Hello - I just bought a 650 John Deere Trail Buck which is a rebadged Bombardier Traxter. We are having a massive melt off - about 3 feet of snow was on the ground - and it looks like we may have some flooding that could prevent us from getting out.

My question is this - how much water (how deep) can the 650 Traxter get through? It has a 7.5 inch ground clearance at the rear axle, but the floor boards are quite a bit higher up.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks

Roadie

 

I've never turned my Traxter into a boat (I have an Attex for that) but many people have gone up to the headlights. I have personally gone quite a bit over the floor boards with no problems.

 

That's good to know. Sometimes the creek floods down the road from me and it keeps people stranded for a few days. I was hoping that my new 4 wheeler might be able to get us out, assuming the water didn't get ridiculous. Appreciate the info!
roadie

 

Floor boards, are you kidding me, that's just a tease, I've been over the front headlights, now were talking, 1 problem you have to watch out for is not getting to the point where the wave catches up to you, so don't get stuck as the intake is behind next to the Rad, on the 02 and up machines. I sunk mine on the weekend as that is what happened, was following a grizzly and he tore it up good and I got stuck, the wave came back and I sucked in water. Had to change oil 2 times before it was fine.
There not boats, but you can get yourself into a jam sometimes just crossing something that looks inocent.

 

Thanks Stumppuller! Turned out the creek didn't flood so I didn't have to find out the hard way! But its good to know that the intake is back by the radiator and that the four wheeler can take a lot of water before it swamps.

 

Hear is a suggestion you may want to think about if you frequent deeper water. Remove the plastic body piece that is under the rear rack, buy removing the "rubber bands" from the under side,(also remove seat). Then loosen the hose clamp from the plastic air intake nozzle. A good look at that will show that it is a split two piece design. It is built this way so that a service center may inspect it for signs of muddy water stains so they can prove that you ingested water whel you bring them a quad with a bad motor.

The way around this is to snorkel the air box by removing the plastic air intake fitting a 2" shop vac adapter and a bit of good shop vac hose or large radiator hose......be creative then exit this hose above the rack through either a new hole or remove one of the plastic grills and out and up from there.

Next best thing is to just stay out of the darn deep stuff, or let the motor cool a bit and enter it slowly.....we regulary cross 28+"water here in Alaska with my '05 Traxter Max and my friends '01 Traxter.....and no I do not have any idea where the intake is on his machine...........just go slow and if it seems too deep, back up.

 

Thanks Maxtor - Appreciate the info on the 28" of water and the snorkle - think I'll just be careful with the deep stuff!

Roadie

 

Hey Maxter,

Got any pics, I'd like to see some alaska pics, must be really nice! I read a story where these guys did a trip on 2 traxters with tracks on them, wanted the best machines to do it and used them. They are sure good on fuel eh! Today I'm happy with the price of gas.
For water crossings, these machines are so dam heavy they don't float at all either so you have to really watch how deep you go. My 02 had those garbage blackwaters on them, now I have the Good Year Rawhide Radial's off the Cat, and my ride quality has changed drastically, but there no good for mud.
I got 4200 miles on mine now and have not changed a single thing, so tough wise they are in a league of their own.
Thanks for the snorkel info, what about taking rad hose and just adding it to the exsiting air intake, that would probably work also eh?

Thanks

 

As long as your airbox is tight...just keep the intake snorkel out of the water and you will be good. Now, you can also re-route the snorkel tube to the highest part and keep on keeping on...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Hiya Stumppuller -

Glad to hear you've got so many trouble-free miles AND good gas mileage. I live on a mountain side (read - steep stuff) and mine climbs like a monkey. So far, no problems at all and the gas mileage is quite good on mine too - even though they can really get up and go when you hit the throttle. I love how stable it is when I'm side hilling.

Roadie