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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 69.90.247.68
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:41 pm: | |
What will you do, waiting for someone to help, call police or what else you will do to get your Argo back on shore???
Thanks! |
Bud Dunn
Junior Member
Username: Budtx
Post Number: 16
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 167.230.104.90
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 09:31 am: | |
I broke through the ice on a pond the first winter with our MaxII. My lack of driving skills kept me from getting it back up on the ice; it just kept breaking through and getting stuck against the big pieces, keeping me from climbing up the ledge to get out. I kept it running, and got my son to grab several tow straps from our Jeep. I hooked the tow straps in tandem to the shore, with one end hooked to the Max and the other on the Jeep. We used the Jeep to pull the Max out with me still in the Max, "helping" at the controls.
I have since learned to drive better, added a winch, and have not had a repeat episode.
If I had an Argo, I would just write it off and let it sink.  ONLY KIDDING! |
david berger
Senior Member
Username: Davidrrrd
Post Number: 251
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 172.140.142.129
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 01:23 pm: | |
how did it get stranded?
dosent the engine still run?
if the engine still runs just bail any water out of it that it might have in it and then drive it back onto the ice,
the winch if it has one can help you too!
if it dose not still run you could make 2 long s hooks from 1/2" re-bar and snag the axels in the front on each side and drag it out with another vehicle of some sort, keeping in mind the extra weight of water if any is inside. |
philip w.cox
Intermediate Member
Username: Philipatmaxfour
Post Number: 90
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 216.208.194.91
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 01:36 pm: | |
That's the question! Why is it sranded? Where is your riding partner? And wouldn't you call a lot of other people first before you got so desperate that you called the police? If you were riding with Mr. Berger he would have MEALS ON 6 Wheels packed around his muffler so at least you wouldn't go hungry. Philip |
(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 70.50.231.94
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 04:21 pm: | |
My meaning is if the battery is dead, the pull rope is broken and got no way to start the Argo, what would you do?
Thanks again! |
david berger
Senior Member
Username: Davidrrrd
Post Number: 252
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 172.149.253.90
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 05:16 pm: | |
good one Philip,
unregistered guest?
if this is a concern then you can get solar panel that can renew your battery in a while enough for a start, probably under$40.00, hook it up permanently to your AATV or use the 12v cigarette lighter outlet and transfer it back and forth to your toe vehicle,
keep both batteries fresh,
also keep a good tool box on-board so while your out there you can fix pull starter if need be,
maybe you need a radio as well, and as Philip has pointed out you should not be alone out there, ride in groups, or fish with one or more buddies.
go too the owner registry on rt6x6 and look up your state or local states for possible list of fishing buddies,
and let my take this opportunity to ask all thoughts out there with profiles on the owner registry to update e-mail addresses as there are quite a number of old addys there!
thanks! |
Jerry R. Nuss, Max Dealer in Illinois
Senior Member
Username: Jerrynuss
Post Number: 229
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 71.244.182.51
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 06:23 pm: | |
You should also set up a float plan and advise someone of your plans. Basic plan includes a date, time, location, time of departure, and time of return. A radio, cell phone, a GPS, a strobe light, strong narrow beam flash light, emergency contact numbers and warm breathable waterproof clothing. The question is really directed toward prevention and preparedness. Keep the machine in good working order by replacing a worn or frayed starter rope. Use it at regular intervals and make sure it retracts. Keep the battery charged and moniter the amp gauge. Riding in groups may or may not be possible but you can at least tell people where you are going and when you will be back. This is no different from going out in a boat or going out hunting, hiking, spelunking or flying. |
Dave Keeso
Intermediate Member
Username: Argomag
Post Number: 64
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 142.55.208.146
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 09:44 am: | |
A good note to all: Those solar panel trickle chargers work great if you are willing to spend the $$ for the higher model one. They are very simple to install, they are reliable and as long as your machine gets a couple hours of sun when its sitting, its enough to keep your battery charged more than enough to fire up the engine, even if the vehicle has been stored in a very cold place that may otherwise render the battery dead. Most marine places sell them. Just make sure you get the right charger for the right type of battery. i have been waiting to install a solar trickle charger on my machine but since the garage was re-insulated, i havn't because the garage doesn't get as cold as it did. I can now leave the ARGO sitting un-used and not started for a couple months at a time and it usually fires up on the first or second try.
