Has anyone ever sunk his aatv?

[philipatmaxfour]

That sinking feeling!

It is great to hear a first hand account. It removes all the theories like"it will turtle but IT WON"T SINK". Such a shame that when things really go wrong, everybody is too busy to get a picture. When I get wet there always seems to be ice in the water.

[carrant]

I sunk my RI Buffalo the second weekend I had it out..

Sad story. The Buffalo was a bit overloaded for water crossings ( 4 adults, one 13yr old, backpacks, guns, ... ). We'd already crossed several large creeks/flooded ditches and were making our way over the last flooded ditch.

After crossing about 60 ~ 70 feet into it the Buffalo heavily listed to one side, the guys in the bed jumped to the other side ( which probably caused our downfall ( no pun intended ) ). Once the guys were on the other side it listed below the waterline. In a few seconds she was sunk.

No bobbing or floating, just straight down. The water was ~5ft deep. The only part of the machine out of the water was the top few inches of the roll cage.

We were about 70ft from the end of the flooded area. Luckily the winch pulled us out without a problem ( we had to use two or three anchors to finally reach dry ground ).

Now comes the fun part... The engine was still running when we went down ( it was literally a couple of seconds and we were swimming with the fishes - so no time to react ), so it was flooded.

After popping out the drain plugs, we took out the spark plug, cranked the engine MANY times and watched the pretty water spray that ensued. After all the water was evacuated, we dried the plug off, screwed it in and cranked it again to the delightful sound of a dead battery.

After a few choice words, we let it sit for a few minutes; one last crank and VIOLA she fired up. After that we high tailed it back to camp for some dry clothes and the commentary from the other guys ( which I still get to this day :-) )

Once back home the real fun began... Water in the oil and water in the transmission. Three back to back change cycles later and all that remained of the Buffalo sinking incident were memories ( and the deer camp ribbing that comes with the memories ).

After that incident I'm a bit skittish on any deep water crossing.

chris

[ygmir]

I was thinking about a folding sort of outrigger, that would run pretty flat against the roll bar, maybe even fold over the top in a two point hinge arrangement, then, fold out as you enter the water. It'd stabilize and add passive flotation, especially if a person made it adjustable............probably one on each side, so, you could choose how much flotation and where
If a person were really smart.............
they might be able to make one, or more, of the braces from a roll cage hinge and pin, so, it'd add the protection while on dry land, and, fold down in the water, since, the cage isn't really needed there..........

Just some random thoughts.

Henry

[rdr]

Actually, i was at my aunt/uncles lakefront property, it was a very calm day out..... untill i sank...... relatives just laughed and laughed4 of us got a rope and pulled it in good thing i had more aatv's,lol

coolllllllllllllllllll way to go amp

[Amphiman1]

sinking feeling.....

Actually, i was at my aunt/uncles lakefront property, it was a very calm day out..... untill i sank...... relatives just laughed and laughed4 of us got a rope and pulled it in good thing i had more aatv's,lol

[x.l.r.8]

Bazoo's sink!, especially in current when the plug pops out climbing out the bank, on the return journey while ferry gliding across the water it lost all response and spun around, at this time I saw the water flicking around the engine case (flywheel submerging) only seconds before I thought, if the pick up gets wet it's going to stall, pop pop bang engine dies. The front stuck against a tree facing down stream and the rear below the surface meant the water got forced into the hull, it sunk untill the front dropped below the tree and get wedged under. Only 5ft deep but I had to haul it out inch by inch, then hump it onto a bank/island just under the water level so I could even get a rope around the axle. With my arms about to drop off I swam to shore and got my suv and a big rope, then once I got my suv stuck I went and got the tractor and a chain and pulled them both out, 20 minute walk each way I thought the suv would save me a lot of time...............wrong!

[6X6]

The Amphiman Fitzgerald

Amphiman, you took an AATV out on lake Erie?!?! WOW that must take a lot of guts, ( Or a lot of beer ) Seriously, with such a low freeboard, I would be nervous to take it out on one of the small lakes around here. But I am now considering pool noodle floatation in between the upper inner and outer sections to help keep it from becoming a submersible. (And yes, I know that was lake Superior, but you're wrecking my joke.)

