my question I'm new to 6x6 world I picked up argo 1989, 18mag. how deep of snow will the argo go into without trac's or do I really need trac's for the snow,
is there anyone in mi. with argo ,max, machine where do you run them, this over 50 inches on orv trail, is wrong,
Buzz, thanks for the reply. I just purchased the tuners I believe that they are the 2.5 inch. They look well built. Yes the axles are the hd axles. I am running the Argo rubber tracks. The area I was in when the axle broke was high dry swamp grass. My theory is that the grass increased the friction on the tracks which increased the stress on the axle. It could also have been a previously damaged axle. I'm not giving up on the tuners just yet.
Hey Obsessed or anyone with track tuner experience...
1) If all of your wheels were the same circumference would track tuners be necessary?
2) Wouldn't it make sense to install 6 tuners (on an 8x8) and drive the track from either the front or back wheels?
I don't have track tuner experience but:
1) It is near impossible to get 8 tires that are statically the same diameter and even harder to get 8 tires that stay dynamically the same diameter. (temperature, pressure, rolling over logs, etc) But you are right.
2) When travelling on a slope all of the track slack ends up on the uphill end. (The mass of the vehicle pushes on the downhill end.) This will unload the uphill tire and if it happens to be the driven tire it will just spin in the tracks. Been there.Especially bad if there is snow and ice involved.
I've run with and without Tuners, I've also tried a couple other options. Sometimes by choice, sometimes not.Originally Posted by NorthOf60
Tuners on middle axles works great.
Removing the front chains and no Tuners, is workable, but not really very good.
Broken back chains is about the same as removing front chains.
Broken third chains is tough to get through much, but u might be able to limp back to your truck.
RD
I run escargo tracks with tuners no problems after 50 mile moose trip I carry a spare spacer in case one goes bad. The units look like they are well built. I have not had any chain problems.
Hey North...good questions.
No...if your tires were all exactly the same and would consistently stay the same then there wouldn't be much benefit from track tuners...problem is that modern ATV tire manufacturing processes result in surprisingly random size tires and current AATV manufactures haven't made much of an effort to try and pair up common sized tires so most machines running around today already have a pretty mismatched set on them. Some dealers will go through great lengths to put matched sets on the machines they sell, but most dealers don't have the depth of inventory to effectively be able to do this. In my opinion, late model argo's benefit from slightly mismatched front and back tires (because of current chain tensioners), and larger ones in the center will actually help a skid steer machine turn much easier, but caution should be taken with these setups to eliminate the distructive effects of the resulting chain windup.
Perfect sized tires would work in a factory type of track, but a classic style of track will always benefit from the track tuners because those gear reduction types of tracks naturally end up severally overdriving all the center tires...generally to the tune of about 25% faster than the track is actually moving.
In a perfect world yes... Eliminating all of the driven wheels and there chains and sprockets and tensioners from a track system except for one would make sense except most common track options for these machines rely on friction to drive there track and there simply isn't enough friction all of the time necessary if you don't keep both the front and rear tire working. It will work in areas where there is not much lubrication or heavy loads, but will frequently fail throughout a typical days ride.... Fail meaning simply start uncontrollably slipping the remaining driven wheel or wheels inside of the track so that the machine essentially goes nowhere.
Best of luck and I hope this helps explain your questions.
Tim
installed my adair tuners and spacers on my HDI today,put the argo rubber tracks on and went for a ride before snow melts.the adair spacers are sure a lot easier to install then the argo spacers.anyhow,went up through the bush roads and through a ditch back up onto main road and felt the tires slipping in the tracks.tracks and tires were well lubricated with water so im sure that is a factor.has anyone else experienced this?im a little concerned about the tires slipping in a big slush hole on the lake,might be better off having all wheels driving in the tracks??????????? tracks are installed without the space and are a little on the tight side right now.
cheers
sorry plott, but the problem is the doggone rubber tracks. Crap. Smooth on the inside with very little for the tire lugs to grab ahold of (side load). Newer style tires do a little better job of grabbing the bottom of the tire-guides on the outer edge of the tires. Still not very good though. Rawhide III's suck even worse if you get anything slippery inside your track and attempt heavier-load maneuvers especially from a standstill. Water that freezes in the winter is the worst. Open grouser tracks on the other hand allow the tire lugs to fall between grousers and side-load the grouser faces. The grouser centers on elevated-belt tracks actually move and can especially "find their home" between tire lugs. That's the key, using the tire lugs to sideload and drive the grouser-faces. When rubber tracks slip/grab, slip/grab it makes an awful noise as the chains load/unload repeatedly. Same thing happens with rubber tracks even if you drive the center tires, but the benefit of the tuners is definitely worth keeping them on.
thanks buzz,when the snow returns I will give the tracks a good work out with and without the tuners.plowing snow should tell me how bad the slippage will be.
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