drivetrain vs tracks

[muskwa]

hey everybody ive been asking around and havent received any definate answers. maybe you guys could help me out. i have a 97 argo conquest with the kawisaki engine and was looking for a set of rubber tracks(rs bolduc) i have been told that the transmission would not hold up to these tracks on this machine. anyone on here have these tracks on their machine and if so how does it perform? are these tracks good all year round? and would the machine have enough to push this thing around pretty descent? not in any way looking for speed just something that will get me to where i want to go. any ideas welcome

[trebmaster]

the trans should hold up fine and power should not be a problem but it will ware on the chains,sprockets,bearings,and seals a little more then without.
many peaple run tracks on here and im sure some of them will chime in. the new Adair tracks are pretty sweet in my opnion. Do a search on this site for Adair tracks

[Rock Doctor]

Muskwa?? As in "Muskwa River"?

I have a set of rubber tracks, similar to Bolduc. Mine are 14" wide.
If you live close by the Muskwa River, you could actually pop over and have a look at them
The trans will handle the tracks fine, but like trebmaster said, tracks are harder on the whole drive system that just tires. I would also put in a vote for Adair Tracks, you would be looking at about $2,200 for the tracks and about $300 for shipping, if you are where I think you might be.
The 20hp Kawi is fine, but no powerhouse. Some simple mods to your clutches will help alot. I have a couple Conquests right now, both on tracks and I have opted to drop a 27hp Kawi into one of them although I havn't done it yet (New engine is sitting on my shop floor)

Personally I don't normally run tracks in the summer, but I will be leaving my set of rubber ones on one machine this spring/summer just to see how it works out.

RD

[travisch]

I spend more time tracked than not and here is my opinion based on my observations over the years.
Rubber tires running inside rubber tracks is a high friction environment that when coupled with differences in tire size causes premature bearing, chain and tensioner wear.
Argo learned this very quickly when they released the rubber tracks. The problem still exists with the plastic tracks but the friction is much less allowing enough slippage to occur that the bearing & chain wear happens over a longer period of time - more life.
In a perfect world the tires would all be the exact same diameter and you wouldn't have a problem but we've measured as much as 5 inches in diameter difference from one tire to the next on both Goodyear and the Argo tires by Carlisle. This is huge! On average a set of tires on a new machine vary by 2-3 inches which is enough to really cause you problems in tracks which is why Argo has a procedure for indexing the tires on the machine to minimize the effect.
This high friction environment also has another effect on the machine besides premature wear.......it robs tremendous amounts of power. This loss of power is evident when you are going down the trail and splash into a mudd hole - the mudd acts as a lubricant allowing the different size tires to slip in the tracks and frees up the power.
The bottom line is the added rolling mass and high friction from tracks is going to cause you problems in the long run. There are ways to almost eliminate it and you can PM me for details.

[muskwa]

thats what i thought but an argo dealer said dont even think about adding the rubber tracks because the conquest tranny would take a crap. anyways, i have priced adair tracks and would come in much cheaper. tracks,terrace(i guess duty?) and shipping would come to 2850. thats about 800 cheaper than the rubber tracks from bolduc and no wheel spacers to worry about. my question is how forgiving is the plastic on the adair tracks? i have to run alot of gravel and rocky trails to get to where i need to put the tracks to good use. i do have the standard argo tracks(not comparing at all) and would almost think of this as a step sideways rather than ahead?? i could and probably are wrong though. my opinion is that the plastic is just not as forgiving as rubber on this type of terrain. i do understand what you guys are trying to get at though.. the rubber tracks would wear the machine quicker while the adair tracks would take alot of the abuse and not transfer it to the machine. its a toss up i guess. but am in the market for new tracks(bettter than what i have anyways) and would like to hear more. i have read up on the measurement and wheel placement and dont understand it but would follow it no doubt. anyways any more ideas or thumbs up for a certain track are more than welcome!! rock doctor those vids of yours are somethin else.. awsome country man

[smog]

anyone on here have these tracks on their machine and if so how does it perform?

almost ALL argo in eastern Canada have a set of RSBolduc rubber tracks during winter. I have seen a LOT of older conquest, bigfoot, response with the 20" rubber tracks and let me tell you, it's the ultimate setup for deep snow. None of the owners complained or went back to plastic tracks. Yes it is harder on the chains and bearings but the 20" rubber tracks will take you anywhere. Plastic/HDPE tracks will slide very badly on frozen pavement, rocks and ICE. During our family runs, the plastic tracked AATV almost always end up in a situation where they have to be towed by a rubber tracked vehicle.

[mudbug3]

The Adair tracks are made out of a material similar to what kitchen cutting board is made out of -- UHMW ,and not the same material that Argo makes their plastic tracks out of. With that being said,, I would assume that the lugs on a rubber track would more easily have chunks tore off of them when driving in rocks and gravel, than a lug thats made out of UHMW, thats a lot more durable. This is my opinion though.

[Noel Woods]

The Adair tracks are made out of a material similar to what kitchen cutting board is made out of,and not the same material that Argo makes their plastic tracks out of.

I agree Dave. The Adair tracks seem to have a better coefficient of drag than the rubber tracks. They turn well on concrete and asphalt, and I think have less stress on the drivetrain than the other tracks.

[Obsessed]

There are ups and downs and trade offs to every options, but it might help make your decision easier if in fact your Conquest has 22x11x8 goodyear rawhide III tires, then adair does not currently offer a track for that 11" wide tire, only the 22x10x8 goodyear runamuk and the newer 24 and 25 inch tires with other sizes still in the works.

hoping for more snow :-)

[muskwa]

dont know what to think. wish there was more videos of tracked argos so i could see how they perform in the areas i would like to use them. all the videos i see are either right in the thick stuff or in 4 feet of powder. dont get me wrong i do like what i see with both set of tracks just not sure yet. i think alittle more asking is in order.. anyone know of any prices on the escargo?? i did try to get a quote for tracks and shipping but have not heard back from them. i guess they have toooo much money already? i do know they are worth alot of pennies but do look more durable than most in my opinion. maybe they be worth the extra money. any owners of escargot out there willing to chime in on what was paid. thanks

[smog]

dont know what to think. wish there was more videos of tracked argos so i could see how they perform in the areas i would like to use them. all the videos i see are either right in the thick stuff or in 4 feet of powder. dont get me wrong i do like what i see with both set of tracks just not sure yet. i think alittle more asking is in order.. anyone know of any prices on the escargo?? i did try to get a quote for tracks and shipping but have not heard back from them. i guess they have toooo much money already? i do know they are worth alot of pennies but do look more durable than most in my opinion. maybe they be worth the extra money. any owners of escargot out there willing to chime in on what was paid. thanks

the escargo tracks are made of steel so are quite heavy. STEEL as with anything made of high density polyethylene (including space age cutting board plastic), it will slip very badly on rocks, concrete and asphalt (and ice for the plastic tracks). hey, that's exactly why plastic tracks are so easy to turn on asphalt.

[RWT]

I saw an ad on Kijiji. They are $3650 for an 8 wheeler.

[mike bar]

I'll put my 2 cents out there. I've watched different vids and snow = supertracks- less wear,good floatation and lightest for weight
mud = Addair- best traction
year round= rubber- good floatationin snow, rocks and stumps doesn't affect them in rough going.