Just curious about buoyancy

[steve001hsd]

I was wondering of a 6X6 will float with just the tires for buoyancy or does it also require the body to be watertight. Just thinking if i was fishing and poked a hole in the body with a submerged branch or stone. I have hit a few things with my boat at night that I was sure would sink me lol.

[Rabbit929]

If there is a hole, you will most surely sink. If you play on the water a lot, definantly invest in a bilge pump or two, and install them in the lowest possible place inside the tub. If you poked a hole in it, those. Live pumps might just buy you enough time to get somewhere safe. Mine with bad bearings took in a lot of water, and if you change direction, all the water will run to that side. Spontaneously making you super heavy on one end.
Yeah water in the tub is to be avoided.

[Cannibal]

No clue if it's just my Max II machine (as I'm very, very new to the 6x world), but when I took mine out with some makeshift plugs (because I'm a man of zero patience) and water started to fill the tub, I lost 85% of my performance. I don't know the mechanics of it, like if the belts got too slickery, but it became a game of surging power. It would surge for about 3 seconds, then idle for another 10. Then surge, then idle, rinse and repeat.

I was in/on a shallow lagoon on my property and the truck was already parked at the edge of the pasture with a couple hundred feet of tow line at the ready, should my experiment fail miserably. I got across and back (barely); about 200' each direction. So yeah, water in the tub is bad.

[wedge]

How old is the Max ? Also it is Best to grease the axle bearings Before using in water. It helps seal the water out Also check the bearing Flanges as Thy may need to be reseald !?!
A Bilge pump is a MUST when doing any kind of major floating.

[allwheeldrive]

If the ATV is light enough and you bail it can still float.
A Jigger and the Scrambler both come to mind. The old school Flotation tires with no removable rim will float just about 100 pounds each. So Weighing less than 500 pounds both will bob back to the surface even if completely filled with water.

The BushSwamper 16x16 has no means of flotation besides it's 16 tires so technically as long as the tires have air that can't sink either.

Along the same lines a Max IV or II with double tires or with J-wheelz will not sink.

[Toys4Me]

Something else that will help should it swamp is swimming pool noodles stuffed in the sides. Each noodle holds 200+ lbs and would keep it from going to the bottom. I've used them in large RC boats and saved my butt many times.

[dwdog51]

I finally tested my Max IV in a lake. To me and a passenger, it was a little unstable and the water is only a few inches from coming in. My passenger threw us off balance & we got tipsy a few times in deep water. It was fun but we were happy to pull it up on shore. I uploaded a few pic's of it in the water if ya wanna take a gander at what I mean. I am for sure going to make some retractable pontoons for it to make it more stable in the water. It never took in any water in the tub (after I did some plastic welding) but I installed a bilge pump just in case. Anybody else have unstable experiences with their aatv's in deep water?

[hipowerone]

Had not thought of using pool noodles, but that is a good idea. However, when on open water, always wear a flotation device yourself. Some of the newer styles are lighter less bulky and much less a hindrance than some of the very old kapok styles. Plus the pool noodles could be used to give yourself some extra flotation should it be needed, but never use or depend upon them as a flotation device.

[dirtdobber]

dwdodg I looked at your gallery. You have a nice looking machine. As far as your buoyancy issues (unstable and sits too deep in the water) I think your accessories are part of the problem. The roll cage and band around your machine look good and heavy. That weight sticking up in the air will make your machine unstable in the water. To correct it, just do like Mudd Ox recently did and put dual wheels on. An extra wheel at each corner will probably make a big difference for you.

[dwdog51]

Yeah, like it sits my Max weighs about 1120 lbs. With tracks, it weighs 1230 lbs. I'm definitely going to install pontoons, crab floats, pool noodles, duals, jwheels, maybe all of the above! :-) Thanx for the come back.

[hipowerone]

Quoting/copied from user manual "GROSS PERMISSABLE WEIGHT IN WATER.................................1305 LBS
(INCLUDES PASSENGERS, CARGO, ACCESSORIES AND OPTIONS)". Your "like it sits" weight only leaves 185# for driver&passengers/fishing gear/etc....yet you said both you and a passenger were in your MAX in the water. With the center of gravity being changed by the heavy roll cage, I can imagine the MAX was a bit unsteady in the water.

[ARGOJIM]

I was wondering of a 6X6 will float with just the tires for buoyancy or does it also require the body to be watertight. Just thinking if i was fishing and poked a hole in the body with a submerged branch or stone. I have hit a few things with my boat at night that I was sure would sink me lol.

Will the machine float with just the tires? Well... yes although not properly, and generally list toward the engine side. The machine needs to be watertight for balance and control, best to keep it watertight and head for shore if it adds up quickly, most machines seep a little water in.


Some machines are more prone to take water over the sides or in the engine compartments as they are generally the lowest part of the upper body. Use caution if you are new to water usage.

This image shows a machine with water even on the outside and inside of the machine, every move made caused more water to enter and nearly going down, luckily this water was not that deep, a bilge pump and a team effort safely removed them and the machine from the water. There were a multitude of contributing factors that occurred simultaneously which led to this.



A quick sorry to Jim and Sam, but somebody's gotta learn em.

[hipowerone]

Many thanks to ARGOJIM....I have been treading lightly around this subject and finally have to break free and state the facts. The MFG lists a GROSS PERMISSIBLE WEIGHT IN WATER for a very specific reason. Your AATV is a water vessel and your "vessel" displaces water. It displaces water in weight equal to the vessel weight. As you add more weight to your "vessel" and try to float it, it will displace more water up to that added weight, continuing up to the time that you have exceeded the gross permissible weight and water begins to seep into vessel openings such as seams, engine openings, or other openings in the body hull. In the two photos that argojim posted, both "vessels" luckily went down in shallow water. However, what are you going to do when you have a problem in much deeper water? I have seen hull opening much larger than most bilge pumps will handle! Folks, bilge pumps are designed to handle minor leaks, not to refloat the Titanic!