Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

COMPLETED: Croton Falls, NY Back woods trail

Trips/trails in the eastern part of the U.S. (loosely follows the Eastern Time Zone)
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by steveroche » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:39 pm



Thanks for the embed fix...Here is a compilation of my trip on Sunday. I had to put the camera down when i got to the difficult terrain because i didn't have anyone riding shotgun with me and i needed both hands on the wheel...had one dent appear after i met a small tree that seemed to come out of no where... :wallbash: I was paying too much attention on not bottoming out on a steep drop with a large rock in the middle...Then on the way home about 2 minutes down the road a transmission line got a pinhole leak and started spraying tranny fluid all over and then the fan started slinging it everywhere...Got it fixed on the side of the road after my friend got me a new hose from down the road.
All in all it was a fun trip till the very end when i ran into those problems, but the truck once again performed above expectations and i used the winch again which worked great...if i didn't have the winch, i would have had many more dents to show off haha....
Last edited by steveroche on Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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by steveroche » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:49 pm

Here are two pics, one of the trail damage and the other of mine and my buddies truck...
DSC01535.JPG

DSC01534.JPG
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by Trail X » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:04 pm

Looks good Steve. Some decent trails up there!

I'm amazed you could deal with following an ATV that long... I hate those little noise makers.

Time to invest in a camera mount!
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by steveroche » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:07 pm

Yea it's surprising how many trails there are, it's finding where they are that is the problem. Around here they are quite hidden but if you know the right people you can find all the good spots. We spend around 4 hours in this one spot and only explored around 1/3 of the whole trail system. The ATV is a little on the annoying side as far as noise goes, but it is a great thing to have with us when we go out. He goes ahead and checks out the difficult trails and comes back with recon info on how difficult it's going to be or if we should turn around and take another trail. Saves a lot of walking and time spent in reverse in tight spots...
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by NC_IslandRunner » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:44 pm

[TV][/TV]
JamesDowning wrote:I hate those little noise makers.


I love mine, lots of fun to ride!!
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by Trail X » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:22 pm

NC_IslandRunner wrote:I love mine, lots of fun to ride!!


Oh, no doubt, I've played around with one on one of my friend's farms. A blast to ride, but I don't feel they really comply with the whole tread lightly POV on forest trails. They cause such a raucous! :finger:
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by bgwolfpack » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:56 pm

Looks like a good time!

I think the ATV driving ahead is a great idea if you access to one. :rabbit:

BUT, please warn us next time on your video content! :shaking: Just kidding. :raspberry:

:cheers:
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by bartonmd » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:27 pm

JamesDowning wrote:
NC_IslandRunner wrote:I love mine, lots of fun to ride!!


Oh, no doubt, I've played around with one on one of my friend's farms. A blast to ride, but I don't feel they really comply with the whole tread lightly POV on forest trails. They cause such a raucous! :finger:


How is a stock 4-wheeler that's as quiet as a stock TB, has about 1/10 the ground pressure of a TB, and needs a trail 1/2 as wide as a TB, driven with the same regard for TL as a TB, less TL than a TB? :poke:

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by HARDTRAILZ » Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:57 pm

[quote="bartonmd]
How is a stock 4-wheeler that's as quiet as a stock TB, has about 1/10 the ground pressure of a TB, and needs a trail 1/2 as wide as a TB, driven with the same regard for TL as a TB, less TL than a TB? :poke:

Mike :finger:[/quote]

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by NC_IslandRunner » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:51 am

I don't know about them being a quite as a tb my rancher is noisy and stock, as TL goes it's mainly the rider that chooses. The tires do a little more damage but nothing major unless your trying, I don't TL in the sand pits but trail riding I keep it around 10-13mph and try not to rip it up. They do make smaller trails, but most riders don't think about the damage they cause when they are doing donuts and riding over trees and such.

Still I think it is a awesome idea to have one as a spotter if possible cause they can get through almost anything. Hasn't someone carried a dirtbike on the back of their TB? I thought I have seen pics of this before and it could serve the same purpose..
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by bartonmd » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:09 am

They don't idle as quiet as a completely stock I6 TB (given that you can be standing to one running, and not know it's running), but they're certainly as quiet as my TB with just the resonator removed...

The speed thing is much different, as well... Running trails at 10-15mph on a quad is being easy on it and not tearing up the trails too much, but try and run a TB with M/T tires on a similarly windy, but wider, trail at 10-15mph and see what it does...

