What's the life expectancy of an argo.

[Uncle Fuzzy]

Looking at buying a good used Argo for duck hunting and am wondering what the life expectancy of one is. 1000 hours? I have the Used Buyers Guide and am a pretty fair shade tree mechanic so minor repairs don't scare me. Hope to find one a little old lady only drove to church with 50 hours on it.

I know a lot will depend on whether it was maintained or not. Have heard people complaining about maintenance but I think it's a matter of greasing and lubing chains regularly. Is that correct?

How stable are the 8x8 in water? Videos show they tend to run stern down. I'm looking at using it in shallow marshes, not big water with 2-4 foot waves.

Do they run better in water with tracks or bare tires? Does a little outboard, 3 HP move them any better.

[ARGOJIM]

Welcome Uncle Fuzzy, good questions. The Argo float stern up and bow down because engine is in the front, any outboard will help, tracks don't swim though some brands paddle pretty good so read track forum and decide.
Now as far as lastability ( had to add that word to the kindle) that will depend on driver, maintenance, terrain, cleanliness, abuse etc.....
We have been into Argos since '76 and dad still has the '78 though currently in 3rd or 4th rebuild and probably ran 2000-2500 hours before his first upgrade in 87/88, a friend bought a '84/5 6 Twin from us and still runs it mostly original other than wear items, we've had,run and sold probably 20 Conquest with hours varying from low 60 to 990 hours on them at points of sale.
My 2000 Vanguard 2 6x6 has around 1150 hours on it and is always old reliable though bearings and chains at about 600, and 950 hours with upgraded sprockets and axles then ( they were put in Sandy then which now has 200 hours since install). Everything else is original.

Maintenance is mostly grease, oil and tune ups with some chain adjusting. And imo a lot of cleanings.

I'm pretty anal on everything being put away clean and lubed and adjusted, I have alot of machines in varying conditions, generally the machines see near 30 hours an outing.

[coffinman]

Hi, Uncle Fuzzy! Mrs. Coffinman and I bought a 2005 Avenger about four years ago that had 57 hours on it. It was in cherry condition. As ArgoJim said, I'm also very anal about maintenance. I grease the chains about every five hours, along with "goosing the zerks." Keeping the pan clean is also very important. Once you get one, plan on getting an owners manual that has the maintenance schedule and follow it. Ours now has 152 hours on it, and is the work-horse on our 50 acre horse ranch, (Horsefeathers Ranch,) in mid Missouri.

Best of luck to you!

[Craig_B]

Life expectancy I would say is Indefinite.

Bought a used 1983 8X8 a few years ago. Needed some work but everything does.
I guess it will be officially dead once replacement parts, upgrades and modifications all expire.

So not anytime soon.


As for stability. I have no outboard on mine and yes the front sits lower in the water but otherwise I find it pretty stable.

[AlaskaGrizzly]

Never owned one out to 1000 hours but I've sold some of my used ones at 400+ hours and I trusted them as much as the day I bought them. Maintenance is key. My newest one with 38 hours was a mess compared to my old one at 400. It wasn't driven by a little old lady!

Maintenance is not hard but you must do it along with cleaning it. They are a grease pit but regular cleaning goes a long way. I grease mine often and wash them out about once a year.

They do float front down when empty. Load up the back and they level out. They tend to roll side to side when floating. I don't think they would roll over but it can be tricky to keep it at the level balance point. In shallow water like a marsh you likely be completely comfortable. Get it in moving water like river and it can make you feel uneasy. My wife really doesn't like it! That's why I had built a set of outrigger floats for her old Argo.

Bare tires swim better than tracks. The new tire tread seems to swim very well. A 2 - 5 hp motor is about the perfect size. It is a lot easer to keep them moving in the direction you want with a motor. You don't get moving fast. I want to say 2.5 - 3 MPH but that was many years ago. I tried a friends 15 hp once and it really didn't push it any faster than my 3.5 hp did.

[palermo]

great question, i own a 1999 vanguard 6x6 ive owned her 5 years, got it for my land in Maine which was basically forest mud ponds rivers and mountains impassable with my side by side. i cant say enough about the product. chains and bearings with a briggs air cooled engine, last for ever if you change oil and grease it often, not the seasonal grease either, i grease mine a lot ,like every 10 hours as grease is cheap( walmart (3 bucks) and only takes 5 minutes . i put alot of hours on my machine (10 a week easy) as it isnt for fun its a work atv now. if your looking to purchace an older one, the trans are re buildable, not replacable. argo adventure sells the parts to do so, also there are places you can ship the trans to that will do it for you like ricks relics http://www.richardsrelics.com/ chain you can get after market easy and cheaply. bearings as well. the whole thing is basic care. one last point, allll vanguards smoke. dont be put off if you test drive one and it smokes. the vanguard motors smoke pretty much from the factory. and lastly the transmission make a whinny noise thats just what they sound like, if its making a clicking or banging noise when you let off the gas the trany is going, not the end of the world but a bit costly. https://www.argoadventure.com/Transm...ts_c_3557.html about $300 ....hope this helps you
PS as for flotation, mine is a 6x6 it floats and moves but you wont be doing any water skiing they all do 2-3 mph in still water, its made to get you there not brake any records. and they tilt forward.i have a deep cycle battery in the rear as mine is set up with a gps/ipad on the dash for google maps and some other electronics so i can find lot lines and land boundries it uses a lot of power so it tilts the nose up a little better. vanguards do not have good charging unless there at half throttle or better. its just how they run. only thing i want to do is upgrade to 8x8 some day, just for the extra room in the rear.......

[Uncle Fuzzy]

OK. I've got a line on a 2011 with 500 hours on it. If it has been abused and needs new sprockets, chain and bearings, what am I looking at $2000? My thought is that I would take that off the offer amount.

[glen1971]

OK. I've got a line on a 2011 with 500 hours on it. If it has been abused and needs new sprockets, chain and bearings, what am I looking at $2000? My thought is that I would take that off the offer amount.

If you're wondering about pricing, get a hold of your local dealer and get a rough estimate on "1 of.." for a bearing, a sprocket and an idler shaft. Last winter, I had to do a couple of sprockets, an idler shaft and did 4 bearings while I had that corner apart. I think I was around $700 in parts from my dealer. The chains I picked up from a local Napa dealer and went with the heavy duty Agri ones and they seem to be lasting fairly well. I changed out 2 of them at the same time, as I had replaced them before with a cheaper brand and they didn't hold up.

[ArgoNewf]

You better have lots of time, patience, & money to own & maintain an Argo !!! You will remember these words. They will go anywhere for a PRICE !!! That price isn't only financial. LOL I have two, & no life outside of them. There is something wrong with everyones Argo. They may or may not know it ,,,, but they will !!!

[glen1971]

You better have lots of time, patience, & money to own & maintain an Argo !!! You will remember these words. They will go anywhere for a PRICE !!! That price isn't only financial. LOL I have two, & no life outside of them. There is something wrong with everyones Argo. They may or may not know it ,,,, but they will !!!

I have one, and do up any maintenance when it comes home from hunting. When I'm using it during the rest of the year, if I see something I tackle it after that trip. I stay on top of it with a fairly detailed spreadsheet and do it all my self. Doing this, I learn how to fix the machine as it ages, and what to look for. A broken sprocket or part will often lead me to how to remedy that so it doesn't do it again, or what to look for in advance. In our group, my Argo is the only one, so the only tools and parts are the ones I bring.
If you leave everything til one day and everything is broken, then ya, you'll spend bags of cash and all week working on a piece of $hit. If ya don't like working on them when they need it, maybe sell it and drop your blood pressure a little.