Argo - Who uses them...what do you think

Boomer said:
I'm a little surprised to hear this from you. We considered an Argos years ago, but decided they weren't the right machine for around here. The ones I've sat in are a tight squeeze for anyone with an inseam longer than 18", and I'd have little patience for banging my knees against the front of the tub for hours and hours . . . for you it would be worse, a lot worse. I'd be interested in having a look at Argo's Centurion, but not unless they have more leg room.
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BigUglyMan said:
If you think I'm too big for an Argo you should have seen the guy that owned it. As tall as me and North of 300 lbs. They're no Cadillac, for damn sure, but the benefits of the platform outweigh the limitations.

I don't remember Charlie being taller than me, but he is a big lad.
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if i can squeeze in you both can ....
 
tried out some argo's and they weren't comfortable at all for me. loud and super rough ride. I end up with a new quad and a set of tracks and have never looked back. I tow a sleigh in the winter full of wood for the house, plow the driveway, use it for hunting and take the tracks off in the summer for around the house. love it and will never own a quad without them again.
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Suka said:
Boreal/muskeg country, argo with tracks, moose. They're not great at climbing big long hills but with tracks will pretty much go up a vertical muddy slope after crossing a bottomless river of liquid mud. We don't start hunting until a couple miles after we stop seeing quad tracks. At least here where there's constant year round kill anything that moves pressure from the, "stewards of the land". You have to get in deeper than they can to even find a moose(or most anything that's living for that matter). Argo's the only way if you want to hunt calling season imo.

Argo without tracks have a winch on both ends, you'll need them but with patience will still get there, or most of the way anyway. Keep your maint. up, carry spare chain, repair links, chain breaker, and the same engine spares you would for anything motorized. You could spend an ungodly amount on a new one or else buy an older one, disassemble the axles assemblies, check/replace bearings, put new chain on, go through the drive train and be good to go. Personally I'd stay away from the old 2 strokes, or change out the motor. The 4 stroke briggs seem pretty bulletproof.
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WTF so I'm the BAD GUY again
 
medvedqc said:
fergie.17,

depending on the terrain you want to go i know some local guys that stopped to use that kind of stuff to be back on the argo ....
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we don't have big swamps here. that would be the only benefit I could see. I can go anywhere with it. I wouldn't give it up for anything, exept maybe a sideXside with tracks........... LOL
 
fergie.17 said:
we don't have big swamps here. that would be the only benefit I could see. I can go anywhere with it. I wouldn't give it up for anything, exept maybe a sideXside with tracks........... LOL
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The quad with tracks looks like a real terrain monster, how well does it float when crossing small rivers and ponds with two guys and most of a moose in it.?
 
mrgoat said:
The quad with tracks looks like a real terrain monster, how well does it float when crossing small rivers and ponds with two guys and most of a moose in it.?
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go around...... there's pros and cons to both and I've tried both. I made "my" decision and love it. I don't only use it for hunting but do have a small trailer and sleigh that I pull with it full of wood when I'm cutting for our house and it has no problem pulling anything I dish out.
 
fergie.17 said:
tried out some argo's and they weren't comfortable at all for me. loud and super rough ride. I end up with a new quad and a set of tracks and have never looked back. I tow a sleigh in the winter full of wood for the house, plow the driveway, use it for hunting and take the tracks off in the summer for around the house. love it and will never own a quad without them again.
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mrgoat said:
The quad with tracks looks like a real terrain monster, how well does it float when crossing small rivers and ponds with two guys and most of a moose in it.?
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The only thing I would say about putting tracks on an ATV is to make sure you have plenty of power to run them. We used to put them on the bikes during the winter when I was surveying and we seized the motor on a 350 Honda.
The tracks we had weighed 80 or 90 pounds each, so 4 of them, plus all the added resistance of tracks vs a wheel, plus 2 guys and gear were too much for the old girl. And I can tell you trying to push a bike out of the woods with tracks on in the snow with a seized motor does not make for a fun day. Personally I wouldn't put them on anything smaller than a 500cc.
 
