Google RockDoctor07 videos on Youtube. He is up in Alaska and has a pair of 8x8 he uses to access his remote cabin in the bush.
Google RockDoctor07 videos on Youtube. He is up in Alaska and has a pair of 8x8 he uses to access his remote cabin in the bush.
RD I believe hails from B.C. I have always enjoyed his vids and especially the fact he posts honest/helpful videos (including the times he gets stuck in the mud), or comments about traction cleats ectOriginally Posted by Dan67
[QUOTE=mightymaxIV;236118]An odd claim, but the original poster mentioned a few things I am familiar with re: channel tracks (reversible rims/track tuners, lengthening a track for a new machine, overall width ect). FYI, I believe his steel channel tracks were made in Canada (not by me)
Additionally, there was some interest expressed in some snow videos w/Adair Pro series tracks w/winter kit. Seens like a good reason to me to get some machines and different track types together if possible and shoot some footage to help everyone, including the original poster.
It’ll be fun.
I will do a video for sure once I get my machine put together and the Adairs come. And....we get some snow! It has been super dry here. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!
Well for the past couple of weeks I have been stripping all the goodies off my Conquest and fitting them to my Frontier LE in preparation for my tracks arriving. They were loaded on a truck yesterday and should be here in a couple of days. The Conquest and Frontier are pretty close dimensionally, but I had to do some massaging here and there to get everything to fit. I put the rear bench seat in, windshield, and aluminum hard (soft side) top on the Frontier.
I had to wire three sets of LED lights and radio as well. I ditched my electric windshield wiper kit because it has never worked well and uses a small (13") blade on it. I put a hand wiper on it from Amazon and it has a 15" blade on it and sweeps the whole windshield (not just half). I have this same wiper on my Polaris Ranger and it works well.
Before all of the accessory swapping started I pulled my tranny with only 29 hours on it and shipped it off to Argo Adventure to have them put in the 3.3 HT (low) gear set in it. Those gears combined with the 26.5 HP EFI motor should pull those Adairs well. I also drilled out my clutch weights to 207 grams (stock in Scout/LE Frontiers is 220) for high altitude (8000-10,000+ feet above sea level).
We have been getting some snow here finally and I am hoping to go find at least 2 feet in the high country to try out the tracks this weekend. I will report back and their performance.
IMG_2171.jpgIMG_2169.jpgMy tracks came yesterday and the timing could have not been better as I had just finished up getting all the accessories on the Frontier. The Adairs look impressive to say the least and the components used appear to be heavy duty (grousers, thick belting, and) hardware. I first installed the mud/snow flaps on the rear and then installed the tracks easily with the help of one heavy duty ratchet strap to join the hinges together after deflating the front and rear tires. I had already indexed the tires and I put the Argo recommended 5,6,6,7 psi from front to back. Adair says 5-6 psi in the tires is a good range. When I looked at the completed machine the name "Mean Joe Green" immediately popped into my head!
The most dramatic thing I noticed and was expecting was how much higher the machine set. I took a bunch of notes on the ground clearance of my Conquest with the Chanel tracks and the Frontier before and after installing the Adairs. I like nerding out on things like that and some of you may appreciate this as well but here are the numbers:
Frontier with 24x10x8 tires @ 5 psi:
Front chain/sprocket chanel 7 1/2"
Front center belly 9"
Rear chain/sprocket chanel 9"
Rear center belly 10 3/4"
Frontier with Adair Pro Series w/metal cleat winter kit (tires 5,6,6,7 psi):
Front chain/sprocket chanel 9 1/4"
Front center belly 10 3/4"
Rear chain/sprocket chanel 10 1/8"
Rear center belly 12"
Conquest 22" Chanel tracks with 22x11x8 Carlisle Stryker (tires averaging 6 psi):
Front chain/sprocket chanel 7 1/2"
Front center belly 8 1/4"
Rear chain/sprocket chanel 7 3/4"
Rear center belly 8 1/2"
The Stryker tires on the Conquest run large and are very close to the diameter of the 24" Frontier tires. The things that I attribute to the differences in ground clearance are the lower tub designs and the grousers on the Adair tracks are much taller. Ground clearance isn't the end all factor as I have ran my Conquest in VERY deep snow dragging the belly and pushing a huge wave of snow in front of me with little difficulty, but it will be interesting to see the difference it does make.
The funny thing is I have to pull the Frontier into my garage now because it doesn't clear the door opening reversing in and barely clears pulling in. My drive way is steep and this causes a lot of the issue backing in.
One other thing I noted was the width of the two machines with their track on. The Conquest is 77" wide with 2.5 spacers/tuners and the Frontier is 75" wide with the 18 1/2" Pro Series with my reversible rims reversed/flipped.
very impressive thorn ...looks like a '' tank '' in your garage . those tracks with the snow kits should take you anywhere. post a photo when your on the snow . i had lots of fun today tooling around in the snow in my max2 highboy and so did our dog '' elsie '' . johnboy va.
Looking good thorn, be nice to see the video of your new machine in action and your analysis.
My new beer holder spilled some on the trails - in it's hair and down it's throat.
Joe Camel never does that.
Advice is free, it's the application that costs.
Thanks gents. I am going to take it out tomorrow for a little shake down. Unfortunately there just isn't much snow here yet to truly see what the tracks can do in the deep stuff. I am anxious to see how the machine feels with the tracks and the low 3.3 gears. I will at least take a couple of pics. I will eventually take it up in the high backcountry to try and find some deeper snow.
Would like to see the video's when done. Think it's a great idea. May help a lot of people decide which tracks for their needs .
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