What Not To Do In An Argo or Any AATV

[Bw6]

Here is a slide show that I put together, that illustrates "What not to do in an Argo". This was shot in April/2010 at RicK Merkley's Spring Ride. Lucky that no one was hurt, except Cam's Frontier.

[plott hound]

good one BW6.very funny stuff.

[rdr]

oh noooooooo i thought i was the onily one . check out page 9 of the apr busco thread my nephew sunk my max II trying to come out of the hole at busco not his fault . robbie

[eightwheeler]

Lol nice video BW6!!!

[Model Citizen]

Seems like April 2010 was the month of sinking AATV's.

Bridget

[Bw6]

Seems like April 2010 was the month of sinking AATV's.

Bridget

Yes, but fortunalely, it doesn't happen that often. Rarely do you see footage of it. Lessons learned from an Argo point of view, don't allow anyone to stand in the back and climb out. I think they have a decal saying max. 140 lbs. in the rear compartment. But we don't need "no stinkn warnings", LOL

[Swamper]

Hey Bw6,
Actually the decal stated 150 lbs and Tim is 150 lbs. He moved back to balance the Argo out a little better, they are bit heavy in the front. He was on the front to pull start the engine, as the electrical starter/battery in that Argo wouldn't start the engine easily if a cylinder was coming up on a compression stroke on the first turn or 2 of the key. Will did not say to go in and out in the same spot until after taking the Argo to periscope depth. Cam also said that he had come out of the pond at that spot several times before. It was an unfortunate incident and I still feel quite bad about Cam's Argo. But as you stated in the photo collage, my family did get photo proof for posterity. My wife stood there with the video camera and never turned it on.
Lesson learned.
Cheers,
Al

[Bw6]

That Sinking Feeling

Hi Al, I do remember Cam telling me he did get out where you tried it, but he said he didn't have any load in the back. Anyhow glad nobody was hurt. Cam put a new seat in it, he said it would take forever to dry it out, and a carb kit, other than that it is a good as new, lol.

Don't feel bad about it Al, we all have done similar goofy things, like when I sunk the Hoot in the beaver pond (forgot to put the plug in). You would have thought I would have noticed that "sinking feeling", but not until its was too late. I rode it to the bottom, wish I would have that on film!

[Swamper]

Thanks Ray,
I understand what you are saying, but I am the type of guy who believes in that when you borrow something, it goes back the same or better than when you borrowed it. I remember hearing the story of the Hoot and the pond. I think Rick and Cam still have good chuckles about that one.
Cheers,
Al

[Roger S]

taking the Argo to periscope depth

LOL I like that term. Is that when the headlights are at water level, or the operator's eye's

A guy in the back is ok to swim, but move up front before climbing out, and do it head on with both tires. I think the operator sunk it, trying to keep his feet dry. Well, another reason to get the avenger bigger tires, floats higher. You might have sunk it, but at least it was clean.

you know the saying.. you can drown in 2 inches of water.. well I almost did that with an 8 wheeler.. a little more than 2, but an innocent looking water filled rut, that had no bottom.

The hard starting on the frontiers.. has anyone figured it out. My ideas are loose lash on the intake valve negating the compression release. Or if the starter, clean between the commutator segments. Some of the briggs break a spring on the compression release mechanism, but the vanguard model isn't known for the problem.

[Swamper]

"taking the Argo to periscope depth"

Hey Roger,
Yea your are right, I was the one who sank it. I was already wet before it went under. But what isn't in the photos is that we we dead straight on to the bank. The bank on the right side of the Argo gave out and I didn't get off the throttle fast enough, and Tim was hopping around in the back before he bailed. I was trying to get out of the Argo next to the bank as it was sinking. Then to keep it from floating away I grabbed the trailer hitch and kept it close to shore until Will got his Argo out of the water and over to winch it out.
There is always a first for everything, and this was definitely my first for going down with an Argo.
"Taking it to periscope depth" would be the operator's eye level. LOL
The starter on my 16hp doesn't have that problem, so would that series of engines have starters that might not have enough windings, or???

Cheers,

Al

[Roger S]

OK after your explanations, I withdraw all my accusations

All those starters have tiny windings, and cheesy magnets. If everything is working right, (compression release), it doesn't take much starter or battery to crank it, after all it's supposed to be able to pull start. My modified 18 doesn't have a compression release now, and there's no way you can pull start it, but the starter, if in tip top shape, still will.

[Swamper]

Yea my 16HP will pull over by hand pretty easy and the starter rolls it over pretty fast. Of course my engine has only about 45 hrs on it, so I would guess that it will get a little harder to start as it ages.
Cam had mentioned that he priced out having the starter rewound, but the shop wanted way more than the price of a new starter. It is puzzling that the starter on one engine in a cetain model has no real problems, yet the same engine in a different model has this problem. Would almost sound like a wiring issue.
Cheers,

Al

[Roger S]

How hard is the frontier to pull start compared to your 16. Maybe we can figure out if it's the engine or the starter. Like I mentioned, cleaning the gap between the commutator segments and keeping the intake valve lash tight makes the difference between mine cranking or not. The compression release mechanism could be faulty.

I imagine the 23 starts good when new, so something is happening. There are a couple different length briggs starters, don't know about vanguards. Also there is a "real" starter from briggs, made to crank an engine that's under load all the time, like a pump. It takes a different flywheel with a steel ring gear. Don't know if it's available for the 23 hp w/ the high output charging system. Wheel and starter would be a few hundred.. but I imagine the stock frontier stuff could be fixed if looked into. The guys who modify engines w/ high compression, and lose the compression release in the stock cam, use these HD starters.