New Type of Tracks - Chanel Tracks

[Old Tucker]

Is it posable for you to post a close up photo of your tire and track . I would like to see how well the tire sits in the crosser. If your tire is really rounded and you have little contact between tire and crosser. Then that may be the problem. If that is the case you may have too run just spacers on the mid tires and not the tuners to give you a little more bit. Or drop the air in the front and rear tires a little so they will conform to the crosser a little better. In doing so the track will have a little more sag, So you could take out a crosser to take up the sag. It may take a little playing around to get the system to work for you. But once you find the right combo. It all worth effort and you will have one mean machine when you finish.

[Buzz]

does your machine fail to turn the track? If your track continues to turn, I wouldn't worry about slipping of the tires inside for a second. If the track doesn't want to turn....well then you need more track tension. I'll try to help the best I can if you post a picture of your tires and a picture of your tracks mounted (side view)...so I can see how the belting looks.

[jjort]

Ok
Here is what I have setup...these are the duro hf243 tires 22x11-8
under normal conditions it works great..its only happening when I am plowing, trying to climb a steep hill or as I found out yesterday, stuck....



Here is the right hand side of the machine up on jacks


The left hand side sags an inch lower but the same number of crossers...hmmmm

[jjort]

I am thinking of drilling two 5/16 holes in each crosser and putting a couple of bolts through them. The 1/2 inch bolt head would give the tires something to grab

[Buzz]

what psi are you running in your corner tires? Depending on where your're at, I would either bump the pressure up (unless you're already up), or shorten the track a bit. You should be able to reliably drive your track that way. Shortening the track an inch or two and running less psi would help the tires have a larger footprint as well. Your corner tires will exclusively determine the track tension. The centers do almost nothing for this....they just affect how your machine rides.
I know I keep asking, but are you having trouble driving the track......or are you simply noticing that the front tire is slipping now and then?

Your tire lug pattern looks like it doesn't allow the wide track crossers to fall down into any of the troughs, which would normally allow the crossers to side-load the tire lugs. But, just the end-wrap of the crossers should be enough holding power to drive the track. Seems odd that the track would stop turning, but hey anything's possible I guess. If that's the case, you could try removing the track tuners, but the center tires don't make that much contact to help that much....
you really shouldn't have to add more friction to the inside of the crossers.

I've noticed that the 1.5" wide uhmw crossers on the correct spacing (and also if flat on the inside) provide a wider/more slippery platform for the tires. The track tuners aren't "as" beneficial as they are when narrower crossers are used. Yours look to be wider too? Just throwing out ideas.

[jjort]

what psi are you running in your corner tires?
I know I keep asking, but are you having trouble driving the track......or are you simply noticing that the front tire is slipping now and then?

I have 5 psi in the corner tires
Under normal driving conditions the tracks work fine but if I try to plow a heavy load or go up a steep incline or get stuck (ask me how I know) then the tires just spin inside the tracks
the tires are not able to grab the crossers...what I might do is tighten the track and let some air out...say go down to 3 psi and see if that works
or...I am liking this idea more....put some bolt heads in the crosser so the tires will have something to grab.... I could maybe weld a couple of 1/2 inch nuts on each crosser near the center...the tires would grab those

[Buzz]

I don't know if your tires are currently indexed in the standard fashion...but if you already know which tires are the largest, put those on the corners. Just make sure the smaller of the two goes on the front. Then put the two smallest tires in the middle (make #2 axle tire bigger than #3)....you have tuners so this part doesn't really matter...but in case you want to try with the tuners removed. It seems like your wide flat smooth crossers slip pretty easily. On an elevated belt track, the centers will slip first (if hubs are driven) even if they're smaller than the corner tires.
Simply putting the larger tires at the corner, might tighten up your track plenty..give it a shot first before you go through the trouble of adjusting your track length. Where did you get stuck again? Was there any chance you had ice built up on the inside of your track crossers? (metal)

[jjort]

