Saturday, June 28-East Texas

[boncrshr]

Mudbug is actually being kind...there were a couple of times he pushed me from the back with his Max. That was some difficult mud for sure....after yesterday, I have come to the conclusion that anything can be stuck, but the true strength of the amphib, is that you are not going to stick them too bad...with a little teamwork, Mudbug and I got out of just about everything without too much difficulty.

The only really bad spot was one that looked dry, and Mudbug rolled over it and immediately sank over the tires, he yelled back don't come in...so of course I went in and we were both stuck, but with some work we eventually got out. The funny thing is when we were almost out a bunch of lifted quads with big tires drove by and watched us, then left...did not say anything. My thinking is that if they could have easily made it through this hole, they would have...but instead they drove off??

[Roger S]

The Hustler looks good, Dave's vids look good.. all you need is a few more good riders.

Never knew there were so many kinds of mud till becoming a seasoned amphib driver.

[mudbug3]

As boncrshr and I are riding down a trail , we then come to an open area with a few large mud holes here and there . As I drive my Max IV forward I see a large mud hole straight ahead..... and then think to myself,,," should I or should,nt I " ? Just as soon as I had driven my Max IV half way across this mud hole ,,I knew I had made a BIG MISTAKE . I could now see how soft the mud was as my tires tried to dig through it .


I knew then that I had to go to plan B ----> hang off the side of my roll bar and rock the Max from one side and then the other .


I told boncrshr " this is some REALLY soft mud ,don,t even try to follow me "
Boncrshr then says " Dave ,,I,m going to try it with the Vampires , and see if I can make it " Bad choice .

As boncrshr drives his Hustler by me , he begins to loose traction because the mud is just too soft . He then has to rock his Hustler side to side , to gain any forward momentum at all . While he is doing this , I lean out from my Max by hanging onto my roll bar for support . With my left leg extended , I push his Hustler as hard as I can with my foot . The Hustler now slowly begins to move ,,,,,just as long as I push it with my foot . When boncrshr,s Hustler is almost past the rear of my Max IV ,,I hang off the back , and push with my foot as hard as I can .


We are both in a pickle now .

Now boncrshr and I are both stuck in the same mud hole , with no tree even close to winch from . I wanted to say " I told ya so " ,,but I thought to myself , every man has to learn their own limitations .


I now lean out over the front of my Max IV , as I hold onto the roll bar ,to see if I can find any solid ground to stand on . What looks like a mound of hard ground in front of me ,,is deceptive , because it has slick sides . I had forgotten to bring my rubber boots when I left the house , so I,m now only wearing tennis shoes . WRONG CHOICE !


I then step out from the Max , and stand on this mound of dirt with one foot , and then try to jump across to a dry spot , with the other foot . Just as soon as I try this , my right foot slides down the slick mound of dirt , and down into the mud ,up to my calf . About this time , four or five 4-wheelers with kids , drive up to watch the fun .

I hear one man on a 4-wheeler yell out to his son ,, " be careful , and don,t fall into the mud ". Just as soon as he says this ,,I slip and fall into mud up my thighs ,as I try to climb up the soft sides of this mud hole . As I try to pull my right foot out of the mud , the suction of the mud pulls my tennis shoe off , and it slides off my right foot . ARGGH !! Now I have a tennis shoe on my left foot , and only a sock on my right foot , because the tennis shoe that slipped off , is now half full of soft mud !

With a long rope in my hand doubled , I wrap one end of the rope around his trailor ball , and pull as hard as I can with the other end , while boncrshr gives his Hustler slow steady throttle . With boncrshr,s Hustler now out of the mud , he drives around to the front of my Max . I then spool out my winch cable , attach to boncrshr,s trailor bar , and out I come ! Free at last ! My only problem now is : riding with one tennis shoe on and the other tennis shoe off , because the other one is half full of mud . I decided to deal with it and keep on riding ,because we had a lot of trails to cover . Boncrshr,s GPS said we rode almost 18 miles that day .

[mightymaxIV]

Originally Posted by boncrshr

Mudbug is actually being kind...there were a couple of times he pushed me from the back with his Max. That was some difficult mud for sure....after yesterday, I have come to the conclusion that anything can be stuck, but the true strength of the amphib, is that you are not going to stick them too bad...with a little teamwork, Mudbug and I got out of just about everything without too much difficulty.

