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My Argo 8x8 fixer-upper

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  • My Argo 8x8 fixer-upper

    Newbie here, just picked up my first AATV. It ain't pretty but it was given to me for free!! The problem is, it was sitting in a barn for years and the guy that gave it to me knows absolutely nothing about it except for the fact that the engine is out of it and "in pieces". I don't know year, model, engine type, etc, but suspect that once I get home from work I should be able to track all that information down from the serial numbers. I haven't even layed my own eyes on it yet, but here's is a picture of it sitting at my house where my buddy dropped it off. There's what looks to be the hood of another aatv, and in another picture there is a frame for a 6x6 that he dropped off too.



    My plan is to take it down to the frame & do a complete restore. My primary use for it will be on coastal marshlands where I deer hunt. I'm still undecided whether or not I'm going to track it out or not. I've found a used set of plastic tracks locally for $450, however they are for a 6x6 and I would have to buy some more track to make them work. Still seems like a good deal to me.

    On our marsh, we access all of our deer stands by mud boat via drainage ditches & natural sloughs. We haul in 4-wheelers by boat pre-season to bust our shooting lanes as a less disturbing alternative to airboats. We are very limited as to where we can go with the 4-wheelers though, and it's very easy to stick them once they break through the top layer of vegetation. Would the weight being distributed over 8 wheels alone be enough to keep this 8x8 on top, or do y'all feel I should do the tracks? The only track disadvantage that I can find from reading the site is that they do not track very straight. We kind of like our shooting lanes straight. lol

    A few pictures of our marsh...





    Last edited by Mike; 03-15-2011, 05:18 PM. Reason: merged three consecutive posts (you can edit your original post ;)
    In the south, we race our 4x4's and mud ride in our boats... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqVe3xG-wos

  • #2
    Wow! Cool find! So, you have an awesome Argo project, and scored some pieces from at least one other AATV as well. You have the front upper 1/4 of a body from an Attex Chief, the T-20 Borg Warner Transmission from the Attex (wanna sell it?!, it won't really work in your Argo as it sits....) and what looks like a Rockwell JLO or Cuyuna engine peaking out of the pile. I like the big green Argo 8's. Neat looking machine.... Good luck with the project!

    ~m

    EDIT:: Didn't answer your question.... the machines will track as straight as you can drive, as with anything else. I don't think you should have any problems without tracks, but they never hurt. If it's real soft under the crust of vegetation, why not give the tracks a shot? sounds like you've found a good deal on them. Sell the engine and transmission that are lodged in the front of the machine to fund them!
    Last edited by hydromike; 03-15-2011, 09:19 AM.
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    • #3
      Pics of other parts in the pile...



      In the south, we race our 4x4's and mud ride in our boats... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqVe3xG-wos

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      • #4
        get the tracks and put them around the front 3 axles.
        Kevin Hough
        TREBMASTER
        (____>
        .OOO
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        • #5
          I spy.......

          Too bad you're so far away! Looks like somebody wripped apart an Attex Tomahawk to me! Nice frame, footwells, engine cover, OH160 (ish), yaddayadda..... Looks like they didn't care to take the frame "out" of the machine, and just cut it out..... All those parts would go a long way on a couple projects of mine....

          <sigh> The curse of such a popular forum.... You got all this for FREE?!

          ~m
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          • #6
            yep, FREE! lol My neighbor was at my house helping me clean frogs the night before I left to go to work, his son had just came home from offshore and stopped by. He asked me if I was still looking for a marsh buggy (that's what we call 'em down here), said the guy he worked with had one in a barn in pieces that he was tired of walking around... come get it. So I bolted over there & told him I wanted it, and my neighbor went picked it up for me the next morning on a trailer and dropped it in my yard while I was at work.

            I like the idea of the tracks on the front 3 axles.....

            isn't that a Tecumseh one lunger?

            Kinda curious to find out what engine was in the Argo and which one came from the other unit..... and which has the most power.

            *EDIT* Nevermind the engine questions.... after reading the Sprint 3 cyl. conversion thread I know EXACTLY what my power plant is gonna be!
            Last edited by Mike; 03-15-2011, 05:16 PM. Reason: merged two consecutive posts.
            In the south, we race our 4x4's and mud ride in our boats... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqVe3xG-wos

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            • #7
              UPDATE - finally home from work and got to dig through the pile. It looks like I have a Tecumseh 16 hp engine in unknown condition, a JLO Rockwell engine in unknown condition, and a T-20 tranny, but no Argo tranny. So... I think I'm going to be trying to shoehorn that T-20 into that Argo after I get a 1.0 Liter 3 cyl. mounted in there. Any ideas on what it's going to take to get that T-20 to fit? It's going to take a lot of work but this thing should be a beast when it's complete.

              I have mountain of work ahead of me before I can even begin to start fabricating for the engine/tranny monstrosity. The frame is badly rusted, and there are some places in the floor that have holes in them. It looks like there was some type of mounting plates there or something that rusted through. All new axles, chains, sprockets, etc. are probably in order. I'll have to get it in my shop and strip it down to the frame first, then just start rebuilding from there I guess.
              In the south, we race our 4x4's and mud ride in our boats... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqVe3xG-wos

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              • #8
                stumpgrinder


                Thats some seroius mud riding in the boats!

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                • #9
                  Get an Attex body and you could have a really nice machine! It doesn't look like it'd take too much effort to put one together.......pretty much all the parts are there.
                  "Looks like you have a problem with your 4 wheeler........you're missin' two wheels there"
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