Soon to be new owner of a Max 2

[pkarnezis]

Hi all. Someone is giving me a Max 2. THe machine is from the mid 90's I think (serial#1113_) It looked to be in good condition from the outside but when we went to uncover it there was water covering the entire trans and most of the engine. The motor oil was clean. He had the thing covered with a blue tarp but the sun degraded the tarp and the overhang from his roof allowed water from a storm to fill the machine. The chains are rusted and the water was in there at least 6 months.

I think the motor will be alright but I am worried about eventual costs for everything else. I have read the trans has a vented plug which is obviously bad. I can get all the water out and get her cleaned up but didn't know if it was going to be worth all the trouble.

I'll for sure need to throw in a starter and possibly a stator as well as a new battery to begin with. I was hoping too much water would not have made its way into the trans. If it did is it toast? will it need to be completely rebuilt? I am sure all the interior bearings and chain will be junk but need advice as to how to proceed.

I'm wondering if I will be able to get the axles out in order to service the bearings or if they will really need to be replaced. What should I look out for or expect? I tried to do a search but only came up with short term flooded units.

In what order should I proceed to evaluate this thing so I can figureout if it's worth it? I am mechanically inclined and have all the tools necessary to do most anything owning this will require. What do you think?

Paul

[Mike]

For the axles, the only thing that will render them useless is if they are rusted to the sprocket tubes. In that case you will probably end up having to cut them out. I would get the machine and dismantle everything. Pull the motor and the trans out. Throw all of the chain away and then start removing axles. Even without having water in the tub, axles on a machine that old will sometimes be rusted to the sprocket tubes anyway. It happens but you won't know until you try to remove them.

For the T20, remove it and then drain the fluid to see if there is any water in there. I would imagine there is but you never know. If there is then you will need to disassemble it and see what is rusting but it's not a big deal to pull it apart once you have it out of the machine. There is an article in the how-to section here on the site showing you what to do.

Overall, being free, you could sink a little money in it and still have a cheap 6x6.

[amphibious drew]

Go for it. Start by draining the water. Hopefully you already did this. Split the tranny into the two halves and inspect the insides. There is a t-20 rebuild guide in the how to section of the site. Make sure all the internals are ok. You may want to soak the stuff in oil for a few weeks if there is surface rust. Bearings are cheap, so if they don't come off easy, just cut them off and save yourself the headaches of playing with them., its a good idea to replace them anyway on a new to you machine. As for the engine, good luck. Several members have sunk a t-20 machine with no real ill effects, but everyone is wuick to change all the fluids and lubricate liberally after rescue. Its all nuts and bolts, and we fix machines up much worse than what you are starting with.

[amphibious drew]

Guess mike's faster than me today. I missed the free part and want to change my advice. It is not worth it at all, your best bet is to just give the guy my name and number and tell him I will haul it away at no charge. Haha

[thebuggyman1]

Paul, It might be wise to post up your location and maybe a local member with some experience will volunteer to help you....just not Drew. lol

[amphibious drew]

Paul, It might be wise to post up your location and maybe a local member with some experience will volunteer to help you....just not Drew. lol

Dont you go stealing my ideas. Buggyman is not to be trusted

[thebuggyman1]

And I was willing to offer him a handsome proffit for his efforts....say $20

[MaxRules]

Back in the good ol' days, I'd buy a Max for $300, drain the water out of the trans and add oil, then ride off into the sunset. I don't recommend being that careless but the point is, water won't end all your fun!

All you can really do is dive in and see what condition it's really in. Flush out the engine and trans really well and see how the driveline has survived. Post up some pics so we can get an idea of what you are working with.

[pkarnezis]

Got the Max Hme on Sunday.

Took me two hours to clean out the tub. Powerwasher and Westleys Bleach-White worked wonders. Darned acorns kept getting stuck in the drain holes. Good news is the engine turns and oil is clean. I've got to get some pictures up soon. Right now I'm shopping for some rust neutralizer for the frame. Haven't had a chance to get it up off the ground to see if any of the bearings are any good or even what type bearings this thing has. The serial# is 1113_. I can't seem to get through to RI to get a year for it and was wondering if anyone else might know by the serial number.

It has a 14HP Vanguard motoer and also need to get a drivebelt as the one on there is chewed up. From previous posts I can tell it's going to be difficult to get it on there but need some part numbers for aftermarket belt I can source locally. Would you guys suggest completely dismantling each individual axle to check the inner and outer bearings or will the spin test work for now? Got to get into that trans to see if any water in there (has to be since that water level was higher than the vented plug) Sort of wanted to see if I can get it running and moving even a little bit before I start throwing all new bearings, chains, trans rebuild kit etc at her.

Body and tub look real good as do the tires. I've been reading the forum every chance I get but there is a lot to these things. I'm hopin I will be able to give some good news on the trans. By some miracle I'm hoping the vent was somehow plugged up and no water got in there but it seems as the T-20 is quite stout and doesn't look terribly complicated.

[amphibious drew]

Do yourself a favor and see if the t-20 work by spinning the input shafts by hand. Put it in forward, push the sticks forward if the springs were removed from the sticks and just spin the shaft with the chains off. If it turns the gears, your probably in ok shape. Still pull it apart, but if there is no water in it, call bufallo bearing asap and get the inner and outer bearings. Its worth changing them just so you don't end up on the trail somewhere because a cheap part failed on you. You may be very very close to having a reliable trail rig ready to go!