We get to our camp across a lake and through some nasty trails from there. For us an argo is great. They do require a bit of maintenance but do the job very well. I also use it around the farm now and then but an atv can do that job just just as well.
 
dand883 said:
The only thing I would say about putting tracks on an ATV is to make sure you have plenty of power to run them. We used to put them on the bikes during the winter when I was surveying and we seized the motor on a 350 Honda.
The tracks we had weighed 80 or 90 pounds each, so 4 of them, plus all the added resistance of tracks vs a wheel, plus 2 guys and gear were too much for the old girl. And I can tell you trying to push a bike out of the woods with tracks on in the snow with a seized motor does not make for a fun day. Personally I wouldn't put them on anything smaller than a 500cc.
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Tracks and the gearing associated in them have come a long way since then. The gearing is no longer generic and the ratio supplied is specific for your model now which helps with the increased resistance tracks cause over the use of wheels. You will still loose some top speed but the new cvt systems and improved gearing in the bikes as well makes it a lot less noticeable than before. I do agree though with engine size and being a bit of a gear head I live by the motto "there is no replacement for displacement". If you intend on installing tracks on a less than 500cc atv or sxs then you need to realize its limitations with the smaller power plant.

With regards to where they go.... not all track kits are created equal. I did lots of research and talked to over a dozen people locally with tracks on their sxs and the Tatou 4S tracks are by far the best all around choice: weight is decent, best gearing, most flotation and one of the easier sets to install.

Other than deep water crossings the argo has no advantage over a sxs with tracks in my experience and I have not regretted getting rid of my 8 wheel argo at all.
 
bearkilr said:
The Argo keeps a person clean. With a tracked sxs, the rider looks like a swamp, they're messy. A cab isn't a great option, as it turns it into a greenhouse, too hot.
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Half doors work great and full doors have opening windows. Front / back windshields either open or can easily be removed for hot weather and the quick installation / removal of modular accessories to tailor your needs of the day is something the argo just doesn't / can't have because of its design. Having had a cab on the argo I can attest that it's no joy either, especially in warmer weather or long rides in colder weather and the wreak of grease and brake / belt material is enough to make you nauseous. The argo may keep you a *little* cleaner in swampy ground but I'd take the comfort, versatility, speed, ease of maintenance and reliability of the sxs any day.

Having used both I made my decision and don't regret it at all in keeping the sxs.
 
Everyone has their preferences I guess. I had a ranger on tracks and an RZR on tracks and prefer the eight wheeled Argo. Yes the Argo requires more maintenance, but anything that breaks is easy to fix and that's pretty much only bearings and chains. In the case of the other bikes I got tired of untangling the weeds out of the sprockets in the tracks and replacing CV joints, ball joints and various steering parts. I have friends with other makes of tracked sxs's so it's not a brand issue, tracks are very hard on something designed for wheels.
A diff on a sxs is around $2k. I can rebuild the Argo's entire driveline for that price.
Maybe for a recreational user, the tracked atvs work, but for everyday heavy use the Argo has worked better for me.
 
I think a lot of the negative words about Argos on here, come from the older ones. In 2010 Argo went through a huge metamorphosis and really improved their machines. I have no smell of belt or grease in my machine, I have a soft top which has removable soft doors and roll up rear window, more or less identical to my soft top on my Ranger 6X6. It goes on and comes off in minutes and is really cozy when it's cold out or raining and pops right off and the windshield folds down when it's warm.
I have two SXSs and they are indispensable around the property and save me thousands of steps every day and countless hours in transit from one place to another, however I could never envision using them (tracks or not) where I take my Argo, with out hesitation. They just have completely different capabilities and I wouldn't want to be without either.
Hell, I take my Argo out on the lake fishing just cause it's so easy, I drive the 100 mtrs down the hill and right out into the lake. I can troll or I can stand on the seat and cast or fly fish in perfect comfort and with good stability without the hassle of launching a boat and trying to park the truck and trailer and then doing it all in reverse when I'm done. If the wind picks up I just drive to the nearest navigable shore line and I'm safe without having to try to trailer a boat in 2 or 3 ft waves. And just for trivia sake, it is impossible to sink an Argo, even fully swamped they float. So not only are they more convenient, they are also safer on the water than a small fishing boat.
 
bearkilr said:
The Argo keeps a person clean. With a tracked sxs, the rider looks like a swamp, they're messy. A cab isn't a great option, as it turns it into a greenhouse, too hot.
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And the centre of gravity on the tracked wheeler is awfully high. You can't say the same thing about the Argo.
 
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