Tweet
I took my "new" Max II out this last Saturday for the first time. I played around for about three hours.
I live next to the Columbia River. There's an off-roading area where quad riders go. I played around the edge of a large lagoon in very soft sand and semi-mud. I easily rolled over places that looked like dig-outs from people getting frame buried with their 4x4's. It's taking getting used to what a 6x6 is capable of. (And I like it
)
I finally got brave and headed straight out into the lagoon. (No current there, and it's a few hundred yards away from the 2 mile wide river proper) I've never done anything like that before: heading out into the water in a wheeled anything. It started bouncing as it got "light" and then the bottom dropped away, and she started swimming! I hate to admit it, but I panicked! I couldn't get it turned around and back to shore fast enough. Everything about the tires leaving terra-firma was just WRONG.
I went out two more times until she left the bottom, and it's somewhat "tippy" feeling, and I'm guessing due to the steel roll cage. (A homemade one, but pretty well done) I had to run the bilge pump because water was in the tub, seen through the lever slots. I think that might've happened because I have a tendency to slide to the left because of the offset levers. It floated better when I shifted right. I think when it first left the bottom and tilted left, it might've taken on some water then, but it might just be old seals too. I'll water test it soon, as in put water into the hull with a hose and see where it comes out.
One thing: it had sat for a while and the gas went bad. The seller drained it and put fresh in before I ran it around his property, and it runs okay still. The longer it has been running though, the less it wants to idle, so I think varnish/debris has come loose. I'm not doing any more deep water stuff until the carb gets rebuilt and/or it runs like a top. Now, I have to keep "goosing it" to keep it running when I'm not moving. Don't get me started on the bad gas thing either, I can't even use up 5 gallons in a summer of mowing without it going fowl, it just ain't what it used to be.
(Pay four times more for gas, get one fourth the value)
So, am I the only one who gets REALLY NERVOUS as soon as the tires leave the Earth? Even if that earth is under a lake? Does anyone fish from a 6x6 or 8x8, cruise a lazy river, or is it just a mad dash to get across a body of water in a beeline to the nearest shoreline?
I live next to the Columbia River. There's an off-roading area where quad riders go. I played around the edge of a large lagoon in very soft sand and semi-mud. I easily rolled over places that looked like dig-outs from people getting frame buried with their 4x4's. It's taking getting used to what a 6x6 is capable of. (And I like it
)I finally got brave and headed straight out into the lagoon. (No current there, and it's a few hundred yards away from the 2 mile wide river proper) I've never done anything like that before: heading out into the water in a wheeled anything. It started bouncing as it got "light" and then the bottom dropped away, and she started swimming! I hate to admit it, but I panicked! I couldn't get it turned around and back to shore fast enough. Everything about the tires leaving terra-firma was just WRONG.
I went out two more times until she left the bottom, and it's somewhat "tippy" feeling, and I'm guessing due to the steel roll cage. (A homemade one, but pretty well done) I had to run the bilge pump because water was in the tub, seen through the lever slots. I think that might've happened because I have a tendency to slide to the left because of the offset levers. It floated better when I shifted right. I think when it first left the bottom and tilted left, it might've taken on some water then, but it might just be old seals too. I'll water test it soon, as in put water into the hull with a hose and see where it comes out.
One thing: it had sat for a while and the gas went bad. The seller drained it and put fresh in before I ran it around his property, and it runs okay still. The longer it has been running though, the less it wants to idle, so I think varnish/debris has come loose. I'm not doing any more deep water stuff until the carb gets rebuilt and/or it runs like a top. Now, I have to keep "goosing it" to keep it running when I'm not moving. Don't get me started on the bad gas thing either, I can't even use up 5 gallons in a summer of mowing without it going fowl, it just ain't what it used to be.
(Pay four times more for gas, get one fourth the value)So, am I the only one who gets REALLY NERVOUS as soon as the tires leave the Earth? Even if that earth is under a lake? Does anyone fish from a 6x6 or 8x8, cruise a lazy river, or is it just a mad dash to get across a body of water in a beeline to the nearest shoreline?
Once you get some time in the water, you will become used to it. I have held onto the roll bar on my Max II and rocked it back and forth until it leaned far enough that water came over the side. They can really tip a long ways without turning over so I wouldn't worry about that. As for fishing, I have fished for a couple of hours out of a Max IV. It's not the roomiest vessel to fish out of but it can be done. An 8x8 would be better suited for fishing.
Comment