ATV RETREIVAL COST

[duckman]

  I was wondering what it costs to have a ATV retreived if it goes thru the ice and sinks and what the fine is?

[goinhungry]

I don't know that there is a set fine/penalty. Rather, there's the cost of retreival plus I believe a per-day fine for every day that it remains in the water.

[Pike Paralyzer]

There is no fine if you don't get caught. There was a thread on here a year ago where guys used an aqua view to retrieve a 4 wheeler from the bottom of a lake. It was pretty neat

[cnyfisherman]

There is no fine if you don't get caught. There was a thread on here a year ago where guys used an aqua view to retrieve a 4 wheeler from the bottom of a lake. It was pretty neat

If the machine was legally registered and someone did happen to find it on say an aqua vu you would be in huge crap for just leaving it there because they would be able to trace it back to you . Besides who in the right mind is just gonna leave there ride at the bottom of a lake unless its a hunk ?

[perch@pans]

Is there a salvage law here? Might start fishing for atvs with my camera.

[Raquettedacker]

Is there a salvage law here? Might start fishing for atvs with my camera.

No... We pulled 3 brand new Yamaha snowmobiles out of a lake a couple of years ago, 8 days after the ice went out...Could do nothing but leave them on shore 8 miles from the boat launch..Got home and reported them and was told we could get in trouble just for touching them....

[goinhungry]

If the machine was legally registered and someone did happen to find it on say an aqua vu you would be in huge crap for just leaving it there because they would be able to trace it back to you . Besides who in the right mind is just gonna leave there ride at the bottom of a lake unless its a hunk ?

I don't think Pike Paralyzer was saying that it should be left under water, I think he was saying that if you got it out of the water before you got a ticket then there would be no fine...

[Pike Paralyzer]

Thank you goinhungry, CNY sorry if you were confused.

[muskrat bay]

my buddy and me do underwater salvage and we do 2 or 3 snowmobile and or atv retreivals a winter and we usually get anywhere from 300 to 1500 a job depending on if theres an insurance company involved or its out of pocket. if you have ins. on it they ( insurance co. ) usually will want you to retreive it and they will pay up to a certain amount. they are usually pretty easy to get with either liftbags or a good ole ext. ladder. we did one last winter up in three mile bay and the dec agent was there and even helped out he was real cool about it .

[cnyfisherman]

Thank you goinhungry, CNY sorry if you were confused.

ahh gotcha yeah you would save yourself a ton of money that way

[Jack Hunter]

Can't believe an insurance company would pay for an ATV through the ice.  Never seen a policy that covered that.  I say spank 'em daily for the pollutants that are seeping out of those machines.  Has the lake even been fully frozen for much more than a week?

[howesfc]

Can't believe an insurance company would pay for an ATV through the ice.  Never seen a policy that covered that.  I say spank 'em daily for the pollutants that are seeping out of those machines.  Has the lake even been fully frozen for much more than a week?

Boats have dumped more oil & gas in our Lakes & Rivers than ATVs will ever!

[hawkeyejr]

you talking about the 2 machines on lake erie

[Jack Hunter]

Boats have dumped more oil & gas in our Lakes & Rivers than ATVs will ever!

I didn't think of that, you're right.  Maybe someone can punch some holes in the NOCO tanks along the I-290 so it goes in the river.  What's a little more, right?

[Irrgang131]

Boats have dumped more oil & gas in our Lakes & Rivers than ATVs will ever!

Thats not the point, though true, point is that people need to use a little common sense.  Who wants to spend all that money on a machine and then take it out on thin ice just to watch it sink...

[Fatman]

I think you are only fined if the lake is regulated by the state.  A couple of people I use to work with went threw on piesco a few years ago.  When the ice was all gone they dove down with air bags and floated the up.  Then they hooked them to the boat and towed them to the state campsite.  Dec was there and never said anything to them.

[jekross42]

morons just for going on such thin ice, wouldnt even consider it with anything under 8 or 9 inches

[Pike Paralyzer]

I drive my suv on 8 or 9 inches.

[major257]

Around here it seems that DEC doesn't ticket you as long as you are making an active effort to retrieve the machine that went through.

[jimski2]

If you try to salvage it all the cable controls will fail within a year. A big, big headache for a long time to get it right again. Have your insurance total it and get another one if you want it. Snow mobiles are safer on the ice and do not let a salesman be you by saying the tires will float it up.

[varmonter]

my buddy and me do underwater salvage and we do 2 or 3 snowmobile and or atv retreivals a winter and we usually get anywhere from 300 to 1500 a job depending on if theres an insurance company involved or its out of pocket. if you have ins. on it they ( insurance co. ) usually will want you to retreive it and they will pay up to a certain amount. they are usually pretty easy to get with either liftbags or a good ole ext. ladder. we did one last winter up in three mile bay and the dec agent was there and even helped out he was real cool about it .

