argo on ice

[plott hound]

1/2" of ice your looking for trouble.normally we have at least a foot and sometimes 3 feet of ice this time of year.this year we are traveling on bettween 3" and 8" with a crap load of snow and slush on top.plus what ice we do have is real soft.glad ive got an argo this year for sure,was watching the 4 wheelers stuggle through it all weekend.somewhere here ive got an old time ice load reference,will find it and post it.

UOTE=RedBlazer;84415]What a toad!!!! Congrats! Cool that the youngen' is out with ya!!!
as the Nugent says, "Buy a kid a fishin' or huntin' license and you'll never see him in a court room!" Amen!
Keep postin' the pics. good stuff.

1/2" inch of ice?????? can these do this? I just got my new 6x6 last week and was curious, how much is safe to travel on, 3"?

Thanks, Doug[/QUOTE]

[number1cas]

It has been my experience so far that a fully loaded Avenger needs at LEAST 4-5" of blue ice. My Avenger all decked out with snow and ice buildup on it is pushing 3000 lbs, I have also found that the tracks do not seem to matter much as to distributing the weight on ice. Ice is diffrent than mud, the tracks spread the ground pressure and allow you to "float" on or near the surface of mud, on ice, 3000lbs is 3000lbs, the extra distribution is not enough as you still have all that weight on a relatively small footprint.

To add to this is the fact that a vehicle this heavy on thin ice will push a bow wave in the ice as I experienced last week, we were cruising along the river again when the ice beside us started to explode into the air and head straight into our path, it seems that we were pushing a bow wave and when it found a weak spot "BOOM" It was an awesome sight, but was enough to convince me that this river is just not safe. As for travel on 1/2" of ice, I wouldn't even attempt to walk on ice that thin and I know I could not get my Argo onto it, not in a million years, maybe with 8' wide tracks but then they would weigh so much it would still break through. It is generally accepted that 4" is the minimum safe thickness for foot traffic and ice fishing. Remember, the length of time the weight is stationary on ice makes a diffrence too, the ice will slowly sink and start to crack over time, that is why they use 4" as a minimum. You CAN walk on less, but I wouldn't sit and fish on less.

[RedBlazer]

Number1cas, I read your experience when you posted it! Well written, it was almost as if the video played out before me as I was reading it. Horrifying for sure!
Glad all ended well.
I've always lived by the 4" rule. I'm new to the aatv world and saw the 1/2" comment and I just had to ask.

Plotthound, Surely didn't mean to hijack your thread, especially one with a great fish! Sorry bout that! I'm with ya' on glad I've got an argo for fishing!!! My wife even likes it ;-) !!!
Life is Good!!!
doug

[plott hound]

todays one and only victim.

[plott hound]

got the nephew with me for a few days durring march break.certainly lots of fish,heres a picture of 2 we caught.

[Bw6]

Hey Plott, nice fish, where did you go? Barrie?