Mark, only becuase you asked
I purchased a cheaper set of recovery boards. Copies of the Maxtrax. First time I used them in anger, I snapped one in half and broke a corner off another. But I was loaded to the max, and towing, and it was a tough recovery. Good me out of the poo but they were pretty much stuffed and unusable afterwards.
Choose the longer, standard TREDs (the Pros were not on the market then) as replacements. They come up on good discounts every so often at Super Cheap and Annaconda. Have carried them for thousands of kilometers but only used them once in anger. In the mud, uphill and again towing. Forward progress was a TRED length, and not much further, each time. After repositioning them about 10 times, we were out of trouble. No lugs lost and performed brilliantly. Very happy.
Are they better than Maxtrax, no idea. But they are way, way better than the cheap copies.
Just remember, when using recovery tracks, low range, low gear and minimal wheel spin is best.
KB