It's too slow

[Jason Scoville]

So I am new to this forum stuff and it appears that I did not know how to use this thread correctly. I seem to have repeated myself. To answer your question I don't mind sharing the story of my wife's drunk ass driving into the pond and her passengers freaking out and jumping out intern making the machine take on water and eventually going under. Thankfully they shut the motor off before it went under. It was easy to get it dried out and running again. I'm not in Canada. I'm in Indiana. I do go to Canada a few times a year north of Timmins Ontario to a piece of property I own that requires an Argo type machine to access the property. In the winter it's four feet of powder and in the summer it's muskeg swamp. My Bigfoot does much better in the summer, but does do a fair job pushing through the 4 foot of powder. Of course once we've driven over it once it becomes a highway and very easy in and out.

[dirtdobber]

I'm no petroleum expert, but GL-5 is one of the API (American Petroleum Institute) specifications for gear oils. The GL-5 simply means the oil is designed for heavy duty, high speed spiral gears. Read a little more about it here: https://www.oilspecifications.org/api_gos.php. I can't tell that there is anything special about "Hypoy C". It seems to me any hypoid gear oil of the specified weight and meeting API GL-5 standards should work. Hypoid, by the way, is just a fancy word to describe a gear set that is beveled and spiraled, like the ring and pinion gear in an automotive rear end.

Now, let's get to the problem you are having - machine slowing down. What happened to the machine between the time is last ran at top speed and the time you noticed it slowing down? Also, some things you need to check:
Is the belt in good shape and is it properly tensioned?
Is the belt running dry - no water or oil getting on it to make it slip?
Have you checked to see that the clutches are cycling FULLY through their travel as the engine revs up?
Is the engine running at full RPM's but the machine still running slow?
Is the engine choking down any or feeling underpowered when trying to reach top speed?
Does the machine require excessive RPM to get moving, as if there was something keepign the machine from rolling?

[Jason Scoville]

as far as what happened in between the time it ran last at top speed and when I noticed it's slowing down. I don't think anything specific happened. My wife sinking it in the pond was after I noticed the slowdown. As I think back on it I was never impressed with the speed of it. I don't remember clocking it on my GPS but I know it never did 20 miles an hour. What do you think about the tire size issue? I have 25 inch tires and the channel tracks. I was told those are oversized tires for that machine. If it had smaller tires would it go faster?
the belt appears to be in good shape and I'm not sure if it's properly tensioned. I didn't know I could adjust the tension.
It is dry, not slipping on water or oil.
I do believe the clutches are cycling fully. I'm not sure exactly how much throw it should have. It does look like it moves out an inch or better. I'll check the manual.
Yes the engine is running at full RPMs.
This engine was new about a year ago when I installed it. It now has approximately 60 hours on it. It is not underpowered.
The last question " does the machine require excessive RPM to get moving, as if there was something keeping the machine from rolling?" In really cold weather, 10 degrees or below, the centrifugal clutch attached to the motor does freeze up and will not expand until I thaw it out with my industrial heat gun (blow dryer).
I will check on those few things on my end within the next day or two and get back with you. Thanks.

[ARGOJIM]

as far as what happened in between the time it ran last at top speed and when I noticed it's slowing down. I don't think anything specific happened. My wife sinking it in the pond was after I noticed the slowdown. As I think back on it I was never impressed with the speed of it. I don't remember clocking it on my GPS but I know it never did 20 miles an hour. What do you think about the tire size issue? I have 25 inch tires and the channel tracks. I was told those are oversized tires for that machine. If it had smaller tires would it go faster?
the belt appears to be in good shape and I'm not sure if it's properly tensioned. I didn't know I could adjust the tension.
It is dry, not slipping on water or oil.
I do believe the clutches are cycling fully. I'm not sure exactly how much throw it should have. It does look like it moves out an inch or better. I'll check the manual.
Yes the engine is running at full RPMs.
This engine was new about a year ago when I installed it. It now has approximately 60 hours on it. It is not underpowered.
The last question " does the machine require excessive RPM to get moving, as if there was something keeping the machine from rolling?" In really cold weather, 10 degrees or below, the centrifugal clutch attached to the motor does freeze up and will not expand until I thaw it out with my industrial heat gun (blow dryer).
I will check on those few things on my end within the next day or two and get back with you. Thanks.

Ah,we may be on to something. Did your machine slow down afger the installation of tracks?
All tracks will slow you down a little from tires just from the hp needed to run them, however, if I remember correctly the channels actually underdrive the machine.

Read up on a couple threads in the track section about the channels. You could also contact buzz.

I would also clean the drive clutch if it is hanging up. There is a service manual ln the home page.

[dirtdobber]

Jason,

The fact that your drive clutch is freezing up seems to be a pretty big clue. I don't know what clutch setup you have, but to give you an idea of how it should be working in terms of the pulley travel, take a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmkUjcR-opE

[Jerry In Maine]

curious..what caused the sinking?

[scott8x8]

Try using an oil extractor
This one came from Harbor freight