Welcome back- My new Argo 950SX testing, comments and feed back

[mightymaxIV]

Little more information on the maintenance side of the 950 Aurora, instead of the traditional plastic floor pans on other Argos the new Aurora models have a rubber mat that can be easily removed to clean off mud leaves etc. Under the rear mat are two aluminum plates that have to removed to get to the rear chains. Each of these plates are held in place by three Allen head screws. Once the screws are out you can pull out the metal plates, then chain, adjustment and lubrication system looks like any other Argo. These plates will rattle a little and could make you believe your machine is having issues. Like most machines you start to understand what you are hearing and stop worrying about all the little sounds that are particular to this machine. Every time I drive this machine I am surprised by just how much power it has and how quick it accelerates, I am still impressed after all this time.

[mightymaxIV]

Spent yesterday at the Hog Waller ATV park in Palatka Florida. It was truck day so they wouldn't let me go into the great mud pit that is well suited for a tracked Argo. My son David brought his Off road motocross style bike but unfortunately this park does not allow motorcycles ( I couldn't believe it-we made the trip down there for him also) Any way, the park is massive and there is an extensive trail system and there were some excellent areas for mud running but almost every challenging hole had a broken side by side or several stuck machines. My eight year old granddaughter spent a lot of time driving in heavy traffic, mud, and sand and by the end of the day she pretty much had driving the machine down. The main trails were all sand and you could push an Argo along at at very good clip and still maintain a very good ride. While I was pulling out a stuck side by side I put the Argo into low range and nothing happened. At first I panicked thinking I had torn something up inside of the gear box. After I calmed down I realized that I hadn't abused the machine and it was probably just a linkage adjustment. Sure enough it was just an adjustment bolt that had come lose. I grabbed a wench, tightened down the bolt and every thing worked just fine after that. Here is some video, It's not my best but I was busy watching my granddaughter drive so I never took the camera of a mount.

[john swenson]

hey dan.. nice video and it looks like you got some good mud runs . lots of people ! and your grandaughter did a fine job driving. glad your machine was a easy fix . j.b.

[mightymaxIV]

Video! Just got back from Texas, wow, what a time. Lot's of Rain, every thing was flooded and there were side by sides and four wheelers everywhere. We spent a lot of time pulling out stuck machines. I pulled one out that was about to go over on it's side. I was was able to get an angle that got him back on fours wheels and then pulled him out. One machine was so stuck that it took both Sammy and I pulling at the same time to get him out of the hole. Water covered deep mud lanes every where and you had to be careful not to fall face first into a mud lane that was filled with water.

As bad as the mud seemed in this video there were areas we went that were so bad we didn't even film. I was totally focused on watching the other machines and making sure no one threw a track, rolled a machine or flipped a machine over backwards (which almost happened).

On one occasion I went into a mud hole with out water and got into sticky mud to the top of the left track and half way down on the right side. I didn't think I would be able to turn the tracks. I was sure I was stuck and was happy I had other machines with me. I hit the gas hard and to my surprise the machine moved forward and powered right through that awful mud. Having that kind of power in an 8x8 is scary.

The first time my son cranked open the throttle he was stunned by the machines power and said so.

I surprised many lifted machines by powering right past them in mud conditions.
It was fun and scary at the same time. On major roadways we blew by lines of stuck machines or walked right through mud that was giving the lifted machines fits.

Wow! It was a great time.

[john swenson]

well dan ....super conditions and super video as always . must have been nice knowing you could go anywhere you darn well pleased . the aurora was right at home . we may find some mud like that at busco . j.b.