This Six-Wheeled MAX 2 880-S Is Part ATV, Part Boat — and It's Up for Sale

A six-wheel-drive amphibious ATV fresh from the factory floor is looking for a new owner in Ohio — and it blends the company’s newest chassis with a body that long-time MAX fans will recognise instantly. The vehicle: a 2026 MAX 2 880-S, listed with only 0.8 hours showing on its digital instrument display.

Built by Recreatives Industries, the MAX line started rolling out of Buffalo, New York, back in 1970. More than five decades on, the machines still lean on the same basic steering philosophy: two hand levers, skid-steer control, and no steering wheel in sight. Think tank rather than tractor.

What the 880-S Actually Is

The 880-S is a bit of a hybrid of two eras. Underneath sits the modern Springer independent-suspension chassis, while the upper shell carries the classic MAX 2 silhouette — high-density polyethylene top and bottom, as always.

Up front, power comes from a 627cc Briggs & Stratton Vanguard OHV V-twin with electronic fuel injection, factory-rated at 23 bhp. Steering duties fall to a Borg-Warner T-20 skid-steer transmission that, incidentally, is now machined and assembled in-house with billet ring gears and carrier drums.

The vehicle is finished in a green-and-tan Camo Swirl pattern and comes with a front-mounted Warn winch, a roll bar, LED lighting, and a rear cargo rack. Polished 10-inch wheels wrapped in Grizzly Vee Rubber tires complete the package.

Key Specs: 627cc Briggs & Stratton Vanguard V-twin · 23 bhp · Electronic fuel injection · Six-wheel drive with skid steer · Springer independent suspension · 0.8 hours on the clock

Inside, there’s room for two on a black vinyl bench, plus a passenger grab handle, a tachometer that reads to 6,000 rpm, and a GPS speedometer topping out at 40 mph.

Why These Machines Still Matter

Amphibious six-wheelers were everywhere in the early 1970s — close to 60 American firms were building them at one point. Sales cooled as conventional ATVs and Japanese three-wheelers took over the market, but the MAX refused to disappear. Hunters, anglers, forestry crews, surveyors, and search-and-rescue teams kept the format alive.

The party trick has always been the same: the T-20 lets a MAX spin a full 360 degrees within its own footprint. On flat water, the rear-facing tires act as paddles and push the machine along at roughly 2.5 to 3 mph. Slow, sure — but a river crossing stops being an obstacle and becomes part of the route.

A Brand That Keeps Coming Back

The history is genuinely messy. Recreatives Industries was founded in 1969, sold the line in 2013 to Mudd-Ox, which built the MAX in Shipshewana, Indiana until 2016. Britain’s Agile Vehicle Technologies held the brand until 2021, when Andrew Lapp — a Floridian who grew up driving a MAX dealer’s demonstrators — bought it back.

Lapp folded the operation into Planet Resource Recovery, renamed it Recreatives Industries in 2023, and relocated the remaining Buffalo tooling to Bradenton, Florida. Production restarted in mid-2024.

Pricing for the current range starts at $15,279** for the standard MAX 2 and **$25,979 for the Springer version with six-wheel independent suspension. Recreatives has also signalled that the four-seat MAX 4 and the Buffalo Truck will return as 2027 models, expected to start around $17,979 and $18,979 respectively.

This particular 880-S is offered by a dealer in Ohio, complete with its operator’s manual and build photographs. For someone who wants a duck-hunting rig that doubles as a boat, there aren’t many alternatives left.