Swimming problems....

[CBass]

Hey 6x6 world here is a new problem. I was out the pond last night enjoying a good swim in my wife's Max II and decided to open it up a lil and see just how fast hers swims compared to mine. Well no contest she would smoke me in the water but the problem is at points while opening it up it would loose all motion in all wheels like it was back in neutral then it would catch again as if nothing happen. I wasn't able to see if it was either clutch but there are no problems like this when riding on land.

Side note, I was having a problem with hers pulling to the left, last thing I have to check for that is tire circumference. I have check tire pressure, adjust T-20, and even switched my Max II's T-20 to her Max II, and it still pulls.

[number1cas]

My first thought would be water on the belt? Was there water in the tub after your ride?

[lewis]

If all mechanical parts are working and the tires are turning then you may have achieved maximum forward momentum. This is just my thought on this matter. With the design of the hull and the tires pulling in the water once the turbulence gets to critical point all you are doing is beating air in the water. If you lower the tire speed and the machine starts moving forward again you are grabbing water. One thing that may help is a gradual turn up in speed instead of just gunning it which causes more cavitation,...so try easing the throttle up and see if that gets you more speed.

The Avenger with the At 189 tires has not found that point yet even with the 31 hp engine but i am sure there is a point for those tires also. It actually seems to pull better with more people in it and i think this is due to more of the tires in the back being under the water and pitching the front tires up so they grab more water.

The reason i say this is because when i run the 9.9 Mariner outboard on the Avenger i can only go so fast (and the prop even tho it is a long shaft motor) will only go so fast and then it will produce cavitation. The contour of the tub and the tires causing turbulence disrupts the water flow to the prop and it will drop out like it is not pulling at all. I am beating air with the prop and once the speed and turbulence disperses it picks back up again. 3.9mph is max for tire speed with the 26hp engine. That was with a GPS. I think with more hp i could get more speed. I will check the Avenger at Busco in April with the GPS and see what the speed is.

Some of the guys on the site are running larger outboards and may get more speed with theirs, but i think there is a point for all machines where this occurs. I have not put a GPS on the machine with the outboard on it but i get a descent amount of speed out of the engine but i will never keep up with a jet ski.

Speed in the water is also related to the tire design so each tire may and probably does act different in the water. This is just what i have experienced with the machine so far. The Max machines 26 inch tires fly in the water.

[CBass]

My first thought would be water on the belt? Was there water in the tub after your ride?

There was very little water in the bottom but it was bearly touching the lower part of the chains.

Lewis I understand what you are saying but when i say it like it is in neutral the tires all stop moving then about a second later they all start back again.

[MaxRules]

That is a common issue on the Max II with it slipping while going full speed in water. The problem comes from the exhaust going through the body under the fender. The hole always ends up larger than the pipe, and when you go full throttle there is so much water splashing that it goes right in that hole. Your drive belt is just right there on the other side and it slips. Tires spin really fast, water flies through to the belt, it slips and the tires slow, belt dries itself, tires go again.

[lewis]

Ok, then scratch what i said. Belt then seems to be getting wet and slipping. Put it back in the water and check where your leaks are coming from. Busco is not far away.

[CBass]

Thanks MaxRules & Lewis. Looks like I might be doing another rear exhaust mode like my Max II to keep water off the belt. Now to fix this pulling left issue.