Off-Road and/or Overland Terrain Conditions

[BigBriDogGuy]

Looking to access a rural property by way of a grassy field and was wondering if the LR4 would be up to the task. Know there are a lot of experienced off-road enthusiasts here and was hoping to draw upon their wisdom.

The situation is we are moving to a country place on a large piece of property. It's an old farm house built in the early 1900s. The front of the house is next to a busy 2-lane road with a sloped paved driveway that emerges from a gap in a 10-foot tall stone retaining wall. The wall on both sides keeps you from seeing traffic (or the traffic seeing you) until the nose of the vehicle is out on the shoulder. My concern is that main road is hazardous to get on directly from the front of the property (heavy traffic at 50+ MPH, blind entry due to retaining wall, sliding down the slope and into traffic over snow and ice) and would prefer to be able to access the property off of a small dead end side road by crossing the field out back.

I've done some initial research on building a gravel road and it sounds involved and costly. My hope is I might be overthinking it and the LR4 should be able to make it easily across that section of property to access the side road. After all, it is a 4x4, right? The field is actually a bit elevated on a small hill, not low-lying. flat and soggy. The ground beneath the sod seems firm enough, but this is after a long, warm, summer without much rain. I was thinking about mowing it and giving it a shot. After all, we drive in and out of the County Fair every year on grassy fields and park on open grass covered lots. Why should this be any different? (Because I've gotten stuck up to my axles in a grassy field before and don't want to do it again.)

So what are your thoughts LR4 off-road enthusiasts? Is it capable enough to handle an overgrown cow pasture or do I need to build a gravel road to make it on and off?

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

What tires do you have on it? Those are gunna be the main thing that holds you back especially in low traction conditions (anything other than dirt) on hills.

Other thing to worry about is weight, these cars are really heavy so make sure that it doesn’t just sink so I would make sure of that before anything else.

If those two are good then I would be pretty confident doing it just be careful for big hidden rocks.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

Thanks @Jimmy Brooks for the feedback. I haven't measured out the distance, but just looking at it I would say about 1/2 a football field long ~ 150 ft. My plan is to go over it on foot with a brush hog or even a gas mower on the highest level to see what we are really dealing with. At that point, I would remove any hidden debris.

The other thing I was thinking might work is to take a rototiller out there and till a couple of trenches where the wheel ruts would be and then hand-fill those up (wheelbarrow, shovel, and road rake) with larger crushed stones as a base, Drive over those wheel ruts a few times to get them compacted and set into the ground and then go back over it in the same way with crushed gravel as smaller fill. Drive over it a few more times for more compaction and "Bob's your uncle".

I can see a few advantages to something like that (if it were to work). First, it's not evasive enough that I would need a permit. I mean people till a garden all the time and I'm just artfully tilling a field for a specific purpose. There might also be a negation of any tax consequences as a property "improvement". (Better to ask forgiveness than permission.) A tiller would sift and mix the soil in a uniform manner before it gets compacted (something that is part of the prep process, or so I've read). The amount of material that would need to be purchased and spread would be greatly reduced over a full-blown gravel road. Finally, the weight of the LR4 would compact the prepared ruts and do so in the places it's needed.

By the way, I have Wrangler DuraTrac tires on 19" rims.

 

[ftillier]

You could put something like https://soilretention.com/drivable-grass/do-it-yourself/product-info/ down along where the wheels will roll. I believe Home Depot can special order that for you in full pallet quantities. Their instructions call for more prep, but I'd bet it work fine if you just put it above the existing compacted dirt.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

Thanks @ftillier that product is out of stock, but now you've got me thinking. There are several other products that do similar things (plastic grids that hold dirt and gravel and things like that). Seems like these alternative products still require extensive ground prep to work. They have been building roads since the beginning of civilization, I'm sure there's a reason why they do what they do. No point in trying to reinvent the wheel only to find it's already been tried, and failed. Thanks again!

 

[f1racer328]

You could just send it with some recovery boards. Probably not the greatest idea if the ground is super soft.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

@f1racer328 that was sort of my thought too. But I was kind of thinking about it more in the proactive sense. I imagine getting stuck in the mud and then having to dig out with the assistance of recovery boards that I jam under the tires. I know it's simplistic, but why not have something jammed under the tires to begin with and avoid all that digging and mess? For instance, what if you dug trenches with 2"x 8"x 8' planks running along the bottom, sort of like train rails on a track? My sense is something like that would be too crude to be effective and probably not cost-effective either. But that is the sort of thing I'm considering. Maybe line the trenches with gravel instead? Or one of these plastic or concrete grid products already mentioned.

 

[mm3846]

I think you’re overthinking driving over some tall grass that a stock 2wd F250 would probably drive over

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

@mm3846 kind of spooked after my first encounter with a grassy field.

 

[LB Bill]

If it's only 150 feet and you mentioned that it has some slope to it..it probably drains, unlike that bog you previously landed in. If it's heavily over-grown, I'd walk it a few times looking for obstacles...then go for it!! Can't get into too much trouble in 150 feet. Longterm, there should be somebody around with a 'loader' that could make short work of a gravel drive for you ??