Are they useful in "Real Canadian" Muskeg? How about asphalt?

[iamcanjim]

Hi there from Chevery, Quebec.

I just started teaching here. There's no road to here and we are surrounded by Muskeg, Rivers and the ocean. However, there is also about 6 km of paved roads here.

I need to be about to ride to the store for groceries.

I need something that can cross still rivers, ride on a soft sand beach, cross deep muskeg, be able to rock crawl on granite outcrops.

I want to be able to follow the snowmobile trails in the summer over ponds and muskeg.

I want to be able to cross the river and follow the beach.

I need something to launch and recover a small boat.

Can a 6x6 do all these things?

[Dozerlarry]

When I first read this I thought one of our Canadian friends was pulling a joke on us. I pulled Chevery up on Google Earth and couldn't believe what I saw. You're really remote! I think my Max 4 would do most of what you ask except for maybe the Muskeg. I have no idea what that is, sure ain't none in Florida. Lots of Canadians on here, I'm sure they'll know what you need. Good luck!

[Mike]

Welcome to the forum. The only two things you asked about that I would question whether a 6x6 can do is being able to cross the river and being able to rock crawl. If the river is wide and fast moving then a 6x6 would not be my first choice as it will not move fast enough to go against the current. Depending on what model you go with and what tires you have, your forward speed in calm water will be limited to about 4mph max. Many tires go half that fast. You can add an outboard motor to the 6x6 but your speed is still rather slow because most 6x6 hulls are not very efficient at moving water.

For muskeg, if it is really bad, you may need tracks. When you install tracks, they really limit your water speed. Some don't swim at all.

For the rock crawling, if the granite outcroppings are smooth and large, you will be fine. If they look like this:

IMGP6827.jpg

A suspension vehicle would be a better choice.

[iamcanjim]

Muskeg is typical of the North. It looks like a meadow, but it is really waterlogged peat moss with a thin layer of vegetation on top. Imagine the peat moss you buy at the garden store. Fill a pond with it, then plant grass on top. That's muskeg. Muskeg actually, in seeming defiance of gravity, also coats many of the hills.

As for the river, the geology of this area makes them form a series of ponds, then a short section of rapids, then ponds again. So where you would cross, there is no current, it's just wide (about 600 m) and deep.

I'll try to post some pics.

[iamcanjim]

All of the above pics were taken within a mile of the village.

[plott hound]

nice country,wheres the caribou?

[PlumCrazy]

Chevery

POPULATION: 300

WOW... Population 300, we have elementary schools a mile away that have more then that.

One of the newest villages on the Lower North Shore, Chevery is located along a sandy bay near the mouth of the thundering Netagamiou River. An early French fur-trading and seal-fishing post was established here in the 1730s. After the post was abandoned in the 1770s, there was no further settlement until 1931. That year, an experimental agricultural farm was established on the eastern bank of the nearby Cross River. With support from the federal government, William “Dosh” Anderson and his family cleared the land, imported livestock, and maintained vegetable gardens. The farm operated until World War II.

[akcrawler]

We have a lot of this kind of terrain in Alaska. I use tracks to get across muskeg. They work well for that. However, they don't swim. They are not too bad on rock, but I have found the tracks don't like to side-hill very much. The grousers dig into the sides of the tires and try to pull them off of the rims. I have heard that tracks also work well to get around in deep snow, but I haven't had a winter with them yet.

[Mike]

That is beautiful country to ride in. I don't think an AATV would have trouble going through any of that terrain except for the 4th and possibly the 5th photos. For the 4th photo, you would probably need tracks. They would help in situations like the 5th photo as well. The trade-off though is that you wouldn't be able to swim through the water fast and if you went with an HDPE track that swim, they would be slippery on the granite.

A lot comes down to driving style/strategy too. When I look at the photos you posted, I don't see anything that I couldn't get around without tracks. If I were you, I would try tires first and if you find you are getting stuck too much, go with tracks. The tires will be beneficial on the granite.

[iamcanjim]

There is another village called Harrington Harbour about 15 km away on an island. Otherwise, yes, it's isolated here. The culture is pure Newfoundland although we are in Quebec. I would assume if a caribou came within 100 miles it would end up in a freezer.

[Dozerlarry]

I'm beginning to think "Helicopter" here!

[akcrawler]

I just noticed that you are also interested in using whatever you get on asphalt sometimes. That's not a really good terrain for this kind of machine, in general. It is definitely hard on rubber tracks and should be avoided. Plastic tracks might be okay, but I think they would be a mite slippery just as they would be on granite. Actually, these machines really shine in off-road conditions. I think I would get a bike for the five km of blacktop you have there. Maybe a fat tire bike with a trailer for getting groceries and such. Folks here use them year 'round and they seem to do well in all but deep snow (more than 6" (20cm)). If you have snow like that though, the aatv with tracks would be a good solution. The videos I have seen of AATVs on ice and snow lead me to believe they are loads of fun in that environment.

[The Swamp Donkey]

I live in Northern Alberta, and we have a ton of the same style country except that there are spindly trees everywhere and we don't see much rock. So basically completely different... But we do have the muskeg, I'm pretty sure we invented it actually.

With my 8x8 with tires only, loaded with probably 400 pounds of gear/people, it will often get stuck in deep mud where the body gets high-centred and there is no weight on the tires any more, and when the muskeg becomes more like a watery soup and the layer of grass becomes sparse. In either case, you typically see the terrain change before you plunge into it and you get the chance to orient the machine so your winch is facing a tree and you're close to the left or right tree line.

Your challenge is the lack of trees. I would invest in hip waders, and would get several poles like the ones in the 4th photo to jam into the ground and winch from, if you don't want to spend the extra on rubber tracks which are around $2500 - $3000 new plus shipping.

Buying a machine with an Alternator or getting an Alternator Kit will ensure your battery doesn't die while you are heavily using your winch.

At the very least the hip waders will help you walk the few miles back to town.

Like the other guy said, knowing how to get 'around' can be more important than being able to get 'through'.

I found my 8x8 to be horribly tippy on water. Unless I install pontoons to stabilize, I will not be going on any deep open water with this machine as my custom roof and roll cage makes it too top-heavy.

Awesome looking spot!

[akcrawler]

Another option that we use a lot in Alaska when there are no trees available is to carry a small Danforth boat anchor (the ones with the pivoting flukes). Just jam the flukes into the ground and attach the winch to the anchor. This method works in some pretty soft ground as long as there is some vegetation/roots for the anchor to bite into.