The trickle chargers run from about $35.00 to $50.00 depending on the quality of unit you buy. A very worth while investement even if your machine is run a lot. If you are running with your lights or other accessories on, using a winch etc. seperately or at the same time, the battery won't have much time to re-charge. THe trickle charger will charge any time the machine is not being charged on its own system.
The only very minor downfall is that the solar unit has to be secured to the machine somehow, it shouldn't be able to move around much as damage may result. |
Jerry R. Nuss, Max Dealer in Illinois
Senior Member
Username: Jerrynuss
Post Number: 238
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 71.244.182.51
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 02:33 pm: | |
The trickle or float chargers are a good idea especially if being stored for long times because not only does it keep a charge but keeps the battery plates from irreversible sulphation extending the life of the battery. |
Bill Straub (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 69.95.143.240
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 10:00 pm: | |
Has anyone here ever gotten back on the ice after breaking through? I have never broken through, but I wonder if I could back my Max II up onto the ice if I did. Seems the wheels would perhaps grip the edge of the ice and if I slowly crawled back I might be able to get back onto the ice. I wouldn't want to try it though, unless I need to. I have a winch and danforth anchor I rely on for sticky situations. I'd sling it to someone on the ice who could ram the anchor home in a crack or hole and use the winch along the throttle to get our. |
(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 69.90.246.148
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 11:15 pm: | |
DLM,I always afraid that the triggle charge(sonar charger) will overcharge the battery and make the car got fire if you don't take the charger out after charger for one week, is this true,
i think you have to take the hood out when using the solnar charge, is that right? |
George"Bubba"Hunt
New member
Username: Bubba_hunt
Post Number: 1
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 209.112.176.238
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 11:58 pm: | |
Gents, thought I would drop a line so you good old boys wouldn't think I had gotten stranded some where in the swamps and croaked.No, my old Hydro-Traxx hasn't failed me yet. Packed out three big bull moose this fall. Done a trip to visit Jay Leno for some love-sick moose calls in November. Getting my book, "The Wilderness Trail" republished soon and been tracking back into the bush for some kool ice fishing this winter.
I have never broken through the ice yet, but I have a 4500 lb. wench and I think I would drill a hole in the ice, drop my wench with a jack handle or log down the hole and try to pull myself out. I usually cross large frozen lakes where I can't reach the shore, although I carry 400 feet of heavy 5/8 nylon boat anchor rope on my overhead rack.
I'll be fishing until the ice gets rotten this spring. My biggest problem is underwater springs that boil up and keep the ice from getting thick. Those springs will give you an unscheduled bath if you aren't careful.
I never go out without survival gear which includes a small propane heater which will light after it gets dunked.
If you decide to drive your pick up on the ice, DON'T DRIVE FAST!! When you drive on the ice it causes a wave to push ahead of you. The problem with that is when you get close to shore it causes the wave to put a lot of stress on the ice and it could break-up before you can get on shore. This won't be a problem with the light-weight AATV's.
Last week I was out on the ice and an idiot drove by in an F-250 at 20 mph, and the ice cracked enough to put the spook in me. The ice was 2 feet thick but It sounded very bad!!
Check out my web, www.shadowmountainoutdoors.com.
Got some ice fishing blogs on there and the old usual Bubba BS.
Bubba Hunt, oldbearhunter@alaska.net |
Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer
Advanced Member
Username: Fred4dot
Post Number: 132
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 216.166.168.53
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 12:55 am: | |
Hey Bubba, That is one big girl (4500 pounds, wow!!) Must take a really BIG hole - and how to you get her to stay in there? I guess your wife must not care if you fool around huh? Those wenches will get you in trouble.
