Diesel Power Mudd Ox

[George"Bubba"Hunt]

Noel, sorry about your shoes and socks. So far I have been through some very sticky mud with water and peat. Up to this point my old diesel MO have kept me in my shoes and skivvies. It scares me to hear about folks loosing their clothes.
I hope to never find such a mess as you did. I'm sure we have some of those things up here. Most of our bogs have ice frozen under neath of the water and mud. You can only figure how things could shrivel up in that kind of cold, and you can surely understand how badly I would hate to get unclothed in that mess.
Luckily I have a good cell phone and a SAT phone to call for help if I do get stuck, but so far those 20 inch wide tracks float over things that still scare the snuff out of me.
Bubba

[George"Bubba"Hunt]

mikej, Noel is right about the amphibs. As long as I have my drain plugs screwed in, my Mudd Ox won't sink any deeper than if it was in water.I have never been close to getting stuck with those 20 inch tracks, but I've had a few scarey moments when I went from mud and grass to water-mud and little else. I could feel the machine wallowing back and forth as it swam through the watery-grassy-muddy place. It was far deeper than I could walk out in.
I have been running the bogs since 1972 when I got my first cushman trackster. That was a great little machine but wouldn't quite float. I sunk it two times and always had to sit down and bawl. After bawling for a bit, I managed to find something to winch to and got myself out.
The trick is having friends with other amphibs who can come and get you.
Sometimes you can judge a bog, but most of the time you never really know what's out there until you jump in. Then you will never forget that place. It's always scarey as heck but some of us old Pharts seem to get a kick out that sort of thing.
Bubba

[yamadog]

Mr. George I was wondering if you have had much chain stretch with those 20'' tracks. I also run 20'' tracks on my ox, and like you I only use it for hunting. I hunt 600 acres of pure swamp. No way to get around except with the ox. I have a tricked out polaris sportsman but that swamp will swollow it. I only have 87 hrs on the machine and chain stretch does not seem to be a problem. I hear alot about chains having to be replaced quite often especially if you are running tracks. I was wondering if I was missing something or if they need to be tighter than I think they are. Thanks jimmy [yamadog] cole.

[Cougar]

Mr. George I was wondering if you have had much chain stretch with those 20'' tracks. I also run 20'' tracks on my ox, and like you I only use it for hunting. I hunt 600 acres of pure swamp. No way to get around except with the ox. I have a tricked out polaris sportsman but that swamp will swollow it. I only have 87 hrs on the machine and chain stretch does not seem to be a problem. I hear alot about chains having to be replaced quite often especially if you are running tracks. I was wondering if I was missing something or if they need to be tighter than I think they are. Thanks jimmy [yamadog] cole.

Are you guys running the back chains or did you take them off? Iam going up to Matts this Fri. to pick my up (tracks) I'll ask Matt. I got 48hrs. on mine and have only tighten my front chains the back two chain are still tight. Cougar

[mikej]

Thanks for all the interest guys. My son in law it turns out can borrow a new argo with tracks from his good friend close by (2 1/2 hours) That should tell the tale. Thanks Noel but I'm trying not to picture a guy with his pants off in a mud hole--LOL.

[Noel Woods]

Thanks for all the interest guys. My son in law it turns out can borrow a new argo with tracks from his good friend close by (2 1/2 hours) That should tell the tale. Thanks Noel but I'm trying not to picture a guy with his pants off in a mud hole--LOL.

Trust me, it wasn't a pretty sight. At least the skivvies stayed on.
That's the kind of thing that you may run into if you go out half prepared. I've heard alot of other stories over the years as well. Most of my journeys out these days I'll always have at least one other machine with me.

[George"Bubba"Hunt]

yamadog, I haven't had any chain stretch that I noticed. I don't intend to remove my rear chains. I have enough power to pull all the chains,besides it would just put more strain on the front chains. I am re-designing the tensioners. Mine will have a bolt adjustment on them. It will take a little welding, but no big deal. I will take pictures of them when I'm done.
Bubba

[yamadog]

Thanks Bubba, I havn't noticed any stretch either. Didn't know if I was just lucky or if chain stretch is just not much of a problem on the ox. Thinking the later is the case.

[George"Bubba"Hunt]

Sports Fans, I get a lot of inquiries about what I think about the power of the diesel Mudd Ox.
One question was about pulling logs for a log house, and if it could pull a 20 foot log??
Well, as in my post, I pulled 4 logs 14-16 feet long. They were about an average of 10 inches. It was in dry stumppy steep ground. I had to keep looking back to see if the rope had broken. The Mudd Ox pulled it with so much ease that it seemed like I had no load behind it.
I did learn to use a 1/2 inch rope in case the logs hung up on trees or stumps, otherwise something may have snapped. I did break several ropes.
I don,t think Matt or anyone else knows just how much the Ox will pull, but he couldn't afford to put the amount down, or some one would be trying to pull plows or tractors out of the mud with it.
You can break anything by pulling too much.
In my opinion the Ox will pull more than 4000 lbs without so much as a snort.( I should not be saying this, but I got my 1 ton diesel truck stuck in mud. I hooked on to it with the MO and pulled it out without anyone in side to drive it.Probably was not too smart but it did it with no problems.)
I would say that if you tie the logs close to the hitch where they don't have much slack, they will pull logs very easily.
I would remove the slide-in and tie directly to the pin inside of the receptical.Make a loop in the rope and shove into the hitch and put the pin back through. That way it will be more of a straight pull instead of pulling down. The Mudd Ox will pull a lot more than the frame or the tow hitch will hold.
Like most equipment, if you get dumb and start jerking heavy objects, you will break something.
If you'll use common sence, it will work like a good old workhorse, and do a lot of hard work.
Folks that have cabins way back in bad country where they deal with terrible trails in the summer, and deep snow in the winter will love the Ox. Feel free to call me if any of you have any questions.
George"Bubba"Hunt 907-260-8464
oldbearhunter@alaska.net

[travisch]

Bubba -load the machine with 4 adults or a bunch of gear and run it 15 miles down the road at full throttle in 90 degree heat and let me know how it does.