Wheeler in the drink~

[the squirrel]

I now have found out how cold clearwater is in the winter.. I was coming off the lake Saturday night and was about 30' from shore when me and my brother went down. I was in 7' of water so the wheeler was fully submerged. I drained all the fluids including the gas which everything had water in it. It runs fine and I will put about 10 miles on it and change the oil again. Then after about 50 miles on it I will change the tranny and differential again along with the oil for a 3rd time. Is there anything else that should be done? This has been in a heated garage and will remain in one all winter. Its a sportsman 500 HO.. Thanks

Squirrel

[Ryan_V]

What part of the lake??

[Dave]

Well, happy to hear you boys are okay. Just keeping checking and changing the fluids as needed. Hot the cables with some WD-40, too.

[Macgyver55]

Take a good look at the brake fluid too. It should be sealed ok but I'd look at it just in case. Brake fluid is water soluble and will absorb moisture and rust internal parts.

A cable lube tool is also a good thing to use on your cables. It will lube the cables with pressuized cable lube to push the moisture out of the casing. Otherwise the cables may take a long time to dry out and may freeze if you are out in the cold for any length of time.

[Black_Bay]

I'm assuming that you also changed the air filter. It probably wouldn't hurt to grease all the zerks also. Plus don't be suprised if you have a wet rearend next time you ride. Seats have a tendency to suck up A LOT of water.

[Guest]

suirrel.. as I told your brother.. keep changing the oil until the air bubbles are gone. It usually takes about 3 times.

You guys were by the access with the culvert right?

[the squirrel]

Yes I did change the air filter as that was floating in water.. That guy.. Yes we were the ones by that access. I forgot to metion we drained the gas in the lines/carb and put some iso in with the new gas. Someone told me the only way to dry these seats is to pull of the cover and dry out the foam and even that might not work.

[Hibbing]

I'd also check the fluid in the front hubs if it was submerged for any length of time.

[Guest]

Suirrel.. is there any holes on the bottom of your seat pan? Either way, the water can only go out where it came in on a seat. If there are holes, you can take the seat off and keep putting pressure on it to try to get it to drain. I would squeeze out what I could and bring the seat indoors(warm area), and it will slowly dry out.. at the quickest rate it can with whatever ventilation it gets.

I am not an apholsterer(sp?), the seat would never look perfect again if I took the cover off to dry the foam.. but that is the best way to dry the foam. If you dont get the foam dry, you will have a rock hard seat every time you take it out in the cold until it does dry. My biggest fear would be ripping the seat cover when trying to take it off.

[Kodiak]

how did you get it out of the drink? i thought wheelers would float upside down?

[GoodToGo]

I put mine in the drink last year, they do not float! Mine sank to the bottom nose first, my buddies went upside down. We hooked them with a grapnel and pulled them to the surface by hand. I would guess there was 75 lbs of force to pull it to the surface. A couple of sealed 5 gallon pails secured to the frame probably would have kept it from sinking. Something to consider if you take your wheeler into high risk ice.

[EBass]

Yup squirrel that friggen sucked! I don't know if I want to ice fish again. I'm sure I will, but that slow, sinking sensation with the water rushing through my bibs keeps haunting me. I'm sure you keep replaying it in your head to. That's the 2nd time I went through on a wheeler.

I tried calling you but no go. I even tried that 320 #.

Glad to hear she's ALIVE again.

I have a large and small grease guns if needed. The small has marine grease and the large has synthetic.

[bbqhead]

i found out my 450 honda floats both ways!

randy aka bbqhead

[jltimm]

I was wondering that since polaris atv's are so heavy that they won't float? They are usually 100 lbs. heavier than comparable atv's.

[Guest]

I highly doubt anyones utility 4 wheeler is going to float unless the tires are way oversized and overfilled with air. My cousin went as far as to take all the excess steel weight and make aluminum bumpers, skid plates, and a little bit of everything else on his mudding machine(500 sportsman) which has 28" tires. He even has aluminum rims(like the factory steel) that are ultra light weight.

It doesnt sink, it doesnt float... its neautrally boyant(sp?)

[bbqhead]

i have "drove" my 450 honda across water with only

the tires spinning for propulsion... yep i got wet!

went a couple hundred yards to shore.

got stock tires at 3.5 psi.

i found out the hard way!

randy aka bbqhead

[the squirrel]

The wheeler is running it took 4 oil filters and 5 oil changes... Now I have to keep working on that wet seat.. They want to much $$ for a new one.. I also need to replace one of my running lights and a wire that got pinched off. I went to hook up the trailer and turned the running lights on and there went my fuse.. A little more work and I should be back on SOLID ICE NEXT MONTH!!

Squirrel

[mark n]

Suck the water out of the foam with a wet/dry shop vac.

place on TOP of warm dryer or heating pad on low for a couple days.