By Barry Smythe on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I reach my cottage each weekend by driving across a
frozen lake. Once in a while, usually after a deep snow,
the weight of the snow forces the ice to float lower and
water comes up through contraction cracks and gets on
top of the ice to form slush..which is insulated from
freezing by the thick snow. A couple of times my Argo
with SuperTracks has been stuck (high centered) in the
deep snow and slush. It hasn't happened to me since I
installed the ice cleats but it could. I cut two pieces of
half inch plywood to fit in the back floor space to form a
new floor in the rear section. This allows tow straps
and jumper cables to be stored in the two drop sections
of the standard poly floor. They are very handy when
the vehicle gets stuck because the way to get out is to
put these two pieces under the back of the tracks, stay
out of the vehicle and back it out onto the plywood and
keep outside the vehicle until it is no longer on slushy
ice. With this equipment I have never been stuck for
long. Not a bad idea to take a pair of rubber boots in
the vehicle because you never know when the slush
will be under the snow, and the water may come in over
the top of ordinary boots and that water is literally ice
cold. Has this happened to any of you?

The Argo 8x8 makes it possible for me and my family to
spend weekends at our northern residence in safety,
sheltered from the cold wind as we go. Sometimes
there is a blizzard and we can't see anything on the
lake. I mounted a lighted electronic compass low on
the front windshield (more velcro) and rely on it to find
our island in the whiteout. Without the compass it can
be scary since one place (where a river flows into the
lake) is seldom frozen and would be dangerous for the
Argo even though it floats. I have read the feedback
about the handicapped person who went partly through
the ice and filled the vehicle with water. BE CAREFUL.

I hope these points will help some of you who are using
your Argos in the winter. I find that, with the
SuperTracks and Ice Cleats, I can go through the
deepest snow, but be wary of slush on the ice.

Cheers,

Barry

By David Keeso (Argomag) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Do you have any pics of your machine that you could send to me?? I would like to see where you mounted the engine fans and battery insulator stuff. My e-mail is djhkeeso@rogers.com

Thanks

By Barry Smythe on Unrecorded Date: Edit

David,

I have a picture on my laptop here at thecottage but it is
an exterior picture and does not show the new fan
defroster or the battery warmer. I did not bring my
digital camera this weekend so I can't take a picture of
the battery area until next weekend. Let me know if you
have a high speed connection. For now I will send you
a 640x480 version. If you look carefully you can see
the fine lines of the window defroster. Also, the ice
cleats are covered with ice and snow and are not
visible. My e-mail is \
mail{ebsmythe@sympatico.ca,ebsmythe@sympatico.c
a}

By David Keeso (Argomag) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Yes, i do have high speed. I would like to see any pics of your argo that you have.

thanks