This Side By Side Offroad Machine Turns Into a Boat

By now most of us have heard about or seen the Quadski, the four-wheeler-turned-jet-ski that appears to be the first vehicle of its type to actually play both parts well. From the same manufacturer comes the Terraquad, a larger version of the same concept designed to be both a capable side-by-side and a small watercraft. Much like the Quadski, it appears the Terraquad manages to fulfill both roles quite well.

As you can see in the clip below from the Gibbs Amphibians YouTube channel, the Terraquad starts out as a side-by-side that certainly looks to be more than capable of going just about anywhere you’d expect a RZR to go, although the wheels and tires are a tad small, proportionally speaking. Those should be easy enough to change if that bothers you enough to justify swapping out some larger rolling stock.

Drive off into the water and the game changes. While many side-by-sides can drive in the water as long as they have snorkels attached to keep a supply of fresh air feeding into the engine, but this is a completely different creature. Flip a switch – or maybe a lever, or press a button, we’re not actually sure to be honest – and the wheels retract, leaving the bottom of the Terraquad looking very much like a small boat. Power diverts from driving the wheels to the propulsion system and off you go, driving atop the water instead of through it.

In aquatic configuration, the Terraquad has enough power to pull a wakeboarder, meaning it’s more than capable as a watercraft, not just putting on an act. With both the side-by-side segment and the personal watercraft market growing seemingly year after year, having a ride capable of both seems like a pretty good idea, especially one that looks like it does both pretty dang well. We just might have to see about getting our hands on one of these to put it through the paces and see if it lives up to the hype!