By rick cockrell on Unrecorded Date: Edit

i would like opinions of the coot as compared to argo and max

By Louisiana mudbug on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I,d also love to see the new and improved Coot in a head to head mud battle with any amphib currently on the market.

The positives:
The new and much improved Coot, has some very aggressive 28 inch tires,has four indepedant hydrolic wheel motors,four wheel steering,hydrolic disc brakes on all wheels,hydrolic power steering,aticulating middle body section,twelve and half inches of ground clearance,has pulled a 1,600 pound telephone pole 50 feet, at 5 mph.

Has recently climbed all the way to the top of the notorious Rubicon trail. It also has a foot pedal, that can hydrolicly activate each of the brakes, on each wheel, and another foot pedal for foward and reward motion. For forward or reward motion, the less pressure you use against the foot pedal, the more low end torque you will have,and the farther that you push the foot pedal downward,the faster you will go, either foward or backwards.

What I like about it,is the articulating middle section. This allows it to function almost like a full independant suspension system. It is also 20 percent quieter than a Hydrotraxx amphib.It will go through 31 inches or water,which is enough for me.

Now the neqatives:
Almost all all of trails that I now ride my Max IV 900T, amphib on, are jeep trails,or ATV trails, that I,ve now had to enlarge some what, so my Max will drive through them. Since the Coot is so much wider than any of the large sized Max and Argo amphibs,this stops you from riding through most of the trails you find, that are currently in use for ATV,s.

Though it has four wheel steering,it also has a very lage turning radius. Any of the current amphibs, that are now offered for sale,will be able to turn in their own length, and also slide side to side effortlessly.

Any of the current, larger tire amphibs, will be much more versatle to own. They will allow you to go through much tighter trails,because they can skid steer. They will also be more land,water,and swamp versatle in the long run. This is why I now own one.

But,I would love to test ride the new and much improved Coot, if I had the chance to. Its a very well designed, and also, well thought out machine,no doubt about it! It will soon be used by the military special forces,because it can be remote controled.

By Louisiana mudbug on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I just received the new Coot DVD today,and this is one "very impressive" machine! Truthfully,if I had watched this DVD on the new Coot, before I decided to purchase my Max IV 900T, I,m very sure I would have bought it instead. It is this impressive!! It is a very well engineered and thought out ATV. As I watched the Coot in action, navigate an angled ditch with steep banks,I was amazed to watch the articulating middle section of the body,roll right and then left. Just as amazing to watch, was the four wheel steering of the tires at the same time, as the body rolled from side to side. Awesome to watch this machine in motion, as it rolled over very uneven terrain.

I also was very impressed as I watched it crawl very slowly up a 45 degree hillside, with out even the slighlest amount of wheel spinning on any of its tires.

Yes,I ,m also very aware most modern amphibs will be able to do this too,but not follow the uneven contour of ground as you climb a steep or rocky hillside.

I also impressed that you could change the 3.0 Ramsey winch ( worm gear driven ) that is mounted to the front bumper, to the rear bumper,by simply pulling a pin where the winch is mounted to.

Since the new Coot has sound deading material that encases the hydrolic pump,the noise is not that bad.

By onerttam on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I was there when the new coot went on the rubicon. I was driving my Argo bigfoot. both machines where able to complete the trial.The coot did use alot more fuel, about double over all the argo's that where up there. also the noise when the coot needed full hydrolic pressure was pretty load. The Argo's was kept in low range with light throttle over the entire trial. Which made for nice and quite and peaceful off roading.

By Louisiana mudbug on Unrecorded Date: Edit

( onerttam )

Hmmm, very intresting post. I would not have thought that either a Max IV,any Argo,or any amphib for that matter, could have climbed the notorious Rubicon trail completely to the top.


But,since your Big Foot made it up to the top,you,ve now made a big believer out of me. grin )

Now, as far as noise levels go, pertaining to the "new Coot",on a scale of 1-10, what noise level would you describe the Coot at, when it was opperating under maximum load, trying to make the extreme climb, up the rocky Rubicon?

By onerttam on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Well the engine noise is the same as any other kohler industrial engine. the noise comes for the hydrolic drive system . when running on the flats with no load is pretty quite you could talk to the person sitting next to you , so I rate that a 2. However when you are tring to wedge the machine through a 3 foot rock crack, the noise easily passes 100db.so I would rate that a 10. the thing I liked about the coot you didn't have to hold the engine at full throttle to run. There was a half throttle position for easy driving. Compaired to my Argo , I was in low range with very light throttle the entire time. So the Argo's where very quite. Also more fuel efficent.Which is very inportant on a trial like the Rubicon. Took 12 hours to go one way. then camped and took another 12 hours to get back to the staging area. I burned about 9.5 gallons for the round trip. I heard that each of the coots burned 12 gallons one way.

By Louisiana mudbug on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I think the Coot2 motor runs at 2,600 to 2,700 rpms for maximum torque and hp from the hydrolic drive pump,that opperates all four wheel motors.
This would explain the noise level at varying load levels, needing more or less hp or torque.

When I,m out trail riding my Max IV through the tight and technical trails, that I,ve cut recently,you could easily walk beside it at a medium pace. When the trail becomes much easier to ride on,I most often drive my Max at just a fast walking pace. This is about as fast as I care to go,or to ride mine most the time.Its just to bone jarring riding faster than this.

I would now assume,that if a Coot was driven at a speeds such as this, the noise level would not be that bad. But, I,m sure that the noise level would get MUCH louder if I had to climb up a very steep creek bank or hill. Or maybe, if I got myself stuck in thick mud,and tried to drive out. Ha-ha,,been there and done that!

Also, as difficult, and as steep, as the Rubicon trail is,I would have to assume thats why the Coot2 used so much gas climbing up and down. At the speeds I like to drive at,it would have surely used much less.

By onerttam on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I agree with you there. I have found my average speed on the easy trails to always be around 10mph.however when in the rocks the speed drops to 1mph if I'm lucky.Kepping my inner parts all in place is more important then setting speed records