**OPERATION FLOATING ATV***

Goal: Make an atv float across a lake/pond or water reservoir of choice.

Requirements: BIG AZZ TIRES!!! And said water reservoir (and spinners )

Tools Needed: sawzall and duct tape

 

I hate to say it OP, but you were right!

 

now that is something that i had thought about but seemed to have forgotten for some reason cause originally i had planed to do this to an old junk 350 manual utility atv but then decided i would try on the polaris. i think if i kept it in low it would help some but i think as long as the belt stays dry it will be ok. i've pulled a heck of a lot with this atv before and i know it takes a lot to slip the belt unless its wet.

 

haha give me a month and you'll eat those words. actually probably not but still give me a month and i'll probably have something thrown together.

 

Those military tires are skinny and weigh a ton... good luck with that.

 

well they're 47x16 so they aren't that skinny but yeah i know they weigh a lot that's why i really don't want to try those even though they are the cheapest options. but from just doing some quick searches i've found some 38x15.5x18 kumho mt's for $200, 40x17x15 ground hawgs for $200 and the wheels that go with them for $175, it's just a matter of time before i find some a tad bigger.

 

IF the military tires don't work, and thats a big IFFF .. the pontoon option is readily available!

I have faith

 

i dont see you fitting that big of a tire w/out lifting it tho man.

my dads Prarie 650 is pretty stuffed with 27" tires

 

haha now i did see on a site awhile back they were selling 53x24x20 militaries for not that much, im sure those would work . just playing about those things they were huge.

haha hell i might try the 47x16's on my old moto metals. sure would look awesome but im not sure if it would float.

 

oh yeah i know i wouldn't simply fit them. it's got 26 or 27's on it now. the tires will be sticking out a lot with the combo of the adapter/spacers and my moto metals that have 4.5 bs, if i use those wheels. from there i'll just cut the fenders till they fit good.

 

You need to find out how much the ATV weighs including you and a full load. You'll need 1 cubic foot of flotation for every 62lbs of ATV and load to make it float. If you need more flotation than just being equal in the water, you'll need more cubic feet of flotation. Balance is also required to keep the front end from diving and the back end from flipping over.

 

ha some actual advice. yeah im just going to use about 1000lbs for the full weight of everything because of the weight of the new wheels depending on which ones i go with and some extra weight just for good measure. i think i will be good with the balance since the tires should stick out pretty far and the atv will still have a pretty low COG. the only problem i have ran into is i don't know how to find the cubic ft. of air in a tire based on the tires deminsions. if i knew this it would help a lot. so each tire roughly needs to float 250lbs and 250lbs/62lbs in a cubic foot makes it where each tire needs to contian about 4 cubic ft. i think.

 

couldnt you just pump up your tires to like 530 PSI and have enough cubic ft of air to float?

 

wow i actually think i have some hope with the military tires.

so since i don't know how to find the cubic ft. of a tire i just found it of a cube about the size of the tire 47inx47inx16in= 35344 cubic in.s then convert that into cubic ft by dividing by 1728 (12x12x12) and i get 20.5 cubic ft. now that is of a cube though so even if i take out about 5-10 cubic ft. for the corners that are round now not square and for the hole in the center i should have more than enough floatation. theoretically.