  As i dont own an atv and only hear the stories every
Year of them going thru. How is an extention ladder
Used in the retrieval process.??

[Gills-only]

Can't believe an insurance company would pay for an ATV through the ice.  Never seen a policy that covered that.  I say spank 'em daily for the pollutants that are seeping out of those machines.  Has the lake even been fully frozen for much more than a week?

.        Mine is fully covered as that's the first question I asked, here in Michigan!!

[skinny4]

What does a quad hold? 3 quarts of oil max is my guess. The fine should be applied to that total amount of oil. Cables are the least of your worries. Electronics will be shot. Draining and flushing it out would be a mess. I would completely disassemble the engine and gear box and rebuild the whole thing at that point. Or sell it for parts. But accidents do happen. I can't say I've ever spilled oil into the water. But I've seen oil in water from my motors either seals or 2 stroke exhaust. Should there automatically be a fine for 2 strokes? If its not on purpose and not a serious issue I wouldn't fine anybody who accidently sunk any machine and retrieved it themselves in a timely manor. Is it a shame to pollute? Yes, but this is not on purpose. I'd say no fine as long as it was registered. Most cops seeing you pull a machine from the bottom of the lake would feel your pain and count it as time served. Just cause you broke the law don't mean there going to ticket you for it. Probably spend more time laughing at you than looking for a code you actually broke. Again assuming you have insurance and a plate on it. Like when a cop finds you in a ditch after a snow storm. You have a liscence, insurance and registration. No problem. Did you break the law? Yes! Traveling above safe speeds in bad weather is a violation of the traffic code. He does not have to see you. He can look at your skid marks and determine you were traveling to fast to keep your vehicle on the road. But your not going to get a ticket if you only damaged your own property. Why? Cause police are humans and just cause they can ticket you don't mean they will. Throw any other offence in the mix and it changes.  Drinking or drugs involved  and bam now your gonna get the ticket for reckless driving. If your drunk and put your quad thru the ice, you are done. To use a ladder to get it out of shallow water hook a cable to the quad and have the ladder not straight up and down but on an angle to use as a ramp to pull it up. Its a lot easier to pull it up to the surface....to get it above water is where the fun is. Hope you got lots of wood

[fishbone]

the ext ladder is to lay on ice---over the hole or crack in the ice----then you hook the machine and winch it up---the ladder wont break thru the ice hole

[trapper2000]

this is fresh water not salt  chances are you  could    drain the  oil  refill   get it  running  dump it and   fresh oil  be all good  ....  your stator  would  be  fine   dry it out  and  you'd be  fine  it  gets  wet  every time you ride.....salt water would  eat  stuff up in quick order.....oh drain the  tank and  carbs  fresh fuel  good to go

[bigredonice]

there's still at least a half-dozen quads at the bottom on Otsego Lake in 120-160 FOW

[LP Steve]

I tried to cross the canisteo river with my buddies 4 wheeler one night at his hunting camp after a few beers and a day of hard rain. Well the quad and I both went for a ride down river. It was pitch black out and my heart was pounding and the water got deep to where I couldn't touch bottom. Somehow after floating down river I could hit bottom and was able to pull the 4 wheeler closer to shore. The bank is about 8' straight up so I had to bring it to the crossing path to get it out. It was completely under water and started headlights on and everything. I swam and walked it back to where I began to cross. It ran under water for quite a while and then all the way back to camp. Craziest night ever. Couldn't believe it ran like that. I know it wasn't in for to long but long enough. Lol that was something I'll never forget.

[3beagles]

Can't believe an insurance company would pay for an ATV through the ice.  Never seen a policy that covered that.  I say spank 'em daily for the pollutants that are seeping out of those machines.  Has the lake even been fully frozen for much more than a week?

I put mine through the ice in 2011 and my insurance would have covered the cost of a new machine.  (Mine was new).  As it turned out my son who is a mechanic got it drained and working fine.  I closed the case at no cost to the insurance company.  However, a few months later the power steering went on it due to being submerged.  The insurance co. paid for the part...around $600!  Nobody more surprised than me!
mike

[gil_lunkage]

Boats have dumped more oil & gas in our Lakes & Rivers than ATVs will ever!

Have you ever flown in a plane?  just because the fuel visibly disappears does not mean that it isn't present.  I would bet that the pollution from the air is even more so than the water from boats and all atvs(including jet skis)combined.

[Adkrs]

Hmm... someone should make an emergency ripcord/killswitch activated airbag kit for when you break through. Would keep your machine afloat