driving in mud

[mdmheine]

I have seen alot of articles about getting stuck,and a whole bunch of winch questions.. Is this a real problem or are all of you crazy people (myself soon to be included) just going places man and machine are not ment to go? I got a Polaris ranger stuck and had to have a bull dozer come and get me out.I was in a swamp and the mud was well over my knee's.All in a day's work when you work for the county government."Hey you there take this brand new $8000 machine and see what it can do".OK (with a big **** eating grin) We scared the polaris dealer when we showed him the pics. On a creek bank with three wheels on the ground and one about 3 feet from the ground. Well just wondering what i'm getting myself into when I buy one of these machines..

[Amphiman1]

polaris?

geta 6 wheeler aatv. polaris doesn't float...except upside down........

[Roger S]

"I got a Polaris ranger stuck and had to have a bull dozer come and get me out. I was in a swamp and the mud was well over my knee's"

OK you will need a winch. Next question.

Everything is fine until you sink far enough that drag on the belly overcomes traction. Depends on the kind of goop you play/work in. The upshot is you only sink so far and then you're floating. Anybody tried snowshoes in the mud?

[jpswift1]

A Polaris Ranger would never ever be able to go where an amphibious atv can go. The basic physics of it make our machines simply make them superior in the mud. Also as Roger S mentioned, our machines will only sink down so far and then they will float. There was a huge swampy mud bog on some trails that I ride that never dries up. It is very deep too. I ran into a group of some people with their 4 wheelers with big mud tires. They said that they didn't think that my little 6 wheeler could go through the mud bog because Jeeps with huge Super Swamper tires, built motors, and big lift kits get stuck in there. I had to prove them wrong so I drove through the bog rocking my Max back and forth and it made it right through! I then had to bring their egos down a notch and asked if their 4 wheelers could do the same......one guy tried and sunk right in and almost got thrown over the handle bars. I also ran into a guy with a Polaris Ranger on the trail and asked if he wanted to try to follow me through the bog. He said, there's no way my Ranger would ever get through that, my brother owns a 6x6 amphibious ATV and I know what those things can do.

I have seen alot of articles about getting stuck,and a whole bunch of winch questions.. Is this a real problem or are all of you crazy people (myself soon to be included) just going places man and machine are not ment to go? I got a Polaris ranger stuck and had to have a bull dozer come and get me out.I was in a swamp and the mud was well over my knee's.All in a day's work when you work for the county government."Hey you there take this brand new $8000 machine and see what it can do".OK (with a big **** eating grin) We scared the polaris dealer when we showed him the pics. On a creek bank with three wheels on the ground and one about 3 feet from the ground. Well just wondering what i'm getting myself into when I buy one of these machines..

[McCoy]

If you want to see what happens when you get a 6x6 really stuck, look at the threa 12-15 ride and you will see the importance of a good winch. When I got out to hook up the winch, I sunk up to my knees and got stuck myself. If a ranger or quad would have tried to go where I got stuck, I don't think that they would have ever stopped sinking.

McCoy

[jerrynuss]

Dave the times I have been stuck it was pure stupidity on my part. I have only been stuck twice. I am not counting times where there were others around to pull me out. Or if I could winch out I was not stuck. If the machine can move then there is the high possibility of getting out.

So the two times were with low water level after a drought. I was trying to get to the water and tried to cross a large mudflat area. I went until I slowed down and then buried the tires and sat on the tub. The mud was like a thick gel. I didn't have anything to winch to in front of me. I got out and found garbage and debris on the shore and dug out under the tub and got enough junk under the tires I could back out. A short afternoon ride turned into a 12 hour ordeal.

The second time...I thought I could make it this time. History repeated itself.

[mxwillee]

Well I have not had a lot of success with my buffalo down in the swamp and w/no winch it takes a while w/a comealong. The winch is coming soon The problem is the swamp I want to conquer there are not a lot of winching options.

[boncrshr]

Well I have not had a lot of success with my buffalo down in the swamp and w/no winch it takes a while w/a comealong. The winch is coming soon The problem is the swamp I want to conquer there are not a lot of winching options.

I have seen marsh anchors somewhere??? They look like the mobile home/trailer anchors that screw into the ground and have an eyelet on the top end. Some of the marsh hunters around here carry sharpshooter shovels with sturdy handles and have a buddy stand on it while they winch the ATV out.

[mightymaxIV]

Stuck in the mud

Well I have not had a lot of success with my buffalo down in the swamp and w/no winch it takes a while w/a comealong. The winch is coming soon The problem is the swamp I want to conquer there are not a lot of winching options.

I wouldn't even think about going into the swamp without a winch! The problem in a swamp are unseen trees, logs and crypress knees under the water. If you high center on one of these you can climb out and float or push your AATV out of trouble, or you can simply rock off whatever is hanging you up. I have used all these methods. In off road and soft mud I have found that ground clearance is a very important factor to getting stuck or not getting stuck. For me the answer is bigger agressive tires. I run four 26" vampires and one set of 27" Swamp foxes inflated to 3 pounds. At this presure every tire sits about 26" inches high giving me another 3/4 of inch clearance over the 26" Goodyears that only sit 24 1/2 inches high. For me it works and I seem to go into more of the hardest areas I can find. Wittness this video! Another good thing to carry into marsh or swampy areas in a sand anchor and a sand bag. If you get stuck drop the anchor put a sand bag on top of it and hook your winch to the anchor head. Works every time!!!!!

[boncrshr]

Here are the anchors I was thinking of...

Land Anchor mooring stakes for securing your boat or PWC to the shore

[GREASEMONKEY]

Pull-Pal winch anchoring device - 4x4, Jeep, ATV, all-terrain-vehicle, military, D.O.D., Department of Defense

This will work well!

[boncrshr]

I was looking at that one...it looks like it would be cheaper to just call a wrecker! Wonder why they are so proud of it?

[jpswift1]

I was looking at that one...it looks like it would be cheaper to just call a wrecker! Wonder why they are so proud of it?

Haha, yea you're probably right on that one. If I know I'm going to be in an area where there is nothing to winch to, I will bring this little cultivater type thing that must have came off of a garden tractor. I can just put that in the ground and winch to it. I got the idea for that back when I was in highschool and I was reading Peterson 4 Wheel and Off Road Magazine. That is where I first saw something like this Pull Pal thing. A couple weeks later I found a little cultivater thing out during garbage day and I stopped to pick it up. Something like this:

6 NOS JOHN DEERE CULTIVATOR SHOVELS 8 INCH PART #Y923 - eBay (item 230218139597 end time Feb-05-08 17:13:17 PST)

Hey Boncrshr, that might be something you could use on your Hustler when you're out in the marsh or in the sand and there is nothing to winch to.

[GREASEMONKEY]

It's so high because it's rated weight & force! They rate it to cover their butt's on lawsuits! That's what you are paying for. The plow blade will work just fine!

[mudbug3]

Dan ( aka mightymaxIV )

(Quote ) For me , the answer is bigger agressive tires. I run four 26" vampires and one set of 27" Swamp foxes inflated to 3 pounds. At this presure every tire sits about 26" inches high giving me another 3/4 of inch clearance over the 26" Goodyears that only sit 24 1/2 inches high. For me it works and I seem to go into more of the hardest areas I can find. Wittness this video!


Dan ,
Thats my favorite 6x6 video to watch on the web , because it shows the ( extreme ) places a well set up amphib like yours , will dare to go , and boldly come back . A lot of people on this forum board rave about how well the 24 " Fronteer tires swim and ride , but I have serious doubts that they would hold up running over the submerged logs , limbs ,and cypriss knees , where you take your Mighty Max IV