By John on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Can anyone tell me if the Conquest is worth the extra money. I can barely afford a Response and my dealer is telling me the Conquest is the way to go. This machine will be used for Moose hunting purposes only. I would like to know what people think of the Response. I like the fact that the Conquest is liquid cooled however I am not sure if I can justify the extra money only for that feature since my machine will only be used in the fall & winter. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

By ISAAC EISENMAN (Tropicjungleboy) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

HEY JOHN: on long term basis KEEP AWAY FROM LIQUID COOLER ENGINES ON ANY AATV...as you can check on route 6x6 30 years old aatv still bouncing......liquid cooling components (hoses-seals-heat exchange (radiator)-termostate-radiator core-belt-electric motor for fan...) just fails after (if lucky!!) 5 years so WHY TO LOOK FOR A LIQUID COOLER ENGINE??? (after all the hot liquid taked out from engine get chilled by AIR) so keep simplicity on your aatv and you will get longer happy bouncing time!!!preffer the AIR COOLED ENGINES FOR AATV.........

By argogeru on Unrecorded Date: Edit

john,
If your going to be out in the bush moose hunting ignore your dealer on the conquest is the way to go because it is not. the conquest has no pull start if the battery dies, if a hose breaks to the radiator your screwed. the briggs motor is very torquey and best of all, simple. not taking away from the quality of a conquest but for what your doing I personally would go with the response. A lot less can happen with a response than a conquest. with the money you save buy a windshield and top. the brake cooling fan will push warm air inside and after about 15 minutes it will be warm inside. no heater kit needed.

By P.J. on Unrecorded Date: Edit

John:

My primary use for my machine is also moose hunting and I've found that the Response can do everything I've asked it to do. You will be able to hunt in areas you have only dreamed about before.

P.J.

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

John -

I own the Response. Wonderful machine. I agree with all of the comments in favor of the Response with one exception. If you will be running in winter with a top, the Conquest may be easier to heat. If you will be running without a top, or don't need a heater, the Response is simpler, easy to maintain, powerful, and less expensive

By Tom Pike on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I also have a response. The one thing I long
for is the Conquest's quieter engine. Otherwise
it is a perfect machine, simple to fix, reliable, and so far takes me everywhere.

Tom

By 6x6er on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I have some questions. The specs on both Conqest and Response are the same, yet the Conquest is suppose to have a more powerful motor. This makes me wonder a person would need to pay all that money, when the Response is able to pull and carry the same amount of weight at a lower price? Also, I've noticed that Max ATVs are the same. The Max II 450-T is rated to pull the same as the Max IV 900-T, which on paper outpowers it like an arm wrestling match between a 250 lb. line backer and a 90 lb. book worm. What is up with this? If this is the case, there is no reason to buy a Conquest or 900-T, becasue thier smaller brothers can do the same job for less money.

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

6x6er-

The difference between the Conquest & Response is water cooled engine vs air cooled engine. The Conquest should be quieter because of the water jacket in the engine. The water cooling system also allows you to install a heater for cold weather. oh, the Conquest also has rear bearing extensions which are handy if you will spend a lot of time with tracks. If you don't need those features, the Response is fine. I own a Response. Wonderful machine!

By 6x6er on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I have never driven one, but I'd say they are. Some people think that they are not very versatile because they are long, but a lot of people don't realize they are skid steer machines. How steep can you climb in your Response?

By mike martindale (Wetsu) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

6x6er,i have a bigfoot and i drove a response for a day.i didn't get to do any serious hill climbing,but for me i believe it rode better than mine.it is a little stiffer in the cornering,but all in all i liked it.i have seen them climb steeper hills than mine will.something about those 2 extra feet.

By David Keeso (Argomag) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Mike, they sometimes help having 2 more "feet", however, if you are in sand, they don't help at all. A friend of ours at the cottage has a 6x6 ARGO MAGNUM and a 6x6 Conquest and he was telling me that if he had taken the 2 middle wheeles off, he would have been able to climb every hill, but with the 6 it was tough. 8 wheeles in this situation is just more drag. IN water, the 8x8 have more back to them so they sit higher in the water, while all the weight is in the front. The 6x6 are a little less back in the air.

