Smittybuilt Element Ramps

Ash

Adventurer
Nice find. Looks like Maxtrax for half the price. Perhaps the only major difference will be the materials they use?
 

Paladin

Banned
Or no difference at all. There's not a lot of piece cost built into these things, or labour. They contain about 18lbs of plastic, and set of moulding dies. It's all tooling, and an opportunity always existed to sell these at a much lower cost and a higher volume to ammortize the tooling.
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
And in browsing 4wheelparts website after that link, I found that ARB just released a ground anchor that is a spin off of of PullPal's design:

http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Portable-Ground-Anchor-ARB230-P3599.aspx#

And Smittbuilt cut cost about $400ish (probably by outsourcing to XXXXX) and ripped off the ARB design.http://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-and-Winch-Accessories/Smittybilt-W-A-S-P-Winch-Anchor-Support-Platform.aspx?t_c=18&t_s=124&t_pt=9587&t_pl=103680&t_pn=S%2fB2727#ReadReview

I guess the mantra of "paying it forward" works both ways.

Ironically, and in a surprise twist, the copy of the copy by Smittbilt actual gets good reviews! Score one for XXXXX.
 

Paladin

Banned
Actually, ARB's is not a spinoff of the Pullpal, it's almost a direct copy of a British design.

I've got the Smitty, haven't tested it yet.
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
Actually, ARB's is not a spinoff of the Pullpal, it's almost a direct copy of a British design.

I've got the Smitty, haven't tested it yet.

Report back when you do! This design looks much more compact than PullPal's.

Does it say what weight rating it is good for? It does not list it on website.
 

AxeAngel

Expedition Leader
Just bought the mattrax copy. Report back when the rover gets back from the shop(been 4 months now)

-Sam
 

theicecreampeople

Adventurer
just ordered a set of the smitty built ...i was totally in the market for brand x ,but price was bugging me ,was looking at other options ?so worth a shot ..at $129 ..will make my trip in june to padre island national seashore better ..lol..less shovel work ..
 

Paladin

Banned
Report back when you do! This design looks much more compact than PullPal's.

Does it say what weight rating it is good for? It does not list it on website.

Not sure on the weight rating. I got it for a stupid price. $120 or something. It's already low priced, but I think the store mixed up.

It is very compact. Easy to store.

I think Lance reviewed it and found it didn't work well. The design it is copied from does, and the only difference I can see is the lip at the back of the shovel is missing on the Smitty. I could easily add it.
 
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overlander

Expedition Leader
Not sure on the weight rating. I got it for a stupid price. $120 or something. It's already low priced, but I think the store mixed up.

It is very compact. Easy to store.

I think Lance reviewed it and found it didn't work well. The design it is copied from does, and the only difference I can see is the lip at the back of the shovel is missing on the Smitty. I could easily add it.

You're right: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24641&highlight=smittybilt Wil pretty much closed the book on the issue. Pullpal it is.
 

Paladin

Banned
I will still give it a shot. The original design is well proven, and the only difference I can see is the lack of the lip at the back. I'm not sure why Smittybilt didn't put it on, but it'll only be a couple bucks for me to add it.

http://www.anchorright.com.au/products/ground-anchor-prt

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QunqcDxP3Mw&feature=channel"]YouTube - Disco Climbing Challenge part 3 - Top Gear - BBC[/ame]
 

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