How To Get Your UTV Out Of Mud
No matter how hard you try, you’ll get stuck in the mud eventually. Everyone does. Read this post to learn how to get UTV out of mud.
First Steps
Once you’ve stopped moving, lay off the throttle. You don’t want to dig yourself deeper into the mud.
But don’t turn the machine off! If you do, mud and water can get into your exhaust pipe and from there to other internals of your machine.
How to Get Out of a Mud Hole with Help
If there is someone nearby, they can get you out with a winch or tow rope.
Connect the winch or tow rope to the lowest strong part of your UTV so it will come up out of the mud rather than through it or down into it.
Pull slowly so the rope or cable doesn't snap.
How to Get Out of Mud with a Winch
Using a winch is the easiest, safest, and most reliable method.
Find a strong tree or rock. The closer the anchor is to being in line with your winch, the easier time you’ll have getting out. When your anchor point is at an angle from your machine, you can sit on the UTV and use your weight to help keep it balanced while you winch.
If there isn’t an anchor, you can make one if you purchased an anchor rod or with two logs or spare tires and axles. Bury the heaviest one in a deep trench with the winch cable under it and lay the winch cable on top of the other one, then winch.
If you’re in the sand or snow and you have a tarp, a shovel, and a rope, you can get out by spreading the tarp out in front of your machine, filling it with sand, tying the edges together with rope, and attaching the winch to the rope.
Set the winch on free spool and pull the cable out until you can secure it around the anchor point. Secure it by wrapping it around the anchor and attaching the cable to itself.
Turn off free spool.
Give the UTV a little gas and slowly let the winch pull the machine out.
When you’re free, unhook the cable and spool it back on the winch.
How to Get Out of Mud Without a Winch
Give the UTV a little bit of throttle and gently rock back and forth. If this gets you traction, keep going. If your tires spin, stop immediately.
Use a shovel or something else you can find and dig the mud away from the stuck tire. This might help you get some traction. If that didn’t work, you can put a board or limb under the tire(s) to give it something to grab.
You can attach a small limb to your tire for traction, but you’ll have to adjust it every quarter of a turn to make sure it doesn’t damage your machine.