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

6x6er & David -

I have no idea what the grade limit is for a Response. However, our property is mostly sandy loam, and we have a couple of grades that are steep enough to be hard to walk up. The Response climbs them with no trouble. A few years ago I took the Argo to Camp Bratton-Green, north of Canton, MS. It was nearly unstoppable. Then I got overconfident. They had recently drained the lake to work on the dam, and I tried to cross the muddy lake bed. Made it about half way before I got stuck floating in bottomless mud. To date I have not gotten stopped by sand, brush, or steep grades. However, steep for Mississippi and steep for Colorado may not compare too well!!

By Dave Johnston on Unrecorded Date: Edit

An air cooled engine requires air to get to the engine and cool it. a liquid cooled engine requires air to get to the radiator to cool it. Seems to me a liquid cooled engine would be better in an enclosed engine space, an air cooled engine would be better if the engine hangs out in the open, like on a motorcycle or one of those FOUR WHEEL ATVs. Also, don't two cycle engines tend to be set up with air cooling and four cycle engines are seen more with water cooling? May not be an issue now, but California is moving towards a ban on two stroke engines, such as in outboards and you HAVE to have a four stroke. I know my water cooled Kawi engine meets the standards, but I am not so sure about the air cooled B+S engine. Perhaps an Argo dealer could address this issue. (For those of you out east, it makes no difference but those buying here in the west and who may end up running the Rubicon trail, it may matter.)

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Dave,

The B+S engines in the AATVs are 4-stroke. Remember the old VWs? They were also air cooled 4 stroke. A 2-stroke will usually get more horsepower per unit displacement and engine weight, but there are plenty of air cooled 4 stroke motors out there. Honda has a 4 stroke that is smaller than 50 CC!

For the AATVs, the air vs water cooling has three big issues - complexity, noise, and passenger heat. Air cooling is simpler, water cooling is quieter and allows you to install a heater. I went with air cooling to avoid another radiator to take care of.

By David Keeso (Argomag) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Dougmac, although their is more that can go wrong, the liquid cooled Kawasaki is more powerful than the B&S engine that ARGO uses. 18 HP vs 20HP -- which would you choose without thinking about liquid or air cooled.

By dakota on Unrecorded Date: Edit

All new small engines these days have to be emmisions certified before, they can be sold. When you by a new aatv it comes with the paperwork on how it's engine is certified and for what use it is certified for

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

David, even with "only" 18 HP,I only rarely need full power from the Briggs. Most of the time I run in low gear to keep the speed down. For some people or circumstances, that 2 hp difference (on the order of 10%) is significant. But so far I haven't needed it.

By David Keeso (Argomag) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Dougmac, I wasn't necessarily speaking about me wanting more power, but I could see where a lot of people would want more power in certain applications or where they were using the ARGO for more heavy loads where they need that extra umpff!. I havn't really ever needed more for what I use the Argo for.

By Sky Aisling on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I'm searching for info about older 2 stroke outboards. I bought one in a garage sale that is in excellant condition but the label on the fuel tank says to use leaded gas only. Can I run this engine with unleaded and some kind of additive? The engine is a Sears 5.5 hp "Ted Williams" model.

Also, can I run this engine in salt water? One of the local repair guys says I can't. The other local guy says I can?

Can you recommend a talk forum where I can find out more about how to run this engine?

Thanks for you time and attention to my request.

Sky Aisling
POB 1046 Port Townsend, WA 98368

By Dave Johnston on Unrecorded Date: Edit

The only major difference is WATER COOLED VS AIR COOLED... (Lets not get into starting systems.) If you are going to run in relatively cool climates, then it does not make a difference. Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York. all are relatively cool states.. But if you are going to run where the climate is hot.. I highly recommend water cooled machines. Have someone explain the thermodynamics to you.. but if that is not enough..If you run a water cooled machine and break down in the middle of no where, you can DRINK the WATER... good luck with air.

By david berger (Davidrrrd) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

dave whens the last time you tryed to drink coolent? water boils off at too low a temp to use as coolent without chemical additives which are useualy toxic,

ohh and the air you cool an air cooled machine with is still safe to breath

By lcater on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Does having a radiator, and thus a pump ultimately suck HP from the engine? I know in the 4X4 (truck) world, going to electric fans and removing the mechanical fan saves about 10-15% horsepower. I don't know the setup on the Conquest, but does the extra 2 HP just go towards running the cooling system and not giving you anymore useable HP?

By Douglas MacCullagh (Dougmac) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I thought that the big advantages of the water cooled engine was being able to use engine heat to stay warm in the winter, and potentially quieter operation. Air cooling is plenty efficient for the engine sizes used in current AATVs, and I like not having another radiator to maintain!