[Amphiman1]

sinking feeling......

Aye Matey!! i sank a amphicat in lake erie.....like a good captain...i went down with my ship.lol 30' water.....drain plug popped out far from shore
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIPPPP!

[GREASEMONKEY]

I have crossed about a 150yd wide pond with no plugs in the argo. I endedup with about 4-5in of water in the floor as i came out the other side.
It's about 50ft deep in the middle, so it could have been very bad!

BTW: Trying to cross open water with a breeze + top, windshield, or both is a PITA!

[mudbug3]

A few months ago I had two male adults in the back seat of my Max IV , with the intention of impressing both of them of its amphibious abilities . But ,the joke was on me though , when I tried to drive my Max IV out of the water and up a small hill . I could not drive out , so I looked behind me , thinking that my belt was slipping , because it was wet from water . It was then that I noticed water shooting out from under the engine cover . I then remembered I,d forgot to reinstall both of my rear drain plugs . I then had to winch my Max out , and allow the water to continue to drain , before I could reinstall my drain plugs .

[Marc]

I asked cause i dont want to end like the guys at the end of this video.
By the way a very interesting vehicle even if it is no aatv.
YouTube - can he really swim?
I also once forget to install the drainplugs but fortunately the lake was very small so i get out before it gets dangerous.

[Roger S]

How can someone forget the drain plug, and then not notice that it is slowly getting lower in the water, lol.

I think it's a guy thing.. passed down from father to son. Can't remember how many times Dad launched the boat with drain plug out. But it was on the inside, he'd drain it after he got the boat on plane.

I did a winter boat launch and took on a lot of water, too cold to jump in and install the plug.. should have seem me get to the ramp and back the trailer at about 20 mph.

Or trailer the argo with drain plugs out in case it rained, machine all clean and prepped for a ride. Then get to ride and take off hitting all the nasty holes, drain plugs out

[Bw6]

Sunk Mine 2 Weeks Ago

How can someone forget the drain plug, and then not notice that it is slowly getting lower in the water, lol. Well about 2 weeks ago, my friend and I went on a ride, he had his Frontier and I had my Hoot. We were on this series of beaver ponds, for about 10 minutes when I noticed that my Hoot was sinking. After it got above the floor boards it went down in 30 seconds, like a rock. He was ahead of me, and I only had time to yell "Cam I'm sinking" and down it went.

So there I was sitting on the bottom in about 4 ft. of water. Only about 6" of the handlebars was above water. Worst of all it happened so fast that I didn't have time to switch off the engine. So Cam had about 100 ft. of rope, we tied one end on the front bumper and the other end on the rear of his Frontier hitch, I shifted my weight to the rear and he pulled me close to shore and then used his winch to pull me ashore.

After draining the water out, and bailing what was left, I removed the spark plug, turned it over, the water came out like a garden hose! I put the plug back, turned it over a few times and repeated the procedure to get the remaining water out. I checked the oil it was emulsified, I added about a half a liter of oil, installed a new plug, full choke and low and behold she fired up. The muffler was shooting out water and steam, and then blue smoke. I killed every blackfly and mosquito for about 1/2 mile. Now I needed a plug, the one that supposed to be there was gone, so I cut a sapling in a wedge shape and pushed it in, it seemed to be ok.

We tied a short rope between the two AATV's and headed for home. We had previously tried to go back through the bush but it was too thick in that area. When the bush thinned out we completed our trip on land. All I can say is the Hoot is one tough machine, and those Frontier tires are amazing!

[Roger S]

I heard an 6x6 argo (10 years ago) sunk like an iceberg, mostly underwater but the light end/axle on the surface.

[artist1018]

Rumor has it that an 8x8 Argo cannot be sunk due to the tires being able to support the machine. The U.S. Coast Guard drilled one full of holes & were unsuccessful in sinking it!!