Just pulling your chain. I knew you really meant winch. Good to hear from you again |
George"Bubba"Hunt
New member
Username: Bubba_hunt
Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 209.112.176.238
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 01:17 am: | |
Fred, my old friend, I DO miss messing around with your poor old head
Good to hear from you again.
Sometimes I squash spelling a bit on purpose, and sometimes I can't spel my but!
Any hoo, things are froze up here. Dang it, it's too cold to ice fish. Dad Blasted hole freezes over faster than I can keep it kicked out. Too lazy to put up the ice hut. The rainbows and land-locked silver salmon bite so fast I can hardly keep my bait down. Lately, I release everything, or my wife will make me eat them.
I have been busy videoing bear, halibut, and moose hunts this last year.I have at least 30 more bear hunts to do this May.Some of my stuff was on the "Sportsman Channel" this winter, as well as Cabela's Outdoor Show.
Well, Old Timer, keep taking your fiber and BP pills. Any of my old cronies are welcome to come up and give me a hand with these fish.Check out my blog on ice-fishing.
Bubba www.shadowmountainoutdoors.com
Bubba |
david berger
Senior Member
Username: Davidrrrd
Post Number: 254
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 172.151.89.109
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 09:03 am: | |
the charger shouldn't harm your battery,
it is a trickle charger after all,
and depends on your wire-ring also, there's a 12v port on most new aatvs that you can use to connect and or disconnect your trickle charger. |
david berger
Senior Member
Username: Davidrrrd
Post Number: 255
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 172.151.89.109
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 09:18 am: | |
bill tim okeefe broke threw last year or the year before and i drove it back onto the ice for him after we pumped out the water it took on when it went in (sideways)
i stood with my feet on rear rail and also had the winch out with rope extension to a tree on an island to help me.
but the engine did all the work, i used the winch to take up slack in the winch cable as a backup plan,
he has aggressive treaded tires and they griped well enough to get it out.
if your worried about it bring ramps from your trailer and drive it up the ramps and out of the water, possibly a carriage bolt in the ramp to grab ice at the edge will help. |
(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 70.50.231.94
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 10:30 am: | |
Thanks for your info, do you have the pictures of ''float charge'' or the pictures of '' tricle charge'' . don't want to buy the wrong stuff.(but why they selling the battery monitor or stopper for the solnar panel if it is not overcharge or overheat the battery?)
Thanks again. |
Jerry R. Nuss, Max Dealer in Illinois
Senior Member
Username: Jerrynuss
Post Number: 244
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 71.244.167.27
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 11:35 am: | |
They just had float chargers on sale a harborfreight.com for $7. I bought 4 more of them. Walmart also normally carries them and they look like a flat black box with a red and green light on it. I have a several of those. I leave batteries hooked up to them permanently year round. They will do the battery good and not harm it. |
jim stefanowicz
Junior Member
Username: Maxindetroit1
Post Number: 15
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 64.12.116.199
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 12:21 pm: | |
I broke thru the ice last year in 10' of water, I have studs on my tires, and sat on the back of the Max slow steady throttle and backed out, it took a while, and I had many people shouting words of encourgment. It turned into a controled test after a while, but i got out. Someone on this site last year was going to vidieo a break thru on the ice, and getting out but never seen anything else on it. Without the studs on the tires I dont think it would be possible. |
philip w.cox
Intermediate Member
Username: Philipatmaxfour
Post Number: 91
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 216.208.194.109
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 11:17 pm: | |
Jim, You must have a Max ii, am I right? I can't imagine sitting on the back of my Max iv. I rely on my bilge pump a lot. It has saved me from a bad situation several times. When I was cleaning my machine out today I noticed that it did not come on with the switch, turned out to be chain grease and ice. The point is , I drive my Max iv out of deep water back onto the ice often. Sometimes on a dare, but it's not easy. Too often one side of the machine will pop up onto the ice leaving the other 3 wheels in the water and the machine taking on water. I just grab the roll bar on the high side and keep the throttle going until the whole machine is back in the water. Relax, keep it idiling. pump out the bilge , get your drive belt dry ,and do it again,it will come out and man that's impressive! W, Philip Cox |
