Any Downsides to Adair Tracks?

[foxvalley]

I haven't noticed much stretch on my 18" tracks after putting on about 40 hours the last couple of months, not enough to take out a grouser anyway. What I have had happen though, is I have lost a few bolts on the outside edge of the tracks,I believe that the extreme flexing of the outside edge might be loosening the lock washers. I retorqued all the bolts,and will let you know if this is an isolated case, or if they are in fact getting loose.I picked up 1 lb. of bolts, washers,and nuts just like tim uses for $1.89, and keep them under the seat. No problems on the inside bolts.

[Obsessed]

[QUOTE=bilimrl1;120127]Issues I've had with the Adair tracks.. 1. Tire slippage....
1. Tire slippage
My wife’s argo bigfoot now has Ver. 10ish... tires spinning in tracks
Slick surface inside track surface, after new tracks have their initial stretch… 30 +/- 5 hours or so we put on them. Her machine is running worn and old design terra tires of some sort. Tim has all the best combinations worked out that this is not an issue on what he sells now.
My machine has new Argo design tires that grip tracks even with extremely loose tracks. I hung the argos at 45 deg. in tree to spray out to clean after Mud national. There was probably 4-5 inches of sag. I never spun a tire while putting almost 35+hours during a 5 day Mud Nationals this year. Her’s spun as mentioned above in mainly an inclined surface. She had a little less sag, while hanging in tree at 45 deg.
Both machines have not had the first adjustment to the new ver. style track until after Mud nationals and have not been ridden since adjustment. Tire selection that grips surface inside track is critical.

Hi Robert,

just going to respond to your thoughts here, as it my be of some interest to others...

on your 6x6 that is running the (22x11x8) rawhide III's we have noticed that a single grouser will slip rather easily one direction on that tread, but gets caught on the lug while trying to slip the other direction....if you leave the tires mounted in the normal AATV direction so that if you are looking at the front of the machine the ">" is pointing upward...then this will allow more slippage when the tires are driving the tracks forward....(i think i like this for two reasons...one, it is possibly easier on the machine as it produces no chain windup, and two, it insures more positive ingagement of the tire and track should you attempt to back out of a hole)...with that said, i think that the next time you service your machine and the tracks, try flipping the left side and right side tires so that they are mounted in the reverse direction and let us know if there is any noticable difference (the 22" goodyear tread pattern is slightly different than the 25" version of that tire, so our results might possibly vary and we havent had a lot of experiance or feed back from that tire/track combination)

as far as the friends not being able to keep up, just need to get more of your friends riding AATV's...lol :-)

Rock Doctor...."Those that have had their tracks stretch..........Is it safe to say that your tracks are "Pre-Case Hardened Chain"?
If not, ............. How far will a Case Hardened chain Stretch before breaking?"

no...the track "stretch" that some are refering to is still on tracks built with the new Case Hardened Chain...i think that it is not actually "chain stretch" as this chain does not stretch, but will instead shatter first....what happens is that the chain surfaces tend to "break into" one another and this will allow the tracks to relax a little...there is also (as David mentioned) the reality that under sever loads or if twisted up in ruts, etc the chain could be pulled slightly into the grouser where it passes through and this could also slightly relax the track...this slack may need to be adjusted from time to time durring your normal machine maintaince and is done by removing a half link or a full link in the connection point of the track and trimming the length back slightly....(keep all of your old parts so that if someday the tracks actually need to be rebuilt you can replace the four individual chains and reuse all of the origional pieces)

for improved durrability, where cost and machine width are less of limiting factors, the wider 16.5" or 18.5" tracks are prefered because the wider side spacers overlap and bolt together and allow for less individual movement of the parts...meaning, parts don't wear as fast and wear is much less noticeable...

hope this helps clearify what others are discussing

Tim

[foxvalley]

Oh thank god, I had visions of bulging biceps, and a 6pack growing on my tummy, lol.
Not nitpicky at all, that's exactly what I wanted. Now I can go back to my buddy and say "I WAS RIGHT...................... SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET AGREES WITH ME"

RD

Just because I agree with you, doesn't nessesarily mean I like you......... lol Doc!

[Rock Doctor]

Just because I agree with you, doesn't nessesarily mean I like you......... lol Doc!

Hmmm, anyone remember how to take away "reputation points"?


RD

[foxvalley]

You mean....point. My mother gave me one when she visited the site. Mike just feels sorry for me, so he gave me a star.(He took it from your pile, Doc.)

[jpswift1]

Here's what MaxIVMark and I noticed on his Max IV with the Adair tracks.

-They wouldn't climb a surface with rocky terrain because the plastic would just slip and spin.
-They wouldn't climb wet logs.......the tracks would just spin on the wet wood.
-They wouldn't go up the wood ramps to get onto my trailer when they were wet. It would just spin, like on the wet logs.

They were excellent in the mud and Mark was pulling a lot of machines out that go stuck. Mark had some great ideas how to overcome the downfalls of the tracks though. He's the man to talk to when it comes to improving and (over)building things so they don't break.

[mudbug3]

One thing I'll say though, is that the Adair tracks have a lot more pluses than minuses. Even though these UHMW tracks will slip on metal ramps, wet logs ,and over rocky terrain , they still cause less maintenance than any rubber track that they're compared against. Over all the Adair tracks are still the top dog when it come to tracks, even with the negatives.

[foxvalley]

I think NCT said it best on a different thread that there isn't a tire, or a tire track combo, that is going to work for everybody and all situations. Pick the best setup for your erea, terrain,season,etc. and you will be much more satisfied. Right on mudbug3.

[mudbug3]

I think NCT said it best on a different thread that there isn't a tire, or a tire track combo, that is going to work for everybody and all situations. Pick the best setup for your erea, terrain,season,etc. and you will be much more satisfied.

My thoughts exactly. For the places that my amphib friends and I ride at with the Adair tracks , they work great!

[kghills]

I don't know now. I did not realize the smooth metal ramp thing. Fortunately I have not encountered one of these obstacles yet in any of the marshes or swamps I have used my machine in, but if I do, I will be sure to use extreme caution. Honestly, the Adair tracks are amazing. They allow you to go were others can't and on less much fuel I might add. I think I have used maybe 10 gallons of fuel with 25 hours of running with tracks.

Keith.