The only really bad spot was one that looked dry, and Mudbug rolled over it and immediately sank over the tires, he yelled back don't come in...so of course I went in and we were both stuck, but with some work we eventually got out. The funny thing is when we were almost out a bunch of lifted quads with big tires drove by and watched us, then left...did not say anything. My thinking is that if they could have easily made it through this hole, they would have...but instead they drove off??

Boncrshr it has been my experience that this is exactly the type of mud you stay away from. No water equals no advantage. I have also watched the high lifed quads get badly stuck in this same kind of mud even easier than a 6x6. If you have soft mud with a hard bottom no problem. When I was driving my quad on Fort Stewart I drove through some of this soft mud twice no problem. the third time I went down the middle and sunk like a rock. When I stepped off my machine my leg sunk to my knee and I couldn't pull it out. After I dug around and pulled my leg out my shoe stayed in the mud. You gotta watch the mud in the south because you never know how soft it is and if has a hard bottom.

[philipatmaxfour]

Mudbug- If the Vampires worked as well as they looked in the video, I would like to know why you are not planning to mount them instead of all 6 Gators?? Forgive me, sometimes I take a while to get it.

[lewis]

Hi guys sounds like you guys had a great time.

I rode 3-wheelers years ago in river beds as the water had been lowered. This stuff was terrible, no bottom. When we would try to lift the bikes out of the mud, it in turn would push us deeper into the mud. The way we kept from loosing our shoes was, point the toe. This breaks the suction and you foot is easier to remove with shoe. This did not always work 100% of the time, but most of the time it did. Just thought i would share this point with you guys but, then you may have been doing this all along.

They have closed this area to 3 and 4 wheelers but my Avenger is now resisted as a boat.

Look forward to all the vids.

Lewis

[mudbug3]

Originally Posted by philipatmaxfour

Mudbug- If the Vampires worked as well as they looked in the video, I would like to know why you are not planning to mount them instead of all 6 Gators?? Forgive me, sometimes I take a while to get it.

Well ,,cost is a major expense when you have to buy six atv tires , and then have them mounted for $25 a pop , at the local atv dealer . Since I already own six Gator tires that work better in " some situations " than the Vampires do , all I have to do now is , put four more of them on my Max IV , and then I,ll have six . The only reason I don,t run six Gators on my Max now ,,is because they don,t swim . Thats why I have Terra tires in the middle and on the back of my Max IV. The Maxis Mud Bugs are almost identical in tread design , with the difference being the outer lugs have more of a curve , and this helps them swim ( paddle ? ) They will get you across a still pond . Matt O. says they GPS about 1.5 mph in the water , when they were mounted on his Mud Ox.

[philipatmaxfour]

Thanks for the info Mudbug. I use 2 Terra grips on each side at the back of my Avenger for water speed. When I run out of Rawhide IIIs for the two pair at the front I want to try something a little more aggressive like Gators or maybe Vampires?

[mudbug3]

Originally Posted by philipatmaxfour

Thanks for the info Mudbug. I use 2 Terra grips on each side at the back of my Avenger for water speed. When I run out of Rawhide IIIs for the two pair at the front I want to try something a little more aggressive like Gators or maybe Vampires?

If I were using my amphib in mainly shallow water , with a moderate to soft muddy bottom , ( like River Run atv park ) , I would choose the Mud Bug tire over the Vampire atv tires . The reason for my choice is this : The Mud Bug tires will not dig you down as fast as a Vampire tire will , which will get you stuck more often . MightymaxIV has told me this about running Vampires on his Max IV . You really have to have a light throttle hand when you run Vampires . The Vampire tires ride really good because they have soft side walls . At 2.5 psi they mush out really good over logs and roots , and this helps them gain more traction . Because the Vampires have more of a rounded profile , when compared to the Good year , Terra tire ,,they skid steer a lot easier . When I drove boncrshr,s Hustler it felt like it turned about 50 % easier than my Max IV did . This is because my tires have a flatter profile .

[boncrshr]

Here's the video from my camera from Saturday. I broke it up into three parts, and I am not a plumber..

Part 1

YouTube - River Run pt.1

Part 2

YouTube - River Run pt.2

Part 3

YouTube - River Run pt.3