david berger
Senior Member
Username: Davidrrrd
Post Number: 258
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 172.153.187.123
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 09:36 am: | |
it dosent hurt to hit the ice's edge with some inurshia,
you dont want to push much floating ice in frount of you because it can hold the hull before tires can grab ices edge, so find a clear spot and try to hit ices edge squairly with both frount tires exactly at same time. |
jim stefanowicz
Junior Member
Username: Maxindetroit1
Post Number: 16
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 152.163.100.65
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 01:20 pm: | |
Philip.......Yes I have a Max2, 1994, ........yes, I would think it would be a tuff thing to do in a Max4, If I get some time in the spring a buddy of mine has some small ponds behind his house, I am going to try and go thru the ice and get back out, and hopefully he can video the whole thing. I never had one side up on the ice and the other in the water, that does not sound like a fun time at all to me, bet that gets your heart a pumping ehh? |
philip w.cox
Intermediate Member
Username: Philipatmaxfour
Post Number: 92
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 216.209.98.58
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 10:46 pm: | |
Jim The first time YES! I seem to do it quite often. If the ice is thick and rigid it,s a higher climb than softer ice that sinks down a little. I check my bilge pump carefully when I have the floor out. Like David says you have to be willing to hit the edge with some gusto, even making waves helps. If you get the movie I think you will sell quite a few copies. Philip |
jim stefanowicz
Junior Member
Username: Maxindetroit1
Post Number: 17
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 205.188.116.8
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 12:33 am: | |
Yeah i talked with my buddy, I am going to get a dry suite from him, and when it gets a little warmer out, I am going to do it, with the dry suite if it gets wet I wont care. My friends ponds are about 6' deep so this should be a good test, cant touch the bottom. I will definatly try to go in a few times with thhe wheels on the ice, on one side. Take care........play safe. |
SuperDave (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 24.205.212.100
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 07:13 pm: | |
I use to live in Minnesota back in the 60s and we drove CARS onto the lakes. You had to be pretty careful because if you broke thru you did NOT float. With the ARGO, the heavier the vehicle the worse off you are. So if you have a lot of cargo, unload it. Since you probably were driving forward when you broke thru, use the old airplane trick and go the OPPOSITE direction to get out of trouble. This is also a case where driving the BACK end up first is better. It will allow more weight distribution over the ice before the HEAVY front end gets on the ice. If you do manage to get up on the ice, KEEP moving backwards until you get to the shore. An alternative is to wait for the weather to get colder so you got thicker ice or wait until spring. Good Luck. |
Ron in Wasilla AK (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 12.17.142.18
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 11:16 pm: | |
can anyone out there tell me the location of, and how to mount, a bilge pump in a Concourse?? |
Ron in Wasilla AK (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 12.17.142.18
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 11:18 pm: | |
can anyone out there tell me the location of, and how to mount, a bilge pump in a Conquest? |
Bob Shelver
Member
Username: Curly
Post Number: 35
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 209.193.87.108
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 10:26 am: | |
You want to mount it in the center front of the machine just in front of the left brake rotor. Run your hose out the left side just in front of the windshield mount or down and right of where the bottom right corner of the muffler vent screen is. It needs to be in the front because the machine rides heavy in the front that is where your water will collect. |
Ron in Wasilla AK (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 64.4.227.69
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 11:49 am: | |
Thanks for your help Bob. I still am not clear what you connect the pump to and how you route the hose. Is there a way you can send me pictures of your setup. I live 50 miles from my dealer and with his winter hours its hard to get in to see one set up. |
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