are wanting to portray and communicate? I’ve driven a fair few lanes across Wales, the Home Counties, Somerset and Salisbury. I’m yet to come across one I’d say was challenging from an off road 4x4 point of view. All could easily be driven in a standard Defender. I say this as I suspect many systems may focus on the wrong aspects and you explicitly stated off road severity. Is this really the most important aspect to convey with a rating system? For me the deciding factors on a lane would be: -How scratchy I probably wouldn’t take a tidy or larger vehicle down a very scratchy lane regardless of the terrain under the tyres. -Tram lines/rut depth For a normal Defender on 32” tyres this should almost never be an issue on a green lane. But if you are in a Freelander on stock tyres. Then it can be very easy to become beached in deep tram lines. I’d never call this severe off road terrain. But IMO is an important factor for deciding how suitable a vehicle is for a lane. -Lane width/gates Some of the Welsh lanes have been quite narrow and with very narrow gates. I recall a stone posted gate that touched both wheel arches on my Disco 1 to get through. A modern new Defender would simply have been too wide. Again, not sure I’d call this off road severity, just a physical limitation on the size of vehicle to sensibly drive the lane. Tight turns could also be considered if long wheel base vehicles are likely to drive. For Green Lanes that is probably the only aspects I’d personally care about on knowing if I’d want to drive them or not a given vehicle. The only other consideration would be noting water crossings and depths. Some people won’t want to do deep water which can cause issues on almost any vehicle. But certainly some vehicles such as a V8 Series may wish to avoid deep water wading. Ultimately, this means I’d probably want to create my own rating system to cater for these specific aspects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 The problem I think you will find is that it is so varied, for example some lanes have width restriction, but how wide is it? Suitable for 'high clearance 4x4s', what does that mean? You could end up explaining an awful lot in any legend you have, but would need careful thought to get it right, but I suppose you are part way down this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 You might classify it by features such as rut depth, clear width / height, steepest climb or descent but even then it's very variable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 and nobody mention liability! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean f Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 2 hours ago, bishbosh said: and nobody mention liability! Don't even go there, anyone heading on to a green lane / byway has to accept responsibility and the risk of damage. There are certainly a few lanes around my way (South Hams / Teignbridge) that you definitely WILL get scratched paintwork (pretty much all of them), a few with dodgy side slops where a roll over is a distinct chance and a few even the motor bike guys consider a serious challenge and would be virtually impassable in any form of "normal" 4x4 and realistically really shouldn't be attempted as you will be rubbing on hedges / walls / trees causing damage to them (and your vehicle) and almost certainly require a winch, last time I looked at one it had a 3ft deep wash out going from side to side between 2 stone wall which were a vehicle width apart, effectively impassable without damaging the walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted June 25 Author Share Posted June 25 wow, that's a set of colourful replies - didn't expect that 😁 thanks. Its for Mountain Rescue, we're looking at the tracks we have to drive, looking for a simple system to flag any potentially difficult terrain that we might need more experienced off-road drivers to drive. I've decided to try and tie it to our minimum training requirement, we go out and see if the lanes demand more than what is taught as our minimum off-road driver qualification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Marquis Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 It might be worthwhile contacting this lot, I'm sure they'll have something helpful... https://4x4response.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 For the use-case I think you could narrow it to a fairly simple risk assessment that takes into account a few particular aspects of the track (EG deep water, steep climbs, rocks, side slopes / banks) plus the likelihood of it deteriorating over time or due to bad weather, the short version being if you wouldn't confidently trundle up it in a stock 90 or Freelander it probably needs a bit more skill & thought than the basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 14 hours ago, Maverik said: wow, that's a set of colourful replies - didn't expect that 😁 thanks. Its for Mountain Rescue, we're looking at the tracks we have to drive, looking for a simple system to flag any potentially difficult terrain that we might need more experienced off-road drivers to drive. I've decided to try and tie it to our minimum training requirement, we go out and see if the lanes demand more than what is taught as our minimum off-road driver qualification. In that case I’d think it would come down to two main aspects. Driver experience/ability and vehicle capability. For the latter I’m not talking locking axle diffs or dislocating suspension. More simply ground clearance for deep ruts. I’ve certainly driven some lane where you have no choice but to run in the ruts, so no matter how good a driver you are. If you had a low ground clearance vehicle you’d be getting stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post landroversforever Posted June 26 Popular Post Share Posted June 26 14 hours ago, Steve Marquis said: It might be worthwhile contacting this lot, I'm sure they'll have something helpful... https://4x4response.uk/ they'll give you a rating based on the quantity of cammo trousers, high-vis tops and amber beacons required 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat_pending Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 38 minutes ago, landroversforever said: they'll give you a rating based on the quantity of cammo trousers, high-vis tops and amber beacons required You forgot the leather cowboy hat and bonus points for "One life, live it" stickers. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 What about the setting out guidelines for ALRC trials ? @Chicken Drumstick mentioned somewhere about side slope and climb/descent angles for RTV I think , it may give you a better broad set of points for risk assessing by the teams out in the field on a call or training. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted Saturday at 07:50 AM Share Posted Saturday at 07:50 AM Don't forget about height/ overhead clearance too. Low trees make it challenging for anyone with a roof-rack or tent and some byways are fitted with max-height gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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