Just got back from a week of hunting in Alberta with family. I had not had a chance to get out much this year and was really looking forward to 1.going hunting 2. going hunting with the Argo and 3. Taking some video of going hunting with the Argo. Anyway, 1 and 2 worked out, 3 is a work in progress. Here is the good and the bad of it.
The Bad: The weather turned cold that week, really cold. -30ish which by the way, makes video taking really tough. The first day I started up the Argo to go into some moose meadows it quit about 2 minutes into the warm-up and would not start.I have seen this before as they seem to be susceptible to icing in the lines below about -25. Tried some gasoline antifreeze as this solved the issue a few years ago, but no go. Took the intake off of the carb, poured some fuel in the carb and it started up. So I took the fuel pump apart and found it FULL of ice, right jammed full. Cleaned it out and put it together. Topped up the tank with Gas, and as I was pulling the nozzle out, I realized someone had put diesel in the jerry can. Problem is now bigger. I took my small drill pump and drained ALL the gas out of the tank. Put fresh gas in. Still no go. Tried siphoning the line to prime the pump. Noticed that the gas did not seem to “taste” like gas, (tells you how good I am at siphoning). Gas turned out to be full of water from the second jerry can, and no, these aren't my jerry cans with my gas, mine are in my trailer 30 kms away............Problem is now even bigger. Drain tank and lines…again. Put new gas in but fuel still doesn’t seem to want to pump. Decide to take the value cover off to see how the pump is activated as obviously I am missing something Break the plastic cover in the process (-30 and plastic don’t mix). So now I am in the middle of nowhere, with frozen lines and a busted valve cover. So I cover the engine up, go in into the camp, fix the pump as it was not connected properly when I could not see the shaft part with the valve cover on. JB weld the cover together. Put it all back together and, bingo, it starts right up. Ran flawless the rest of the trip. And, it the first time I can remember that the value cover didn’t weep oil a little. (?)
Sometimes I love Argos, but sometimes I really really have to hold my tongue
The Good. Machine ran great other than the gas/diesel/water fun. My dad is almost 70, going on 40, we put the enclosure on, the heater on, and him and my 12 year old daughter had a great time cruising the meadows for moose with me standing on the back freezing. I took some video and will post as soon as I can. Ended up with 3 bull moose, one of which we pulled up 300ft of a steep hill with the machine, 2 elk and 7 whitetail bucks. Now the work starts………………
Moose2011 Argo.jpg
The Bad: The weather turned cold that week, really cold. -30ish which by the way, makes video taking really tough. The first day I started up the Argo to go into some moose meadows it quit about 2 minutes into the warm-up and would not start.I have seen this before as they seem to be susceptible to icing in the lines below about -25. Tried some gasoline antifreeze as this solved the issue a few years ago, but no go. Took the intake off of the carb, poured some fuel in the carb and it started up. So I took the fuel pump apart and found it FULL of ice, right jammed full. Cleaned it out and put it together. Topped up the tank with Gas, and as I was pulling the nozzle out, I realized someone had put diesel in the jerry can. Problem is now bigger. I took my small drill pump and drained ALL the gas out of the tank. Put fresh gas in. Still no go. Tried siphoning the line to prime the pump. Noticed that the gas did not seem to “taste” like gas, (tells you how good I am at siphoning). Gas turned out to be full of water from the second jerry can, and no, these aren't my jerry cans with my gas, mine are in my trailer 30 kms away............Problem is now even bigger. Drain tank and lines…again. Put new gas in but fuel still doesn’t seem to want to pump. Decide to take the value cover off to see how the pump is activated as obviously I am missing something Break the plastic cover in the process (-30 and plastic don’t mix). So now I am in the middle of nowhere, with frozen lines and a busted valve cover. So I cover the engine up, go in into the camp, fix the pump as it was not connected properly when I could not see the shaft part with the valve cover on. JB weld the cover together. Put it all back together and, bingo, it starts right up. Ran flawless the rest of the trip. And, it the first time I can remember that the value cover didn’t weep oil a little. (?)
Sometimes I love Argos, but sometimes I really really have to hold my tongue
The Good. Machine ran great other than the gas/diesel/water fun. My dad is almost 70, going on 40, we put the enclosure on, the heater on, and him and my 12 year old daughter had a great time cruising the meadows for moose with me standing on the back freezing. I took some video and will post as soon as I can. Ended up with 3 bull moose, one of which we pulled up 300ft of a steep hill with the machine, 2 elk and 7 whitetail bucks. Now the work starts………………
Moose2011 Argo.jpg
Comment