Selfishly putting a 2006 Bigfoot under my Christmas Tree

[salamander]

My first AATV.

Some questions for the veterans out there:

How rough a road can the factory plow handle? Videos I have seen all seem to be plowing snow on pavement.

Cleats for Supertracks - handy or mandatory?

How easy/hard is it to roll the Bigfoot on tires/on supertracks? ROPS vs. Roll Bar?

Any suggested upgrades tweaks or modifications to the stock mechanical/electrical systems?

Will be using the ARGO to plow snow in the Ontario winter, for year round trail maintenence, and for fishing bass filled lakes far off the beaten path.

I know, its a lot of questions. Appreciate the help. Thanks and Merry Christmas

[salamander]

I am overwhelmed with the responses

Seriously though - still getting the heng of it; but what a beast this thing is!

[GREASEMONKEY]

My first AATV.

Some questions for the veterans out there:
Sorry I left ya hangin!
How rough a road can the factory plow handle? Videos I have seen all seem to be plowing snow on pavement.
Good question!
Cleats for Supertracks - handy or mandatory?
Recomended for lots of ice!
How easy/hard is it to roll the Bigfoot on tires/on supertracks? ROPS vs. Roll Bar?
I have had mine at or past a 60* incline, and turned around. That's on the tires, carrying cargo, and all 500+lbs of me & my copilot! I'm not too keen on the factory ROPS, or rollbar. A custom built setup built to suit your needs specifically is the best!
Any suggested upgrades tweaks or modifications to the stock mechanical/electrical systems?
I added a battery maintainer, upgraded to an optima yellow top battery, and added a master battery switch!
Will be using the ARGO to plow snow in the Ontario winter, for year round trail maintenence, and for fishing bass filled lakes far off the beaten path.

I know, its a lot of questions. Appreciate the help. Thanks and Merry Christmas

!!!!!!!!!

[salamander]

After about a week of getting used to it, here's my Xmas Argo update:

Far as the plowing goes; I have about 600M of a fairly well graded gravel road to plow, about 16 feet wide with some small slopes. The job took about an hour on the old tractor. It takes about 15 minutes now, and leaves a much nicer grade. The rain is supposed to start sometime this weekend, so we'll see how the supertracks without cleats do in more slippery conditions.

The dealer pointed out a couple things to me about plowing with the cleats; he suggested that I skip on the cleats for now as I am just getting used to the Argo, its better that I slide around bit than dig in too hard when plowing into a hidden object; a mistake that could result in stripping gears. I'm not used to dealers not trying to sell me as many extras as possible; so I am taking his genuine advice for now.

Other helpful plow related advice he gave: To put a weight in the back to counterbalance the weight of the plow and to prevent sliding round as much- in my case, about 100lbs of sandbags. He also suggested that with the plow attatched, venturing off the beaten path was not recommended, and I can see why. Front end is way too heavy with the plow attatched and we have waist deep snow all around; chin deep drifts.


GREASEMONKEY;

I like the sounds of those electrical mods; and I will likely follow your lead there. Am also considering installing a secondary battery system to operate the winch as when plowing, it seems to use a lot of juice.

Thanks for the tips about the rollbar. What machine did you have turning around on a 60* incline? The bush is really thick around here, and I have the feeling a rollbar could be more trouble getting caught on things than useful. I also understand now that the ROPS makes the bigfoot unsuitable for water use; and that just about any rollbar setup would affect the water performance dramatically, so I'll hang off for now and check out what you guys have built... some sort of removable custom frame seems the answer. Somethign which would hold some extra weight in the back perhaps...

[Mike]

Salamander, thanks for that awesome update. Hopefully that will help other people that were wondering about the plow. As for the roll cage, you are right that it does often get in the way when trying to go through dense growth areas but it also will push all of the limbs and branches out of your way so that they don't hit your face or body.

I was riding with McCoy last time we went out. His bigfoot doesn't have a roll cage (for now) and he was coming out of the woods right where I had just been in my Max with the roll cage. I didn't get hit but he got a branch right to the eye

Just something else to think about

[salamander]

I found this site very helpful in making up my mind about buying a 6 wheeler, glad to be able to give back.

I will try to get pictures or a video up eventually, as the Supertracked Bigfoot does a much more impressive a job plowing than I or Argo themselves describe! Its not just faster, its way safer (see below), and I can spin around at any point on the road instead of using the few designated turnarounds.

Good point about the roll cage offering branch protection. That will be of more concern for me this spring, and remain undecided as my Bigfoot will be spending lots of time swimming. Glad to say I can't see the immediate need for it this winter anymore, as the Argo is way more stable than I had imagined. I used to worry about rolling the tractor when plowing the road as the sides of the road have steep drift filled gutters, so when plowing in a storm or low visibility, just going a little off the line the heavy old beast would start to sink in and slide away on the soft shoulder with little warning. No more winching out the tractor, no more worries of rollovers. With the Supertracked bigfoot, rather than sink in, if I go off the road I just float up onto the snow.