2006 Max 4 makes left turns in water?

[Aerialimage]

Thoughts please?
Sold my 05 Max 4 26 horse and the 77 max 2
Now We have a 2006 Max 4 with the water cooled kawasaki 27 hp engine.
Same big tires as our 05 had.
Drives like new on land but had it in the water 2 times now and it turns in left circles. Had to throw the winch cable to my kid both times so he could pull me over to the edge.
Soon as the tires hit the edge she drives right out straight and even.
All tire patterns seem to point forward, some of the tires where off a couple pounds but my highest pressure tire was 4 psi and my lowest was 2 psi. not too far off.
Strange she does so well on land but will not swim straight. Of coarse I tried all kinds of stick inputs to make my way back to land but it just turns left no matter what.
I have not tried again after equalizing all tires to 3 psi but I don't expect any difference as my other maxes never minded exact tire pressures! Thoughts please?

[LarryW]

That is strange. Are you sure all 3 tires are spinning on the left side? Does it lean side to side in the water or is it fairly level? I dont really see what it could be that wouldnt affect it on land other then tire pattern and tread wear. Im interested in knowing what it is.

[Mike]

Are you sitting in the middle of the Max? With that liquid cooled motor on the left side of the Max, you may have to add more balast to the right side of the machine than you had to with your 26HP motor so slide over to the right the next time you go in.

[Aerialimage]

I did not look in the water to confirm each tire was turning but it was churning the right amount of water on each side for all 6 spinning!
It sat nice and level with me in the middle of front seat. I even tried leaning to each side and it would just keep turning left!
These newer max's have some big drive chains and I would expect some noises if I lost a drive to any tire but maybe not? It certainly drives normal on land and at all speeds.
Next water test I am bringing a rope to toss to shore, I have the windshield and it is pretty interesting reaching around for the winch cable while operating the winch toggle with my foot and trying not to get wet with all my weight hanging on the right front corner trying to get to that winch!
I never did lose any drive on my 05 but I busted plenty of chains on that 77 we had.

[msafi65]

As well as my track max swims I cary a canoe paddle. I can paddle faster than it will move and a breeze with the windshield took me across a pond last year. The 26x12x12 tires usually swim great.

[Aerialimage]

I'll have to look for some pictures of my other max's to confirm the tires are mounted correctly. Can anyone confirm the tread direction or maybe the sidewalls are marked.
The tread is like new on these and it's a low hour machine.
Another thing I noticed with this machine was the more throttle I gave it the faster it went although in left circles. My other max's only were effective up to half throttle above that it just churned more water but gave no more speed.

[Aerialimage]

Looking at my max and the Max pictures on the MAX website My tires seem to be pointing in the wrong direction! Looking at front of Max my tread centers are pointing down and the Max website has them pointing up on all the home page pictures!
Maybe we have the answer!
I had allot of fun with my other Max's but I work on so many different machines and toys I really never can remember small details that only apply to one machine.
Well I guess I will move the wheels to the other side and head back to the water.
It may not happen until next weekend but I'll post the results!

[swamp donkey]

I bet u get a little better result when u change them tires around

[Aerialimage]

Looking at the post your pics thread on this forum it is funny to see how many others have the tires in the same direction as my new machine! Do people run them backwards for a reason or is it just by mistake? Of coarse I have not yet swapped mine or tested it so maybe this is not the problem but we'll see soon enough!

[swamp donkey]

If u are not going to swim your max u would won't to run them like u see on a tractor but to make it swim u have to turn them around backwards

[Aerialimage]

Yay She swims good like all the others did!
Also makes a pretty good ice breaker! No problems! Pulled the wheels, lubed the Bearings and reinstalled the wheels on opposite side.
Just in care I grabbed the extendable oar from our pile of other Max stuff and also a good rope! No need for either one though!
Funny enough with the tires reversed it even climbs better in soft sand on steep hills! It just clawed it's way up a hill we had to hit with speed to tackle before!
All is good now!
Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas!

[swamp donkey]

Good to hear you are moving forward hopefully you can have some fun now

[Aerialimage]

We where having fun as soon as we flipped those tires!
Already been across the very deep, dark, smelly pond 3-4 times and all over the yard including hill climbs which are much better now also.
Our pond is at least 10' deep So I hope we never sink anything never mind none of us want to swim in there either!
It did take on some water but we have spent enough time in the pond now for it to add up! Now that it's drained well just watch it as we play and see how much is coming in each crossing!