By Robert Godwin on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I am a land surveyor who recently purchased a Max II anticipating using it in swampy areas. It seems that it has not saved much time on my swamp surveys. In fact we end up wading in the mud and muck anyway pushing and winching the max out. I am constantly "bottoming out" in areas of soupy mud, I get hung on cypress knots, underwater logs and anything else that sticks up 6 to 8 inches!!
WILL TRACKS HELP???

By Ernie Savinsky (Lucky45) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Now you know why they invented air boats.
You need the deep lug Goodyear rawhid III tires and those paddle wheel attachments mentioned elsewhere on this board.
When a Max looses its gripe its over as you describe, a long push pole or lifeline to land to winch helps!

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Robert, I will say a conditional "yes", new style tracks will help. It would help to know what tires you are presently using and how many hours you have driving the Max. If you have the 22" tire and are hanging up on things, you could very well have the same problem with tracks. Tracks will cut your PSI on the ground in half or better so if you are sinking into the goo, maybe that is a solution. You will not have much deep water ability and the climbing ability on muddy slopes is not as good as with 22" tires. If the goo is real deep, you will have better pulling power with the 22" tires. I always try to put my tires on the highest part of whatever I am going over or through and I try to straddle my own ruts if I have to go back through anything gooey. Don't forget that the heavier the load, the higher your PSI on the ground. Maybe you should have a IV with 26" tires! Just so you don't feel too bad, if your Max won't go, nothing else will either. If you do have the 21" tires, buy a set of 22" before you go the track route - unless you have a '98 or later machine with bearing cages presently installed, it will take some time and money to retrofit your machine for the new track. The old track system will not help you much. If you don't have many hours driving, practice and remember what didn't work. You cannot drive a skid steer the same way you do any other vehicle. If you will pick your way and go slow into problem areas, you might not be able to go forward, but you should always be able to back out and find another way. If you are getting stuck, you probably just need more time behind the sticks.

By Tim Wafer (Iflyrctoo) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I have tracks I use on my Max IV. I would think they would be a benefit up to the point of where the water is deep enough to float the machine. Then they are worse then useless then in my opinion.
Tim

By Vic Vaughan on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I'm thinking of buying atv and wonder if Max IV could handle swamp in Lake City Ark.Boy, you talk about some boot sucking gumbo, thats about as gooey as it comes.Noticed that they used to build the Hustler atv in Jonesboro Ark.17 miles from Lake City.If they drove those in St.Francis river swamps, did they spin more time winching or riding?When I was young took test ride in amphicat in 1970 in Memphis with my Dad.He didn't buy one because he thought it would get stuck too much.But I sure would like to try Max IV with 26" tires and run the property lines.Any one been in that Ark. Gumbo?

By NOEL WOODS on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Vic:
I'M ORIGINALLY FROM BLYTHEVILLE. YEARS AGO I HAD A TERRA TIGER & NEGOTIATED THE TERRAIN VERY WELL IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS/SWAMPS.
CURRENTLY I LIVE IN TEXAS & HAVE A VERY EQUIPPED & CAPABLE MAX 2. THE PROBLEM IN E. TEXAS
IS THAT WE ARE 5 YEARS INTO A DROUGHT SO I CAN'T SAY MY MAX HAS BEEN PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST. IT
HAS SEEN ITS SHARE OF MUD THOUGH.
THE NEW AATVS ARE MUCH MORE CAPABLE THAN THE
OLD ONES. TRY ONE OUT & YOU'LL BE BE SURPRISED.
NOEL

By Steve Sumida on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I live on the north slope of Alaska. I have an Argo and discovered it is nearly useless in winter in the snow. No one in my town has the narrow tracks. Does anyone know if the narrow 12-13 inch tracks will work over dry powder snow?

By kevinv on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Steve, I've used the Tru-Trax on my Vanguard in neck-high snow here in Mich.. Driving through/ over ditches that have been blown/drifted over, approx. 4' deep, and I sink about 7-8" but am able to continue. Last year we had one snowstorm which closed roads and cars were littering the landscape, parked where the where stopped. Later that day My son and I went cruising and easily drove 5 miles on top of the 4-5' drifts(easily higher than the roofs of the cars) on the roads and next to the cars. Do you have a 6 or 8?

By john colligan on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Vic, I have a Max IV down here in Louisiana where we have plenty of gumbo mud. Mine got stuck plenty of times because even the 26" tires end up bogging down and the machine bottoms out. When that happens, you're stuck. Put tracks on it and it works much better since your footprint is larger but mine still gets stuck in our watery marsh. The tracks/tires just dont seem to have enough grip to pull itself out of the terrain I hunt in.

