New Huntmaster or Outfitter?

[crossbowme]

Hello Everyone - this is my first post here. I plan on leaving the SXS community and order/buy an Argo in Feb 2017. I have narrowed my choices to the two listed above but am uncertain which one to choose. The Hunt Master meets all my requirements but you can't get the auto chain oiler on it. The Outfitter has it as a standard item but cost $7000 more. I have had heard what a PITA it is oiling your chain every ten hours but don't want to spend the extra bucks.

What's your opinions? Thanks for your help.

[philipatmaxfour]

if you ask around i believe that the auto chain oiler is available on the Huntmaster but cost several hundred dollars. Ask people like Argo Jim ,Fox Valley or Adair Argo. I personally don't think pressing a button on a can of chain lube is such a pita, no tools to remove floors,but to each his own.

[Mike]

Welcome to the forum. I don't think it's that bad lubricating the chains. Most of us do it manually and it is as simple as removing the floor and spraying some lubricant. It's not bad at all. You may be able to get the auto-oiler on the Huntmaster as well but I have no idea what it costs.

[john swenson]

another advantage to oiling yourself is each time you get a chance to inspect sprockets, chain tensioners , etc. which can help keep maintenance issues up to date..... j.s.

[crossbowme]

Thanks for the idea of adding an oiler. I checked on the Argo site and it's $989.10 plus installation. The guy I know that has an Argo is a Maine Guide and keeps his machine loaded thru bear, moose and deer season. His complaint is always unloading and then loading again just to oil the chain. I'm retired and won't have mine loaded as often as his, so maybe doing it by hand is the way to go.

[philipatmaxfour]

Glad that you were able to get more info. Just under a thousand$ is better than 10,000$ for the xti. Happy to hear that you are thinking of doing it manually,some guys love the auto oiler but they are a choice not a necessity. Welcome to the club.

[Coast2Coast]

I for one am not manually lubing my chains next season. I had to unload 100s of lbs of gear out of my machine every 1-3 days this hunting season to lube the chains. We moved camp every few days. I guess one advantage was that I quickly memorized exactly where every piece of gear was! But that is a major PITA after being up from 4am till midnight almost every day.

[crossbowme]

That is exactly what my friend that owns the hunting camps complained about. If I order one from the factory, I'm going to make sure it has an oiler. We go out for two weeks at a time and I don't want to load/unload all the time.

[crossbowme]

I was able to find a 2014 HDI demo with tracks, canvas top, winch, etc. 195 miles on it. No oiler though - I'll try it on my own and see. If it becomes a PITA I'll order an olier.

[bakedalaskan]

Don't get worked up over lubing chains. Our chains are in a closed environment and generally not exposed to mud and water. Motorcycle chains are exposed and last from 10 to 15 thousand miles on a street bike and a hell of a long time on dirt bikes that go through mud and sand. I have read the great chain lube debate on motorcycles for years and have tried them all to include nothing but WD40. There is no miracle lube and they all work about the same. A chain oiler will help you keep your floor pan dirty with oil and that oil on your floor pan will not help the chain. A good chain lube will stick to the chain and not fly off. I have been on long expeditions and usually don't have to lube chains until I am done. If I reach in and touch my chains and my fingers come out black the chair really does not need lube but I lube them anyway because I get this guilty feeling that I am not doing something according to Hoyle.

[crossbowme]

Thanks for the advice. What lube do you use for cold weather (supposed to be -10F here by the weekend)?

[john swenson]

i have exposed chains on my max 2 6x6 and have been using ''blaster'' brand chain and cable lube with good results. it has the teflon polymers in it. sold at auto parts and walmarts, etc. j.b.

[Coast2Coast]

Don't get worked up over lubing chains. Our chains are in a closed environment and generally not exposed to mud and water. Motorcycle chains are exposed and last from 10 to 15 thousand miles on a street bike and a hell of a long time on dirt bikes that go through mud and sand.

The only problem with that comparison is that motorcycles and dirt bikes use expensive x-ring chains that are fully sealed from the elements on the wearing parts. An unsealed chain lasts me 10 hours on my motocross bike and I religiously clean and attempt to get lube back into it every hour or so. An x-ring chain can last over 100 hours and then I replace them just because they're ugly, but they still have room to wear. With unsealed chains dirt gets down inside the bushings where you can't clean it, then it's hard to get lube to work its way into the inside of the bushings and stay there for any significant amount of time. Pretty much like rubbing sand paper or lapping compound on all the wearing surfaces continuously. Old motorcycles had crap chains but ran in sealed cases in an oil bath. They lasted virtually forever. I believe that the more oil washes over a non sealed chain the more it will clean the junk out and keep it lubed and the longer it will last. Oil in the chain wells is a non issue to me, it just gets cleaned out with the rest of the leaves grass seeds and junk when I clean it. In case you can't tell, I am pro auto-lube lol.

[Coast2Coast]

Thanks for the advice. What lube do you use for cold weather (supposed to be -10F here by the weekend)?

I've been using Motul C3 chain lube on one machine and a rust cure 3000 product on the other. The rust cure is 1000 times messier than the C3 as it flings off, and the way it comes out of the can it applies a lot more than the C3 can does. Not sure it matters which lube you use as much as how well you can keep the chain clean. When they get some crud on them I clean and brush them with a ton of WD40 and a grunge brush for motorcycle chains, it's a brush that cleans the chains on 3 sides at once. Then wipe off excess with a rag, wait a day in the garage for stuff to drip and dry out, sometimes I even get meticulous and air blast the chain off after, then apply the lube.