IT FLOATS!!

[ygmir]

ARRGGGhhh maties!!
I drove my newly repaired, (plastic welding,photos and how to in the gallery section) Hustler into my friends pond last evening.....
Hooray.
Minimal water in the bottom, not even wet everywhere.
I then put 3 people in with me, total of 500 or so lbs.
it also floated, lower of course, and, a little more water in. It seems there may be a small hole or two up high on the sides I didn't see......Worked fine though........

Observations:
not to fast, but, it went fine.......
hard to steer with just the tires, but, if you lean, it turns much better (don't do this if there are lots of people inside, or, at least don't have them lean........)
Went forward much better than reverse, thereby proving the adage about which way to point the chevron patter for swimming (open part of chevron on top of tire, facing forward).
It seems a little "tippy", not sure if it'd go over or just rock a lot.........

I thought it best to try the floating in a pond with only a few feet of warmish water, before I take it to my mountain retreat, at 6,000 ft. el. where the water is colder and deeper........

Any input is welcome. Please chime in on swimming hints you may have.

Henry

[boncrshr]

First off...congratulations on your hard work, and thanks for those of us who may piggyback off of it.

Ok, thoughts on taking on water....I would like for the brain trust on the board to maybe make this a group effort. In my last rebuild, I put all new outer axle bearings in, my flanges are new, I put the dum-dum between the inner flange and the body and silicone sealant between the flanges and on the outside of the locking collar where it meets the axle. That being said, I took on some water this past weekend riding with Mudbug, however; I did not take the time to get out and look closely where it was coming from, because it was more fun to drive it at that point.

But after review of the video, it looks like I was dunking the headlights, and I do not have the stock plexiglas covers on there. So check that. Second, due to the Hustler's sloping front end, I would often have water come over the front. This last time when I had the top off, I did put some foam weatherstripping in between the body halves, don't know if that is leaking??

As far as water speed, most people on the board have told me that Hustlers are not known as good swimmers...so if you have the Rawhides and the tread is good, then that is probably as good as you are going to get. I will say the 25" Vamps swam as good for me as the 22" Rawhides did. What I do not know is 22" vs 25" Rawhides on a Hustler...JPSwift and JerseyBigfoot would know if there is a swimming difference with these two tires. But, no matter if I use Vamps or Rawhides, I still have to lean to turn. Mudbug's Max IV swam much faster and turned better than the Hustler which backs up the swimming poorly reputation. But here is where it gets weird...MightyMaxIV had his 26" Vampires all facing V forward (like me) for maximum traction, his Max would swim, but not turn good with the tires in this configuration. The Hustler would swim/turn well..........which leads me to believe that the whole swimming/tires issue is a big mystery!

[mudbug3]

ARRGGGhhh maties!!
I drove my newly repaired, (plastic welding,photos and how to in the gallery section) Hustler into my friends pond last evening.....
Hooray.
Minimal water in the bottom, not even wet everywhere.
I then put 3 people in with me, total of 500 or so lbs.
it also floated, lower of course, and, a little more water in. It seems there may be a small hole or two up high on the sides I didn't see......Worked fine though........

Observations:
not to fast, but, it went fine.......
hard to steer with just the tires, but, if you lean, it turns much better (don't do this if there are lots of people inside, or, at least don't have them lean........)
Went forward much better than reverse, thereby proving the adage about which way to point the chevron patter for swimming (open part of chevron on top of tire, facing forward).
It seems a little "tippy", not sure if it'd go over or just rock a lot.........

I thought it best to try the floating in a pond with only a few feet of warmish water, before I take it to my mountain retreat, at 6,000 ft. el. where the water is colder and deeper........

Any input is welcome. Please chime in on swimming hints you may have.

Henry

ygmir ,


Congradulations on your water test . The very first time that I drove my Max IV into a pond I was VERY nevous , but now its fun and challenging , as I drive my Max into the water and navigate my way to the point of interest .

I totally agree with you , that it works much better leaning your amphib in the water to make a turn , with all wheels turning at the same time.

[jerrynuss]

I was also taking on water in my Hustler. I was getting the most from the left headlight. I was headed up stream and the headlight became unseated and then I had water pouring in. So I'm putting the covers on tomorrow.

[REB181]

I have found my hustler swims fine I have kenda's and I have been out with argo's,max II's, and attex's with rawhide III's and some other tire same kind of pattern as the rawhides and I think I swim better than the others ( not blowing my own horn) I have learned that when you are sitting still in the water your tires are about 2/3 to 3/4 in the water but when you add drive to one side or the other the tires drop down into the water alittle more if you lean to the oppisite side your lifting the driving tires up out of the water and it turns better and faster i think the tires paddle better the higher they are out of the water so if you can make the body float better (higher) it will swim better and faster...

[liflod]

I've posted elsewhere in the bowels of the forums that an old time stern wheel boat is most efficient with 2/3 of the wheel above the water line. That's pretty hard to accomplish with the little wheels we are dealt with.

Also, Argo eight wheelers have higher water speed with the back tires almost out of the water. So loading the machine to sit level actually makes you go slower.

[ygmir]

both those ideas make sense. I guess "clip on" paddle wheels? 4' dia? it'd look cool........hahha
Probably if you really want to cruise, you need something with a prop.......

Henry