New Type of Tracks - Chanel Tracks

[jjort]

Well these Strykers run big. I have four of them that are about 23" tall. Even on the narrow 7" argo rims they are 10 3/4" wide. It is nice to have the four oversized tires to put on the center axles where you want them, but I am a bit concerned about tub clearance on one side. How tall are the metal Chanels that go across the tires?

I have always bee able to wiggle my (not small either) arms between the tires with tracks on to lube the center axles. It is not fun, but do able. I am going to put some 90 degree zerks on the new HD axle/bearings on the front to make them easy to lube.

My tires are actually just under 22 inches. I had someone from the company go and measure and they came back with 21.7 inches x 10.8 inches. I didnt bother trying to measure them myself. The Chanel tracks are 1/2 inch thick (metal chanels) so there are no issues with tub clearance. I think I will have to remove all the wheels and tracks when I grease the axles. I pick up a lot of swamp grass that wraps around the axle and its the only way I can get it off. One thing I did notice is that the valve stems on the center tires are almost up against the track tuners. This makes it very hard to add air. I am going to see if I can find shorter valve stems or a 90 degree extension that will screw on the valve stem when I need to pump it up. Can you tell me why you only put the HD axles on the front? I could probably handle the costs of upgrading 2 axles but when you multiply everything by 8 it gets real expensive real fast.

[thorn]

My tires are actually just under 22 inches. I had someone from the company go and measure and they came back with 21.7 inches x 10.8 inches. I didnt bother trying to measure them myself. The Chanel tracks are 1/2 inch thick (metal chanels) so there are no issues with tub clearance. I think I will have to remove all the wheels and tracks when I grease the axles. I pick up a lot of swamp grass that wraps around the axle and its the only way I can get it off. One thing I did notice is that the valve stems on the center tires are almost up against the track tuners. This makes it very hard to add air. I am going to see if I can find shorter valve stems or a 90 degree extension that will screw on the valve stem when I need to pump it up. Can you tell me why you only put the HD axles on the front? I could probably handle the costs of upgrading 2 axles but when you multiply everything by 8 it gets real expensive real fast.

I spent the money ($360) to upgrade the fronts because they are the axle and bearing that have the most stress/weight on them and are the most susceptible to having a problem. If you research the forum and get to talking to a lot of argo guys, you will find that the flange on these front axles breaks more than others. These machines are front end heavy as they have the engine, tranny, battery, winch, (and in your case plow) up front. The front axle is always the first thing to take a "hit" on any obstacle/rock/stump/rut, etc and contributes to failures as well. I will probably upgrading the rears at some point as well as upgrade the center bearings to the HDs as needed.

[jjort]

I spent the money ($360) to upgrade the fronts because they are the axle and bearing that have the most stress/weight on them and are the most susceptible to having a problem. If you research the forum and get to talking to a lot of argo guys, you will find that the flange on these front axles breaks more than others. These machines are front end heavy as they have the engine, tranny, battery, winch, (and in your case plow) up front. The front axle is always the first thing to take a "hit" on any obstacle/rock/stump/rut, etc and contributes to failures as well. I will probably upgrading the rears at some point as well as upgrade the center bearings to the HDs as needed.

Where did you buy them from?.. I looked at argoparts.com and it shows the front/rear upgrade for a Conquest at $311 per axle... I think I will have to hope that my axles dont fail.

[thorn]

Where did you buy them from?.. I looked at argoparts.com and it shows the front/rear upgrade for a Conquest at $311 per axle... I think I will have to hope that my axles dont fail.

The HD bearing upgrade kit is $86.46 and the HD axle was $82 so, about $170 per axle through them (plus shipping). They also answered all of my phone calls and questions during the install (VERY helpful).

[Old Tucker]

Where did you buy them from?.. I looked at argoparts.com and it shows the front/rear upgrade for a Conquest at $311 per axle... I think I will have to hope that my axles dont fail.

Adair argo sales. Has the upgrade. Everything you will need at a reasonable price. Axles, bearings, gaskets They are very helpful over the phone.

[Buzz]

"I think I will have to remove all the wheels and tracks when I grease the axles. I pick up a lot of swamp grass that wraps around the axle and its the only way I can get it off. One thing I did notice is that the valve stems on the center tires are almost up against the track tuners. This makes it very hard to add air. I am going to see if I can find shorter valve stems or a 90 degree extension that will screw on the valve stem when I need to pump it up."


some guys put pipe around their axles to help with grass winding up. Also, the valve stems on the center wheels can be bent over a little bit w/o a problem as their's not a lot of room when they're straight to fit an air chuck in against the track tuner. Unless you have metal stems of course.....then I guess you'll have to get creative. Probably an issue with tubes/valve stems.
You could always drill a hole in your stock hub flange and wheels if you don't have the HD axles..but it's only useful if you've upgraded to the HD outer bearing with the single zerk that can be lined up with the holes. It's pretty quick to just pull the tire valves from the corner tires (leave the centers alone so they'll carry the machine weight for the moment)....undo the track hinge, and break loose all the lugs nuts. Then jack it up a bit and remove all the wheels. You can check all the bearings for slop this way, hit all your zeros, and remove all build-up crap from around the axles. Break loose the lug nuts prior to lifting the center tires off the ground.

