St. Joe State Park, 1hr South of St. Louis, MO- June 4th 2011

[mightymaxIV]

Well, were the riding conditions good? Did any one get any video? It's been too dry to take my machine out here, I am hoping to get a little video from someone who actually has a little mud in their neck of the woods. If it doesn't rain soon here my machine will be parked for awhile.

[MaxRules]

It was good to meet some new 6x6ers and get back to riding after so long. I wish we could have had more vehicles but the lack of amphibs in Missouri is nothing new. After ten years of rides, this was the first time I rode an Argo at a 6x6 ride.

St Joe Park is an old lead mine and the biggest attraction in the park is the tailings area, which is just like sand. You get your fill of lead dust but there are also large areas of water that makes mud to play in. It wasn't like creek sand were you just bury down and get stuck, this stuff was different and our amphibs handled it well. The park also has miles of trails but many are very rocky so they were not suited for our vehicles. I have some videos that I'll upload this evening so everyone can see this unique terrain.

[fasteddiesllc]

we had fun while it lasted...we brought my sons hustler...it is geared for the woods where we hunt, has a top end of about 18mph...we managed to find a couple of trails that were as Brandon states "not suited for our vehicles". Alas, we did find some mud, got stuck a time or two and found a hole of some greyish green pudding that absolutely had no bottom. the hustler sat on top of the mire and wouldn't hit solid ground if you had put a pick-up on the top of it!!! In an extreme situation of mire and muck, we smoked the drive belt and had very little pull afterwards. further investigation after cleanup and lube the belt is trashed and will require replacement. I did have the opportunity to see some of the newer argo's, Bud's was by far the newest machine that I have ever been close to, and I was dying to crawl under the hood and floorboards to see how it was assembled...maybe next time...he did have a very unique track system that seem to have great pull....have just a couple of pics as our stay turned out to be a short one...

[Bud]

St. Joe Offroad Park Pics

I only snapped a few pictures of our ride yesterday.

Here's Brandon (MaximumOffroad) hitting the mud in his Argo Bigfoot.




This one is my wife in our Argo Frontier 8x8 with Adair tracks. That thing was unstoppable all day. Brandon is busy in the mud as well.

[Bud]

Another shot of the Adair tracked Argo Frontier 8x8. Brandon is in the background in his Argo Bigfoot.




Here's Joe (fomocoguy) in his Max IV working a technical mudhole.

[Bud]

I am sorry that you had to bug out early, Eddie. Chapman was going to show me that mudhole, though I suspect that we found it. It was probably the one that swallowed the 4x4 RZR.

[fomocoguy]

I'm pretty sure that's the mud hole that ripped off my valve stem...

[mudbug3]

Bud

Those were some great pics! I'm really looking forward to watching the video Brandon shot of this event.

[Obsessed]

Awesome pictures Bud...looks like everyone had a great time....this weekend was dance recital for my girls and l wasnt going to miss that, but still hated to miss a fun time out with friends...Brandon and everyone, thank you for putting these weekends together for others to enjoy...hope to be able to come play at the next get-together :-)

fun, fun, fun!

[Bud]

Hey, Joe, did you get that bungee cord untangled from your sprocket? I hated that we couldn't come up with a way to get it out while we were there.

Hardcore offroaders like yourself certainly don't let mechanical issues get in the way of a good time.

[MaxRules]

Here are a couple videos.
St Joe Lead Mud:

Pulling out a Rzr 900:

[fomocoguy]

Hey, Joe, did you get that bungee cord untangled from your sprocket? I hated that we couldn't come up with a way to get it out while we were there.

Hardcore offroaders like yourself certainly don't let mechanical issues get in the way of a good time.

Nah, I got her all cleaned up but haven't messed with the sprocket yet. I also noticed that I managed to rip my left side seat mount in half at some point throughout the day. I'm just going to build a new one out of angle iron so I'll mess with the sprocket when I get into it. It's still wound tight as a drum even after cutting it.

Hey Brandon, the vids look great! Also I checked out the web site for Bricks off road park. They've updated the site and the park quite a bit since the last time I looked at it. The mud pit looks pretty enticing....

[mightymaxIV]

Brandon, thanks for the videos, looks like your group really enjoyed your trail ride, it is always fun to watch an ATV being pulled out by an Argo.

[fasteddiesllc]

No that's not it...we had no water at this hole...nastiest thing I ever saw...strictly pudding...next time it won't happen that way for sure

I am sorry that you had to bug out early, Eddie. Chapman was going to show me that mudhole, though I suspect that we found it. It was probably the one that swallowed the 4x4 RZR.

the pictures and vids look great...glad I met you guys. probably should have stayed and visited a little more, kinda tuff on chapman to be there and not be able to go back out...with a smoked and failing drive belt, it looked like a bad day coming...best to pull the 950 when we did..there will be another time for st.joe... and Joe, I am going to look into that seat set-up and modifying one of the other hustlers with a suspension seat, maybe the bandelero hustler

here are a few pics..[IMG] http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/show...hp?photo=12193 [/IMG] [IMG] http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/show...hp?photo=12195 [/IMG] [IMG] http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/show...hp?photo=12192 [/IMG] [IMG] http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/show...hp?photo=12193 [/IMG] just a few, had a blast

[fomocoguy]

the pictures and vids look great...glad I met you guys. probably should have stayed and visited a little more, kinda tuff on chapman to be there and not be able to go back out...with a smoked and failing drive belt, it looked like a bad day coming...best to pull the 950 when we did..there will be another time for st.joe... and Joe, I am going to look into that seat set-up and modifying one of the other hustlers with a suspension seat, maybe the bandelero hustler

Eddie, I would say that seat is definetly the best mod I've made so far. I can blast around there at full speed and soak up just about whatever is thrown at me. Just don't overpay for it; I got mine at Dicky Bub for around $75. Some places sell the same exact seat for twice that price. Oh, and I would avoid using treated lumber to mount it. One side of my mount cracked completely in half this time out, which was only my second time on it. Just save yourself the hassle and do it out of angle the first time.