Mattracks

[John8x8hdi]

Has anyone ever used these or know someone who has them? These look like it would be great in the snow!

[Andyman]

Good in snow terrible in sand out here. I put them on a H1 Hummer for a customer for his Beach tours, he sold them shortly there after to a guy in snow country.
Fun build though and we added AGR ram assist steering to help it turn.

[allwheeldrive]

What was the reason for their dissatisfaction in sand? I really like the idea behind Mattracks though besides their price point (yikes!) Have seen some potential flaws.

First it may be counterintuitive. But they give up a lot of durability vs tires. User on Pirate4x4 on full sized trucks and SxS/ATV users have reported a number of broken components from ingesting branches, logs, rocks and anything else that will tear them apart. Including splitting their tracks lengthwise from rock use. Now granted they are sold as (all terrain) otherwise this does not apply in snow where these hazards are very unlikely. Their triangular design is very dangerous if they catch on a submerged log as they will dive and drive under it. Either breaking suspension components or themselves. This has always been the thing I disliked the most about them. If I am gaining a huge increase in traction I don’t want to drive more carefully. Mattracks do appear to be the best in snow. Many ATV and SxS owners where I live use them in the winter with no problems. Except over heating lol. That also seems counterintuitive, but even with gear reduction these sap a ton of power but more detrimentally they pack snow around air intact and air cooled engine components as well as radiators. NOW in fairness this is NOT a flaw of the tracks just a flaw of driving machines not intended to be, and not inherently capable of driving for hours in deep snow. Snow is cold and melts but it insulates even faster and better. Mattracks also work incredibly well in virgin mud. Or mud untainted by sticks, rocks etc. Such as mud down south. Low pressure is low pressure and they increase ground clearance, all beneficial. They are not unstoppable like a tracked AATV however. They do get stuck. They duplicate the performance of the biggest meanest mud built ATVs without all the mechanical strain and trail destruction.

[amphibious drew]

Someone had them on a 6x6 years back, but I can’t remember who. They were not as effective as tracking the tires from what I remember.

[Coast2Coast]

From what I've heard of co-workers using them on side by sides around here when those tracks sink in they are like 4 anchors and you can get dam near impossibly stuck with them to the point that a winch is not enough to get out. Otherwise they get around pretty well but I would much rather get stuck in my argo, where half the time a strong dude can just push the machine out by hand (with someone else on the throttle).