Argo Open Water Speed With Outboard

[liveclean]

Hi guys, I am new to the group and am looking hard at argos right now. I am curious about your experiences with open water running an outboard on it. I have to travel some distances in open water to my hunting spots, what kind of speed can I expect with a 6 horse motor on a 6*6 or 8*8 in open water. I have been searching for videos everywhere and the one I did find the speed looked pretty slow!

Steve

[GREASEMONKEY]

They are still pretty slow. It's the tires, they arent hydro-dynamic at all! I have seen a 8x8 with a 9hp, and at full throttle it's only poping along at 15mph or so!

[Silverbullet75]

I agree...
I just bought a Honda 7.5 hp outboard. It pushes my Frontier at a MAX of 10mph... It's definately better than tire only speed.
My wife and I decided that if we really want speed we'll buy a seadoo..

[philipatmaxfour]

Silverbullet75- Nice to hear from someone who is trying a gas outboard. I want to hang one on my Avenger in the spring. A few Questions if I may,
1: Do you have a long or short shaft outboard?

2: Do you use a bracket that goes down to the receiver hitch?

3: Do you have to tilt the motor up before you leave the water?

4: Does tho motor clear the ground enough to allow you to drive on land without worry?

Thanks in advance for your help. I will really appreciate it.

[GREASEMONKEY]

I'm getting 6-7mph with a 35lb troller motor. I imagine a 45-55lb troller motor would be equivalent to a 7hp outboard, and cheaper!

[artist1018]

I,ve seen ads on route 6x6.com from a company in the south that mounts 2 large hp. remote controlled motors on the back of an argo. You might benefit from looking at their ad?!?

[Silverbullet75]

1: Do you have a long or short shaft outboard?

I bought a Long Shaft... The short shaft is not recommended due to cavitation. The back end of the Argo lifts up too high in the water. You might be able to get away with a short shaft if you sit in the back and steer, but, I have no problems steering from the front on mine, but I have a 6x6...

2: Do you use a bracket that goes down to the receiver hitch?

Yes I do. It came with mine from the dealer. (side mount motor)

3: Do you have to tilt the motor up before you leave the water?


It depends on the slope of the land/shore... but, to be safe, I do tilt it.

4: Does tho motor clear the ground enough to allow you to drive on land without worry?

Not really... I highly recommend removing the motor if you want to do spirited driving on land after exiting the water. You can always tilt it, but the down force on the transom would be pretty heafty when you hit bumps.

Thanks in advance for your help. I will really appreciate it.
NO PROBLEM! ASK AWAY!

[GREASEMONKEY]

I,ve seen ads on route 6x6.com from a company in the south that mounts 2 large hp. remote controlled motors on the back of an argo. You might benefit from looking at their ad?!?

I didn't see it. If you run across it again, shoot the link my way. I'm always looking for a new upgrade!

[whipper-ag]

I found an old pic of the 8HP outboard on put on my Max. It was a real pain in the &%#. It was fast but to heavy,hard to steer,and to hard to start,It needed an external tank and to pull start it, my buddy had to sit on the dash so when I climbed over the seat to pull start it , it would'nt take on a bunch of water through the vent holes. When you got on it the front end would just come out of the water.If you gotta go that fast in the water I suggest you buy a jet ski. What I use now that works real well is a front mounted 46lb thrust minkota trolling motor. I bought one with a 42" shaft and turned the motor around 180 deg so I can steer it from the front seat. It has 5 forward speeds and 3 in reverse I clocked it at 7mph with my GPS. You can cover a lot of ground fishing at that speed. No Max or Argo will go that fast under there own power with just the tires doing the work. The trolling motor is light and you can swing it up and lock it and go anywere you like.
Whipper

[Silverbullet75]

I agree with the "pain to steer" part... if you turn the handle too fast while at speed, you end up screaming "Holy %&*@!!!" because you almost dumped your passenger (my wife) out of the vehicle!

The nice thing is that when in good control you can turn 360 degrees in about the same radius as on land.

I have tapped into my existing fuel tank to feed the outboard. It's just a quick connect at the motor, prime, choke, and pull 1-3 times.

My outboard is a mid to early 80s Honda BF75 (7.5 hp) 4 stroke, long shaft. If you are looking for a cheap RELIABLE motor... I highly recommend this one. I looked for a LONG time at different outboards and trolling motors. I ended up buying this one because, 1. the price was right ($400) 2. the compression was incredible. and 3. It was CLEAN!!!

I came very close to going the trolling motor route. But, ultimately, I decided that I needed (may need) longer duration of power than I could get from a troller (long distance trips). Also, the troller would need to be semi-permanently hard wired to the battery, or batteries... depending upon the thrust of the motor(s).... adding weight. Furthermore, we have the Colorado River here, which was the deciding factor... River current. I decided I need gas powered hp for that.
I was hearing a lot about boats having trouble pushing against wind with trollers. I would have to assume that a river's current would be a bit more of a struggle than wind

By the way, the double trollers that Richard's Relics sells is VERY cool. Thought hard about doing it... but... see reasons above
Here is the link...
Do Ya Dare Floaters, presented by Route6x6.com
I'm really curious if the reasons that I went AWAY from the trollers are valid... GreaseMonkey? or any others want to speak to this?
Thanks!
---JIM---