BigFoot hill climbing versus big ATV (SPortsman 700 or the like)

[azz7772]

hi there I am a fairly new driver to the aatv world but I have a lot of off road experience and it does not matter what machine you have there are so many factors when driving off road. The calculations everyone is talking about is just a base line up or down a hill with perfect terrain.but out there in the bush there are factors to consider, soil conditions, wet or dry.
what I am getting at is in my experience you get the machine you want and you learn the perameters of it. You can't or shouldn't just jump in and go for an extreme trip, start with small hills and shallow mud and build yourself up to the extreme stuff. I for one would not take passengers on extreme rides unless I really new my machine and its capabilities.

[trainguy438]

I have an 04 Argo Bigfoot and I have to say it's an animal. When I first got it I had a few issuses do to my inexperinse. Now I can climb almost anything. The stability is very impressive. If you know how to drive it well you would be very happy! They are the most stabile atv I have ever drove. I love my and would not trade it for any other atv. I think you would be very happy with it. You should find someone with a 6x6 to give you a ride and show you what it's all about. Happy shopping!

[Rock Doctor]

I bet most people that flip an atv or aatv are showing off, being drunk and or stupid, or are driving beyond their capabiltes. !

Most of the time, with my friends, this starts with someone yelling "Hold my beer and watch this"

Hills can be tricky, the best advice is to practice untill you feel comfortable on shorter hills.
A number of times I've had to back up steep hills, as my load in the back was much heavier than the front of the machine. That can be tricky, and a little creapy, especially when you cant see over the load in the back of the machine
RD

[northerner]

my bigfoot has a built in "to steep to climb" sputter sensor built into the carb, so.... i cant even climb a steep hill if i want to! can be very frusterating when ure just cresting the steep part off a hill and then it all goes south

[spookum]

Good ness, i think it is time to freshen up the carb and fuel pump! If it is doing it up hill, very soon it will be doing it under heavy load and then on flat ground...... GRRRRR

[Mike]

That is why a lot of members have added an auxiliary fuel pump. Before ascending a steep incline, they flip the fuel pump on and that eliminates the issue.

[spookum]

That is why a lot of members have added an auxiliary fuel pump. Before ascending a steep incline, they flip the fuel pump on and that eliminates the issue.

I dont know, i have yet to see a convincing argument that an electric fuel pump is a good idea. I will take some convincing, but it seems like they burn down more AATVS than the ones they help... Seems too risky for me. I think that the fact that most electric fuel pumps can over power the float, and blow fuel into the air cleaner and then ignite it due to a back fire seems really scarie to me. I hope im misinformed....

[Mike]

Who do you know that has burned down their Argo with an auxiliary fuel pump? It is installed with a toggle switch so that you can only run it when needed.

[msafi65]

Anyone with many hours in an AATV has probably driven it up or down some steep stuff. Driving downhill is a learned experience and and should be "driven" not coasting. Ive driven up hills that didnt look that bad and planted the winch on the MAX IV in the dirt coming down while the tires were still on the hill, hit the throttle and drove away. Another point when doing some engine research most manufactures rate the angle of operation at between 25 to 35 degrees,intermittent use with full oil level. Boy have I been way past that! Im a firm believer in a roll bar-cage with all these vehicles,upside down on top of you could be real bad news.

[rapidroy]

I dont know, i have yet to see a convincing argument that an electric fuel pump is a good idea. I will take some convincing, but it seems like they burn down more AATVS than the ones they help... Seems too risky for me. I think that the fact that most electric fuel pumps can over power the float, and blow fuel into the air cleaner and then ignite it due to a back fire seems really scarie to me. I hope im misinformed....

spookum, I will have to say that having the proper fuel supply on a hill, when you need it most, far outweighs any problems that may be caused by an electric pump. All the conquests are equipped with electric pumps and I did add one to my magnum that was the primary pump. They must be a low pressure pump though, 3 - 3.5 psi I believe. Flooding the carb with excess pressure is a hazard to be sure as you state. One could add an oil pressure switch that would cut the pump off if the engine stalls or in the event of a rollover for added safety. Just my 2 cents and you are correct to be on the safe side, although on occasion i have been tempted to remove the fuel cap and add a match. Counting to ten and re-assuring tones from my brother prevented any incidents of spontaneous argo combustion on the trail.

[azz7772]

spookum, I will have to say that having the proper fuel supply on a hill, when you need it most, far outweighs any problems that may be caused by an electric pump. All the conquests are equipped with electric pumps and I did add one to my magnum that was the primary pump. They must be a low pressure pump though, 3 - 3.5 psi I believe. Flooding the carb with excess pressure is a hazard to be sure as you state. One could add an oil pressure switch that would cut the pump off if the engine stalls or in the event of a rollover for added safety. Just my 2 cents and you are correct to be on the safe side, although on occasion i have been tempted to remove the fuel cap and add a match. Counting to ten and re-assuring tones from my brother prevented any incidents of spontaneous argo combustion on the trail.

you can get a manually adjustable fuel pressure regulator with a guage so you could actually dial the pressure in to what you need.

check out this link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADJUSTABLE-J...#ht_3259wt_905

[trainguy438]

My 04 Bigfoot has climbed to it's full potential. When it starts to cut out I pull out the choke and keep it running until I level out. But that's just how I roll.

[Castro]

I have been running a solid state electric fuel pump that has spent half its life submerged for 7 years now. orig I had it in line with the factory but eliminated the factory pump. My Bigfoot never ran so good. I have yet to hear of some one burning their aatv down from a faulty pump, guess if they didn't fuse it when they installed it. The only thing I can say is that I want to put another factory pump on so I don't have to rely on the battery in a worse case scenario. I had nothing but issues with hard grades, but once I went electric my problems went away. just make sure you run a line to a bottle or back tot he tank from the carb overflow in case you forget to turn the pump off