Riding in snow

[glen1971]

So a friend of mine asked, and I wasn't sure, so here is his question...

Does deep snow or hard packed snow stop an argo? I've got an '07 Avenger with tracks and have been in 2-3' of light powder and had no issues.. Would a crust on the snow cause issues? I know that the larger surface area keeps the ground pressure low, but I wasn't sure if there was reasonable limitations.. I told him that in 5' of snow, you might wanna look at a sled for sure..

[mowbizz]

Every off-road vehicle has limitations but tracks increase your ability to traverse more extreme conditions...5 feet of hard pack shouldn’t give you problems wth the right cleats but powder is a different story. Remember the Argo is basically a boat on wheels and it will want to “float” in deep powder as will a sled, leaving you high centered. Difference is a sled will power you through (to a degree) with horsepower and RPM’s as long as you can stay afloat! Slow down or tip a sled over and it’s over (until you get it unstuck)

[alain]

i just went 1' of snow powder and the argo have hard time to go max speed maybe 10 km/h it almost stop on a very small hill. The oil light went on its a brand new argo.....

[ARGOJIM]

i just went 1' of snow powder and the argo have hard time to go max speed maybe 10 km/h it almost stop on a very small hill. The oil light went on its a brand new argo.....

What transmission ratio did you order?

[alain]

i didnt know that i have a choice of transmission?

[plott hound]

my 2012 hdi will destroy at least 2ft of powder running rubber tracks.its like theres no snow at all.

i just went 1' of snow powder and the argo have hard time to go max speed maybe 10 km/h it almost stop on a very small hill. The oil light went on its a brand new argo.....

[allwheeldrive]

Once you get into snow deeper than the machine has ground clearance I see no reason why any more depth would cause any more or less difficulty. It’s sort of like saying how deep of water can a boat float on? 12” or 12’ if your pressure is low its low. I know snow wheelers with 54” tall tires running 1-2PSI that drive around on 15’ of snow.

Hills are going to be the majority of problems since snow mobiles can sometimes only clime these with momentum. In much the same way a Polaris Turbo Razor can climb a dirt hill an Argo couldn’t via a running start.

[John8x8hdi]

Although we usually don't get much snow in NC, we love using our rubber tracks for snow. It rides really smooth and we haven't had any clearance issues.

[mowbizz]

I see no reason why any more depth would cause any more or less difficulty. It’s sort of like saying how deep of water can a boat float on? 12” or 12’

Think about 5 feet of powder snow...The Argo wheels/tracks couldn't possibly reach solid ground when "afloat" on that powder. The tracks would simply spin once the snow under the Argo packed down enough...then where's the traction to move forward? Then, if it did mire itself enough to make contact with hard ground, you would be up to your kazoo in powder snow with nowhere to go except back where you came from...maybe.

[glen1971]

Thanks for the replies everyone.. Kinda what I was thinking.. Know that you don't go everywhere, but damn near..

[ARGOJIM]

Thanks for the replies everyone.. Kinda what I was thinking.. Know that you don't go everywhere, but damn near..

Though I have no real experience, I believe what your asking could possibly happen as follows.
You are atop 6-8 inches of crust with powder underneath, a turn ( most likely) breaks the crust and you are now in powder attempting to push and hopefully climb back on the crust. I'd assume it would be like breaking through ice in a marsh having a bulk to push with minimal traction resulting in some additional downward force ( less floatation).
Again I'd assume, a straight path in either direction would be your friend to climb back on top though it may continue to break for a while.

[plott hound]

DSCN0253.jpgDSCN0252.jpgDSCN0251.jpgpictures say a thousand words.heres NCT and my self in 3 feet of snow with very little crust.

[Floorman]

Thanks Plott Hound your pictures say it all. Not hard to have 3 to 4 ft of snow in our area and I have yet to be stopped in it. I will admit to some minor detours on certain hills or packing the snow to climb a hill.

[BW3]

Southeastern Mass. we get a wet snow here ,my friend with an Argo Big Foot and stock 18” Argo plastic track owns the winters here , Adair open swim/ mud tracks on my Frontier dig a hole with very little foward movement or if deep enough high centers the body and your stuck , but short of snow here I ain’t found anything it cann’t go through short of driver error and /or machine break down..... I will try an experiment by placing belting to inclose the track for winter use hopefully to get it to run atop the snow and not dig in, ....but may have to break down and get a set of plastic track but with so few / little snow here of late just cann’t justify the $$$$$.....

[plott hound]

Thanks Plott Hound your pictures say it all. Not hard to have 3 to 4 ft of snow in our area and I have yet to be stopped in it. I will admit to some minor detours on certain hills or packing the snow to climb a hill.

what tracks are you running floorman?