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Hi,
I'm a newby here and would like to get some advise before i splash out some serious cash on an ATV. First of all I live and work in Jamaica and I'm an ecologist. I do field work in a freshwater wetland and need to remove some invasive ginger using a cutter (AcrEase Model MR55B Specifications (Rough Cut)) as a part of an experiment and do some forest rehabilitation work. But most of the times I will be surveying the site and hauling in camping equipment and will be treading pretty far in. After struggling to access the most of the wetland an Aussie buddy of mine suggested that i go for an amphibious ATV. This will have to be imported from the US to Jamaica. I reluctantly (initially) decided to go with the Argo avenger 700. I say reluctantly because I am not a big fan of gas motors of any kind but the idea that i can go anywhere (up the river, then on to the banks etc) got me excited. But I realized that they seem to need a lot of maintenance and there might be other problems such as:
1) The 700 needed spark plugs changes, so i upgraded to the EFI
2) There is a warning that the ROPEs option can let it become unstable...and i would love this as an option.
3) I am worried about the maintenance of all those sprockets and gears, as i won't be near anywhere that can fix these kinds of set up. So i need something with minimal maintenance; the change oil and go kinda vehicle.
4) It has a four stroke engine (?), and i have been advised against bringing anything with a four stroke engine here because the expertise to fix 'em is limited and expensive..
5) This country is using E10, and I'm not sure how these will work with the EFI engine.
6) The wetland is hot all year round and the small 7 litre fuel capacity is a concern. I have to venture very far from the beaten track and I don't want to be lugging gasoline around in the hot sun, or even needing to store it ..
I just came across the Hydrotraxx, and while it seem like a God send there were some things i am concerned with.. The advantages and disadvantages includes:
1) The weight and size..read that some people had problems with them being stuck in muddy/peaty bogs (there was no mention of whether they had tacks on or not)...of the soupy variety..i can handle the dimensions, and the weight as it might be more stable and will be able to drive over the ginger i'll be working on...
2) the diesel engine is compelling, and ATV stores 15 gallons of fuel (so i can drive all day and not worry). But we have high sulphur diesel here (2000 - 5000 ppm), and the US has recently moved towards using low sulphur diesel (15 ppm)...I could not find info on the engine to see if it can handle low grade diesel fuel.
3) There seems to be less of a concern about maintenance which is great..I have read blogs that basically said they just changed the oil for years and nothing went wrong..
4) There is little info or experience out there on them, including this site..
5) the cost..it will cost 10k more to fully kit it to the levels of the argo EFI..and this is still minus the amphibious trailer that i need..
I am moving towords getting the hydrotraxx but i would like some advise from anyone with experience using both or either of them... before i try to find the extra cash...so any advise you can give would be great!
I'm a newby here and would like to get some advise before i splash out some serious cash on an ATV. First of all I live and work in Jamaica and I'm an ecologist. I do field work in a freshwater wetland and need to remove some invasive ginger using a cutter (AcrEase Model MR55B Specifications (Rough Cut)) as a part of an experiment and do some forest rehabilitation work. But most of the times I will be surveying the site and hauling in camping equipment and will be treading pretty far in. After struggling to access the most of the wetland an Aussie buddy of mine suggested that i go for an amphibious ATV. This will have to be imported from the US to Jamaica. I reluctantly (initially) decided to go with the Argo avenger 700. I say reluctantly because I am not a big fan of gas motors of any kind but the idea that i can go anywhere (up the river, then on to the banks etc) got me excited. But I realized that they seem to need a lot of maintenance and there might be other problems such as:
1) The 700 needed spark plugs changes, so i upgraded to the EFI
2) There is a warning that the ROPEs option can let it become unstable...and i would love this as an option.
3) I am worried about the maintenance of all those sprockets and gears, as i won't be near anywhere that can fix these kinds of set up. So i need something with minimal maintenance; the change oil and go kinda vehicle.
4) It has a four stroke engine (?), and i have been advised against bringing anything with a four stroke engine here because the expertise to fix 'em is limited and expensive..
5) This country is using E10, and I'm not sure how these will work with the EFI engine.
6) The wetland is hot all year round and the small 7 litre fuel capacity is a concern. I have to venture very far from the beaten track and I don't want to be lugging gasoline around in the hot sun, or even needing to store it ..
I just came across the Hydrotraxx, and while it seem like a God send there were some things i am concerned with.. The advantages and disadvantages includes:
1) The weight and size..read that some people had problems with them being stuck in muddy/peaty bogs (there was no mention of whether they had tacks on or not)...of the soupy variety..i can handle the dimensions, and the weight as it might be more stable and will be able to drive over the ginger i'll be working on...
2) the diesel engine is compelling, and ATV stores 15 gallons of fuel (so i can drive all day and not worry). But we have high sulphur diesel here (2000 - 5000 ppm), and the US has recently moved towards using low sulphur diesel (15 ppm)...I could not find info on the engine to see if it can handle low grade diesel fuel.
3) There seems to be less of a concern about maintenance which is great..I have read blogs that basically said they just changed the oil for years and nothing went wrong..
4) There is little info or experience out there on them, including this site..
5) the cost..it will cost 10k more to fully kit it to the levels of the argo EFI..and this is still minus the amphibious trailer that i need..
I am moving towords getting the hydrotraxx but i would like some advise from anyone with experience using both or either of them... before i try to find the extra cash...so any advise you can give would be great!
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