Winter Laning...

[Taylor]

Should we leave the lanes to recover during the winter months. Rain, snow causing the lanes to get muddy and the vehicles to slide around and/or getting stuck and spinning wheels etc. Everyone loves a drive out in the snow but are we causing damage and should we just let the lanes rest during the wet months? ...

[Gaz]

I'm not sure as ive never been laning in the snow so to speak,although ive caught the remains of some snow high up at the begining of the this year and lanes i was on were solid/rocky ground not mud tracks.

[ellebarto]

Snow isn't the problem I don't think. Once the ground is hard there's little damage to be done, in fact most of the good lanes become impassible anyway! Well they do for me!

youtu.be/_Af7LW8mQwc

[gordonm]

I agree , I think a few good inches of snow might even protect the lanes although there will be some sections on some lanes where it will hamper your progress so much you end up churning up the lane a bit. I've only ever driven the morpeth/northumberland lanes in deep snow ( with deej) they are fairly tame lanes with exception to a few sections! So can't really comment on other lanes.
Watch my vid (snow laning) and judge for yourself.
Its a hard one to call, on general winter laning, as we all know that driving any lane in winter it's usually going to be wetter and muddier than normal making tame lanes a lot less so. If we are all (or most of us ) being honest I reckon we enjoy them being more challenging.
Do we stop using them in the winter? I don't think so, but we are wise enough on here to be able to return from a trip and bring up any concerns of the condition of lanes we drive, discuss it with the elders! Lol and then decide if we should vro it within our community!

[roo]

We went out in snow last year and never again, it was the worst day out I've had. I wont be doing it this year that's for sure, no fun at all in digging and pushing all day long. On the other hand if the ground is frozen solid without snow then even wet lanes in theory could be drive able as the mud would be rock solid, but common sense must be used if its icy you have less grip available.

[Turbo]

Nov 6, 2013 10:39:53 GMT roo said:

We went out in snow last year and never again, it was the worst day out I've had. I wont be doing it this year that's for sure, no fun at all in digging and pushing all day long.

I can vouch for that, we were stuck for so long I thought we would have to wait for Spring to arrive before we got out of there!

Phillet has never been seen since!

[kevsj]

It's down to the individual I guess I went out last year the lanes were frozen solid, and bumped into many bikers still laning, they would of been better off with ice skates

[Martin]

Nov 6, 2013 11:15:15 GMT Turbo said:

Nov 6, 2013 10:39:53 GMT roo said:

We went out in snow last year and never again, it was the worst day out I've had. I wont be doing it this year that's for sure, no fun at all in digging and pushing all day long.

I can vouch for that, we were stuck for so long I thought we would have to wait for Spring to arrive before we got out of there!

Phillet has never been seen since!

Your not wrong!
Last year was my first & last winter outing, that day was hard work & if it hadn't of been for team work, waffles & Andys tow rope I'd still be there!

I'm going to stick to towing German cars this winter. :-)

[S7UY58]

 All depends where ya go,we went out in the snow the same day and had a crack'n day out at Scarborough,it was one ov me best days out

[barrym]

I had an event planned earlier this year, but cancelled due to snow on the lanes, my main worry was finding the lanes as the snow was that deep you couldn't see where the route was.

[ackster]

Nov 6, 2013 16:42:57 GMT S7UY58 said:

 All depends where ya go,we went out in the snow the same day and had a crack'n day out at Scarborough,it was one ov me best days out

It sure was stu

[highrunner]

I will be out driving in all weathers throughout the winter months, it's called commuting, I will be going off road when conditions are suitable but never alone, walk any lane before driving it, some may be closed either legally or not, some may be too muddy or have been driven over by heavier machines than we have (John Deere, Ford, Ferguson are some manufactures which spring to mind) as not all damage is done by green laner's as lanes are used by those working the land as well as us for pleasure. If in doubt stick to tarmac, drive to the conditions, stay safe and carry everything you may need with you but enjoy your winter driving
David

[Turbo]

What I did find out from going out in the winter last year was that compacted snow and mud tyres don't mix! Some of the lads who were out with us had road tyres on and they coped better in the compacted snow than my muds did. Got myself a set of AT's for this winter, just in case, they're only 31x10.5x15 but I'll be much better off with them on than 33" muds! Of course storing them and changing them is a pain in the ar*e!

[jh1488]

In my experience (on the roads) its down to the driver. The trick is when your stuck is NOT power. Setting off as slow as possible is the trick, lots of gass will just make you wheel spin, dig your self deeper and polish the surface under your tyres reducing traction. If you are realy stuck then rock the car back and forth gentaly on the clutch till you get the traction to move on. Allow a ridiculous amount of distance for breaking/stopping. Smoothness is the key for snow driving.   Slow as possible fast as necessary!. I have yet to experience off road snow driving. I supose common sense would state not to tackle the more technical lanes in deep snow. 

[Andy D]

I went out in tge winter laster year and did a weekend laneing in the lakes. It was one of the best weekends iv had, ground was frozen solid in most places. Hit a few drifts in front of gates up to 6ft high. So had to turn round a few times. But it was great fun yes we did get stuck, with a gentle tug with a rope got back on track.

Caused no damage to ground as it was solid, when it warms up and snow starts melting then that could be a diffrent story. I would say laning in heavy rain would be worse for the condition of the lanes.