[jjort]

some guys put pipe around their axles to help with grass winding up.

hit all your zeros, and remove all build-up crap from around the axles. Break loose the lug nuts prior to lifting the center tires off the ground.

Putting some pipe around the axles is an excellent idea... I am going to give that a try
What do you mean by " hit all your zeros"?

[Buzz]

hit all your grease "zerks" ...not zeros- sorry

damn autocorrect....

[jjort]

Well I got it stuck good today. I took it into my swampy area behind my house and proceeded to see what it would do
I broke through the ice...water is about 3 feet deep and after going back and forth a few times I ended up high centered and that was all she wrote.
I find that the wheels spin inside the tracks quite a bit... anyone else have this issue?
I finally was able to get it out by driving in a 3 foot spike behind the argo and then attaching a winch to the trailer hitch. I had to use a pulley to double the winch power tho
Thats the readers digest version of what happened.
anyway I was glad I had my Neos on over my shoes

[Old Tucker]

Sounds like you had fun thats what it is all about. When you get high centered you are going nowhere. You have very little ground clearance with the argo. I have been in the same boat myself. Trying to cross a very narrow snow bridge over a 6 foot deep x ditch. But its all fun, thats how we find out just what our machines can do.

With your tracks slipping it do not help. I have had no slippage at all with my set up. I have been tempted to take the front chains off just to see what will happen. But that will be another day, for now I am very happy with the way she is working out.

Try crossing this without getting stuck
[IMG][/IMG]
The bridge just this one i slid off to one side and the O argo was lost. Nothing to winch from. Out comes the shovel. It only took 30 minutes to get out of the hole. Good thing it was a nice day and I had nothing else to do.

[Buzz]

Glad you got out okay! Sounds like your tracks might be kinda loose. Slipping is definitely okay as long as your track continues to drive. Don't forget if you bury the front of your machine (stand it on it's nose and get stuck), you can wrap a crosser just in front of the rear axle and use the track as a winch- in this case in reverse. Works either way though. Quick and easy way to get a machine-length's worth of pull. Easy to unhook when it comes up around the front tire. Worst case you unhook the line from the crosser and cut the line if it gets pinned under or inside of the track. You could do it multiple times if you had to.

[jjort]

I don't think you need to go any tighter...you could get away with going more loose if you ask me. I wouldn't go tighter....unless maybe you have HD axles with the heavier hub flange. All tracks if too tight ...add stress here, doesn't matter what they're made of.
If you make anything tight enough, you're going to put lateral stress on your corner axles and hub flanges. If your belting on top is straight with your corner tires aired up and does in fact feel like it has a little tension to it...it should be tight enough. If you want to add air to the corners (adding air to the middles will do almost nothing except affect your ride)....go ahead up to maybe 2-3 inches of sag. There really is no point to going tighter than that. I typically go far less. I'll take a picture of my track sag when I get home....it's probably A LOT. The point is it doesn't need a lot of tension to be reliable or stay on. Just enough to make the top belt straight out....there should be no air-gaps between your end tires and the crossers...and the top belt should have just a little bit of "tension" feel to it when you lift up. NOT "tight" or bowstring feeling.

I have about 4 inches of sag. I found that if I removed one more crosser it had about 2 inches of sag but it seemed tight to me... wasnt easy to spin the track by hand when it was up on jacks.. I think I am going to try putting chains on the front wheels...see what that does

[Buzz]

oh- you have chains removed? I missed that part. Yeah, you'll slip for sure if you don't have both end-axles driving. They are mandatory to keep the track driving. The middles not so much. I wouldn't go any tighter on the tracks. You could get by with much looser even. Just gotta have both end axles driving.

[Old Tucker]

I have about 4 inches of sag. I found that if I removed one more crosser it had about 2 inches of sag but it seemed tight to me... wasnt easy to spin the track by hand when it was up on jacks.. I think I am going to try putting chains on the front wheels...see what that does

On your set up you will need the front and back tires both driving the track. Or else you will have slippage. I have a totally different tire then you. My tread pattern go's across the tire bitting the crossers a lot better then one that go's at a angle. If you have about 4inchs of sag that sounds about right. [IMG][/IMG]

[jjort]

oh- you have chains removed? I missed that part. Yeah, you'll slip for sure if you don't have both end-axles driving. They are mandatory to keep the track driving. The middles not so much. I wouldn't go any tighter on the tracks. You could get by with much looser even. Just gotta have both end axles driving.

I think we are talking about different chains.... The drive chains are all connected (I have track tuners on the middle axles)... I am thinking about adding tire chains that wrap around the tire (like what you see on cars where its legal)

I wonder if studding the tire would work...hmmmmmm