By Randy Millsaps on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I live in Alaska and just purchased tracks for my 8x8 from Tru-trax. They worked well in the 2 to 3 foot stuff but am I going to regret not getting the super track?

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Are tracks effective in mud, or am I better off with just the tires?

By JT Barleman on Unrecorded Date: Edit

ANY OF YOU GUYS EVER HEARD OF CLEATS? Seems to me ... if I know I'm going to CONSISTENTLY be going to where I need extra traction ... I'd do the smart thing and turn my flat tracks into ground grabbers. Cleat sets are available from Tru-Trax ... OR ... do what I did ... MAKE YOUR OWN.
JT

P.S. Yes ... it still floats with the cleats added ... and ... the cleats do help it swim a little better than with just tracks alone.

By Tim Wafer (Iflyrctoo) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

JT
I added "Flexi-Cleats" to my MAX IV tracks and while they do help, the current snow conditions we have, has proven too much for them. So far this year we have received over a 100 inches of snow which translates to 2 to 3 feet on the ground in its current compressed state. Drifts can be 6 feet or more easily. The really unusual thing for us is how powdery the snow has been. Usually the snow we get is much wetter and would pack. This stuff doesn't. Today we got about 5 or 6 more inches of real mealy stuff, which still doesn't pack. It did stiffen the base up a bit so you don't sink in as far but traction is terrible. I also tried my Passe Par Tout, which has 18" fully cleated tracks and found it to be little better. As soon as you hit much of a grade the track just spins. What did you make your cleats out of and what are they on? Clearance would be a problem on the MAX. This weekend I'm going to look at an old Tucker Sno-Cat. I'm curious as to how it would perform in these conditions. The snowmobiles are even having a tough time of it. They rely on speed and momentum to get around. These qualities don't exist with our vehicles to any extent
Tim.

By JT Barleman on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Tim,
I made my cleats out of 1/8" inch Aluminium "C" channel. Width of the channel is ONE inch and legs can be as agressive as you want (subject to clearance restrictions. The cleats can be as long as the width of the track ... BUT ... you MAY run into steering problems if you use cleates that are longer than "ONLY" 6 1/2" long. TWO cleats per track section (112 for 56 sections of track on my Argo Vanguard) are BOLTED DOWN THE CENTER LINE OF EACH TRACK. I used elevator bolts (because they have a LARGE flat head for the inside of the track where the tires run) and lock nuts to bolt the cleats to the track. [NOTE: My Tru-Trax came pre drilled from the manufacturer specifically for this installation]

I evaluated making the cleats out of steel [Tru-Trax uses steel] ... but ... opted for aluminum because it saves a bunch of weight. I'm "full grown" [6'plus, 340 plus] and I don't need more weight ... BUT ... You "skinny guys" may find the extra weight of steel cleats beneficial for your traction requirements.

Now the important thing: With 6 1/2" wide cleats running down the center of your track ... clearance shouldn't be much of a problem ... BUT ... I strongly suggest you mount a skid pad (a thin piece of stainless steel)to the body of your vehicle ABOVE each of the tracks. That way you don't rip up your plastic body when the tracks decide to throw a cleat or bounce around a little.
JT

By Joel Haslett (Rustyjeep) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Tim, I would like to hear about that Tucker Snow Cat. I wish I had an excuse to have one of those.There a few near here that are being used to groom snowmobile trails. If you don't want to get too far off the track for the Discussion Board you can Email me directly. Thanks.

By Tim Mueller on Unrecorded Date: Edit

My Bigfoot is outfitted with TruTrax that have the cleats on them. Today I went up on a snow covered road (breaking trail all the way) and went about 4 miles before I finally got tired of bottoming out and turned around. I’m pretty sure it was the condition of snow that made me finally gave it up. I had no problem in the areas that had been shaded by the hills, but when I got into the wet stuff that was in the sun, forget it! The cleated tracks would just eat their way down until the Bigfoot bottomed out. I noticed that the tracks really loaded up with snow between cleats when I was in low gear trying to crawl through the slushy stuff. I look forward to trying it again when we get some more snow and it’s a little colder in the mountains. Anyone have any similar problems? Would I be better off without the cleats unless the snow was packed and icy?

By jerry on Unrecorded Date: Edit

IS tru-trax still in business? I have tried to phone them and leave email for them. I want some info from them before I buy a new 6X6. Any ideas how to contact them?