Future Argo owner?? question

[jakeesspoo]

Hi all, new to forum and have a question you have probally answered a hundred times already but your honest opinions would be appreciated as this concerns some safety... There is a 98 MaxII for sale near me and the guy wants 3500.00 for it. It has a 14HP vanguard engine, windshield, winch, and zip in cover/enclosure. The price seems a little high to me or is this about right? My real question is is that I primarily want this for ice fishing. I live on lake erie and go fishing every weekend around the islands, I'm talking 6-7 miles out from land so you can understand my concerns. I have been fishing all my life and grew up on the ice but as I get older and more responsible I am more worried about my safety, not so much for me but for my families. We are as safe as can be but no ice is safe ice, thats a risk you take. I typically get out on ice with either a Honda ATC (I own about 5 of these and I find them extremely reliable, have owned many all my life) or if conditions are not suitable for a atv I take a snowmobile. I am thinking the argo would be nice if the ice were to give/break. Im not sure that the argo would climb out on its own, from the clips Ive seen on you tube it looks pretty hard to accomplish, but my thought is that I would or whomever I was with would get out and go to good ice, drill a hole, hook the winch to a spudbar I would carry and drop the spudbar through the hole and when tension was put on line or pulled up the spudbar would catch the bottom of ice a good 3' on each side of hole for my anchor and then we could winch out argo while trying to put weight on the rear of it to help the front get up on the ice. Would this work? I do not see why it wouldnt. Can the argo get out on its own? I would think the winch would just be easier I could hook up the winch and have a hole drilled in 5 minutes. Basically I want your opinions on if you believe you would be safer in a "ARGO" on the ice as opposed to a atv/snowmachine. Also I take excellent care of everything I own and am mechanically inclined so I would always maintain upkeep of machine, would you guys rely on your machines 7 miles out on a great lake. Can these machines be easily towed? Can you freewheel this transmission if you need to be towed in or do you need a ton of tools to do so? Thanks for your thoughts and concerns, Im quite sure I will be on this forum again in the near future as I have fell in love with the idea of owning one of these. If anyone has one in northern ohio for sale for a bargain let me know... thanks

[AlaskaGrizzly]

I don't know Max's but I do have Argos. I trust them to take me 30 miles of the highway in Alaska so I think you could trust them to take you 7 miles out on a lake.

How would an Argo do if the ice were to break out from under it? Now that's a good question. Don't have much experience with that. The times I've gone into rotten ice I've always gone in and out backwards. The back is lighter so it float sooner going into the water higher and will climb out easier coming out. So, if you had a winch on the back or lots of counterweight in the back you could winch your way out. The trick is to get the first set of wheels up on the ice then it will come out. If the ice were to break out from under you hopefully it would be even all the way around so you'll float even. If one end or one side goes in and the other doesn't it be a uncomfortable experience. I don't know how it float. It could possibly start taking on water.

[Rock Doctor]

I'm with AlaskaGrizz on this one, I trust my Argo's to take my family (3 girls under 8yrs old) many miles out in the 'skeg. In all my yrs, I have only left one of my Conquests out in the bush, and I could have limped it out if I wanted to take the trouble to change an axle, on the spot. I don't recomend taking only one machine at any time, unless you know that another machine will be on that route within a couple days (I always have enough stuff with me to make it that long in any case.
As for breaking through the ice, I've done it 3 times. Once with a quad and twice with an Argo, and both times with the Argo we could NOT get out of the machine without dropping through the ice ourselves. We had a line tossed to us, and were winched out with another machine. Argo's/AATV's have very little ground pressure, so if it goes through, I suspect you will not be able to walk on the ice either.

I believe AATV's are safer on the ice than ATV/Snowmobiles
Towing an AATV is a PITA, it can be done, but it's easier with the chains removed, but that means it has no brakes, so it needs to be "close coupled" to the tow machine.


RD

[Mike]

$3500 is not a terribly high price if it is in great shape but if you are patient and don't mind waiting you can probably find one similar for less ($2500) or you could get a newer Max II for the same price. As long as you maintain the vehicle, you can trust it to get you back. The good thing with any multi-wheeled vehicle is that if something were to happen to a wheel, tire, axle, etc you can often take one off or out and continue driving on 5 tires to get you home. Like others mentioned, the transmissions is mechanical so you can put it in neutral and freewheel it.

On another note, a lot of people call 6x6's Argos but Argo is a brand just like Max is a brand so I moved your thread to the Max forum.

[North Country Tough]

What the guys said X3,I take my machine to remote locations nothing is a hundred percent but my machines have been 9 out of ten,as far as ice you go thru you float thats a big bonus in my books no gear gets wet no survival gear gets wet,as far as getting it out I have personally wet thru twice the first time was with a light load and I did manage to get it out alone,that said I do have cleated tracks and it is a long 8 wheeler I basically leaned as far forward as I could and reversed the machine when the back climbed up on solid ice I got in the back moved as much gear as I had to the rear and reached forward and gave it the gas and it did climb free.Would it work every time no I was lucky the second time we had another machine and winched it out,the argo brand are front heavy so pretty much the easiest way is to back out,but with a shorter 6 wheel model one would have to be carefull as the angle would get steep and water entering the vents and hood area could be a concern.The Max I have not owned and can not attest to the capability but the machine appears to be better balanced in the water and the weight more evenly distributed which could be a bonus,one thing is for sure I now have a winch that can be rear mounted and that with a spud as you mentioned would do the job,but the important thing here is you go in you are not going down,with dry clothes some hot coffee,grub and a cell phone your chance of survival is about 99%.Cheers N.T.C