You're right, though... It is all about the rider, as much as taking anything off road is all about the rider/driver... Back in HS, we/I did more doughnuts than I can count in our trucks (and 1 Grand National)... Several times we started in a 1 acre field with knee high grass, and ended with one giant mud pit (this was private property, BTW). Not something I'm really proud of now, but it goes to show that it's all about what the rider/driver wants to do...

That's Teebes that puts his dirt bike on the back of his TB...

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by navigator » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:06 am

I agree it is more about the rider and a lot of times they want to rip it up.
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by HARDTRAILZ » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:16 am

navigator wrote:I agree it is more about the rider and a lot of times they want to rip it up.



The new class of buggies and truggies seem to cause the most damage lately. No atv can dig a hole like 500 hp and 40+ tires.
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by bartonmd » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:18 am

HARDTRAILZ wrote:
navigator wrote:I agree it is more about the rider and a lot of times they want to rip it up.



The new class of buggies and truggies seem to cause the most damage lately. No atv can dig a hole like 500 hp and 40+ tires.


Ah yes, the southern "rock bounce" buggies... There might as well not even be a throttle, because it seems like they're turned off or WFO...

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by Trail X » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:27 am

It is a bit of an "eye of the beholder" sorta thing, but I don't recall seeing any ATVs treading lightly, nor being quiet (they sound like a civic with a fart can stuck in 1st), but that could be due to where I've encountered them.

I guess I'm still sour at that ATV rider that ran into my fender.
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by HARDTRAILZ » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:43 am

True. I grew up w atvs and used to used my sport quad to ride backroads like it was a motorcycle plus play offroad. I love them and want another. My quad went far more places than the tb will .

They are two far different things. Both have a place and both need responsible owners and users.
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by bartonmd » Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:34 am

JamesDowning wrote:It is a bit of an "eye of the beholder" sorta thing, but I don't recall seeing any ATVs treading lightly, nor being quiet (they sound like a civic with a fart can stuck in 1st), but that could be due to where I've encountered them.

I guess I'm still sour at that ATV rider that ran into my fender.


You encounter them in off-road parks... What's the % of quiet, treading lightly trucks, Jeeps, buggies, etc. in these parks?

Regardless of how loud they are in the parks, they don't come loud from the factory, unless it's a racing version, and even then, they're not REALLY loud... Just the same as somebody putting an open exhaust (or headers) on a TB or a truck...

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by steveroche » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:20 am

In one of the main trails that I go to, the Brewster,NY trail, I find that in the past year and a half there has been an extraordinary amount of trail damage done. The trails look nothing like what they used to and the difficulty of the trails is now much higher. When i first started going on the trails, I was still a stock TB and i was able to make it up this one trail to the top of the mountain with no problems, in the winter, with snow everywhere, with bald tires...Now when i go there, i can't even make it up that same trail, granted i don't yet have a locker :wallbash: this trail and all the others are ripped on all day by guys on their quads and bikes who don't really seem to care about TL but even with that, i find that the majority of the damage to the trails is natural erosion considering we have been having one of the rainiest seasons in a while and just had a hurricane...As well as trucks, people with Jeeps who think they can tackle everything and anything find big mud pits and hill climbs and just floor it kicking up everything and making ruts the size of a football field. The main problem is inexperienced off roaders with lots of money who just have their parents buy them a new jeep and then bring it to the off road shop and have them deck it out. Then they think that since they have a good truck they instantly know how to wheel...and they burnout the whole trail and ruin everything...

But thats just my experience here in CT with the trails i've gone through.
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by fishsticks » Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:11 pm

bartonmd wrote:Ah yes, the southern "rock bounce" buggies... There might as well not even be a throttle, because it seems like they're turned off or WFO...

Mike



Must be different down there. Up here all the buggies have 38093297534975934759347593475:1 crawl ratios and I don't know if they could actually spin the tires. :mrgreen:
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by bartonmd » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:58 pm

fishsticks wrote:
bartonmd wrote:Ah yes, the southern "rock bounce" buggies... There might as well not even be a throttle, because it seems like they're turned off or WFO...

Mike



Must be different down there. Up here all the buggies have 38093297534975934759347593475:1 crawl ratios and I don't know if they could actually spin the tires. :mrgreen:


I thought you were in Pirate? Look up anything by Tim Cameron... There are several guys who build "rock rods" but that's the one I remember...







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