By Ed (66.185.84.75) on : Edit

I've read most of the posts on this site but that question about ice keeps coming up. I just bought a new argo conquest and it's intended purpose is to get me to my cottage in the winter because I'm actually bored of my snowmobiles, theory states that the argo will need less ice to travel on than a snowmobile due to it's weight displacement, one of my neighbours used to snowmobile over the lake on 4" of ice, but now he won't take his argo across unless it's at least 6". So my Question is, what is the thinnest ice you've ever ridden on. I don't take delivery of my new Argo until next monday, and we still have 16" of ice so I can't really research this until next year.

By David Keeso (Argomag) (170.224.224.121) on : Edit

Ed, I have taken my Magnum 8x8 with tracks (standard tracks) and a load of people out onto some pretty damn thin ice a couple years ago. While it was in a place where if the ice broke, any one of us could easily get out and not have to worry bout getting wet and cold, but the ice itself was about 5-6" max. I wasn't screwing around taking my time on that ice, just kept the throttle up to the max to keep things moving and the next day, i went back to that same area myself and where the argo tracks had been, their was now two parallel tracks lines flooded out with icy water. From that point on, i havn't been on anything thinner since, however, if you have a lot of snow on top of the ice, enough so that the argo is ploughing it from the front and you can see that the underbelly is riding on the top of the snow, the ice becomes less of a concern as the snow will help hold you up. This definatly may not apply to all situations by any means but it worked well for me

By Ed (66.185.85.79) on : Edit

I don't want to sound reckless but again, in theory 5-6" of ice should not be an issue for an 8x8 argo. My snowmobile weighs just over 600lbs and I'm good for about 240lbs, I don't like to cross the lake until about 6-8" but have sometimes been caught out there on 4-5". the recommended thickness for a snowmobile is 4 inches , therefore I don't think an argo would break through at 3-4" but like I said I won't be able to test that until next year because the ice strengh as it melts in spring is not the same as clear hard ice being formed.

By Big Wolf (68.40.23.217) on : Edit

The Argo Conquest is a nice machine, however, I would have recommended going with the Argo Avenger. The Avenger has 25" tires with a much more aggressive tread pattern on the Goodyear Rawhide III's, as compared to the Conquest with the Goodyear Runamuck's aka(Slicks). With the Avengers bigger tires and increased ground clearance, and more generous approach angles on the front and rear, it would have a much better chance of actually climbing back onto the ice if it broke through, as compared to the Conquest.

These are just my opinion of course, I do not own an Argo, I own a Max IV currently. I believe this would be the same case with any brand machine though.

I bought a demo video tape of the Max products from Brandon Price about a year ago, just to see
what other people do with their machines. His video has some very wild stuff on it, it is not the greatest quality of video, but it is good enough to show what these machines can do when put to the extreme. There are several scenes of guys riding their Max IV's on thin ice and breaking through and then procedding to climb back onto the ice in reverse. There are some other scenes where a guy is riding at full speed in a Max IV going accross a lake, and you can see the ice actually breaking up under the machine as he is moving. In fact when you look close enough you can see the water and ice wake or wave traveling along under and behind the machine. There are some other scenes with the same guy on the lake, where he intentionally stopped the machine and allowed it to break through the ice under its own weight, and then he proceeded to climb back onto the ice in reverse, infact he did this a few times. If I had to guess, I would say the ice thickness in those video scenes was only a couple of inches thick maximum.

I have not had a chance to go out and do any testing on the ice myself, because my back has been really messed up and sore this winter. I did take a ride out back to the water retention basin last week when we had some thawing going on, but the ice was still to thick to break through.

By Ed (66.185.85.79) on : Edit

The only reason I didn't buy the Avenger right now was due to it's rubber track system that is currently very expensive($3300) and apparently very diffucult to install because it's a one piece unit, and I'd hate to loose a cottage weekend because my $17000 argo got stuck in the snow because i didn't spend the extra $3300 on the tracks. Other than that, you are right about it being a very sweet piece of machinery.The Idea of the front and rear wheels being slightly higher has got me thinking of bigger tires in the center of the conquest, but having different tire sizes would probably not work due to the different rotation speed, especialy inside a track. At least my new Conquest has the new steering system used on the Avenger.

As for testing the ice thickness I'll have to wait until next years new ice, i figure I have about 3-4 weeks left on the current 16" slab that will quicly rot and breakup a week later.

By David Keeso (Argomag) (170.224.224.121) on : Edit

Ed, how does the steering system compare in the Conquest vs the older ones. I was interested to know if it was exactly the same as the avenger set up or just a handlebar swap

By Barak (69.213.100.63) on : Edit

I own a Max4 and have thought that if I broke through the ice, reverse would be my only option (other than winching out)to get back on top of the ice. If I ended up winching out, it seems that a wave of water would gush in dangerously close to my engine if the ice was 4" or more. I have even gone as far to order the Avenger Bilge Kit to help unswamp me if that situation were to occur. Has anyone heard of this happening to anyone?

By Ed (66.185.85.79) on : Edit

Dave, same steering set up as Avenger, I can't compare to older conquest because this is my first Argo.