I don't know if your tires are currently indexed in the standard fashion...but if you already know which tires are the largest, put those on the corners. Just make sure the smaller of the two goes on the front. Then put the two smallest tires in the middle (make #2 axle tire bigger than #3)....you have tuners so this part doesn't really matter...but in case you want to try with the tuners removed. It seems like your wide flat smooth crossers slip pretty easily. On an elevated belt track, the centers will slip first (if hubs are driven) even if they're smaller than the corner tires.
Simply putting the larger tires at the corner, might tighten up your track plenty..give it a shot first before you go through the trouble of adjusting your track length. Where did you get stuck again? Was there any chance you had ice built up on the inside of your track crossers? (metal)

Ok I will give that a try
when measuring the tires, do you inflate them first?...or remove the valve and measure them?
My plan was remove the valve and then run a tape around the circumference

I think this might work too

[jjort]

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]

What tires are you using....maybe if I just put 2 on the front, that would solve it

[Old Tucker]

Out of curiosity What is the overall width of the tire mounted with air in it? And the distance between the belts? It looks like the belts are spaced at 11 inchs apart. If your tires are 22x11x8 mounted on the stock 7 inch rim. You will end up with quite a rounded tire. To me it looks like you do not have a lot of tire contact with the crosser. I think those tires would work great on a wider rim. Giving you a little flatter ridding tire and a lot more contact with the crosser. But for now try as buzz has said and see how it works out.
I sure would not try the chains. You will end up with more problems then you will want. And for the price of the chains you could get some wider rims and problem solved.

My tires are the kenda dominator 22x11x8 tire mounted on a 8.5 inch wide rim.

[Buzz]

inflate all to 5 psi for measuring
what you describe sounds exactly like what happens when the rear chains on an 8x8 are removed, but you said all your drive chains were in place?
Your tires and wide crossers might just be really slippery I guess, not to mention metal and water/ice possibly. I can't imagine you would need to add traction to the inside of the crossers. (even wet 1.5" uhmw crossers work fine). I would swap tire positions to tension track a bit, then remove the tuners if more help is needed....then finally move modifying your tire/crosser compatibility for traction. That might even mean changing out your (4) corner tires to something different with wider lug troughs. The elevated belt design allows for the (4) corner tires and (4) center tires to be different sizes even if track tuners are not used. You just want the centers to match, and the corners to match if that makes sense. Options...

[jjort]

inflate all to 5 psi for measuring
what you describe sounds exactly like what happens when the rear chains on an 8x8 are removed, but you said all your drive chains were in place?
Your tires and wide crossers might just be really slippery I guess, not to mention metal and water/ice possibly. I can't imagine you would need to add traction to the inside of the crossers. (even wet 1.5" uhmw crossers work fine). I would swap tire positions to tension track a bit, then remove the tuners if more help is needed....then finally move modifying your tire/crosser compatibility for traction. That might even mean changing out your (4) corner tires to something different with wider lug troughs. The elevated belt design allows for the (4) corner tires and (4) center tires to be different sizes even if track tuners are not used. You just want the centers to match, and the corners to match if that makes sense. Options...

The problem is finding a solution that involves minimal cost.
changing out the track tuners is not an option. I would need 4 more track spacers which would cost $140 + shipping + 13% tax not to mention the cost of the track tuners that are no longer used $500 + shipping + 13% tax
same goes for changing out 4 tires. $360 for new tires ( I guess I could use the old tires for spares).
The more I think about it, the more I think welding 9/16 nuts to the inside of the crossers would work. It would give the tire lugs something to grab onto. couldn't be any worse for the tire than driving on gravel. I will look at it more later today.
I will also measure all the tires and make sure they are in right position and grease the bearings since everything is apart.

[Buzz]

does your machine sit there and just spin the tires inside the track...and the track doesn't move at all? Just so I understand, is that what is happening? You mentioned being stuck (high-centered I think), and the tires were spinning inside the track too? It looks like your lugs down the center should actually side-load the crossers (just a bit)...based on your pictures. So I would keep the corner tires firm so that those lugs don't compress up. Keep the corner tires maybe 5 front, 6 back, and swap the largest to the corners for a bit more tension and try that.
My advice for what it's worth, would be to not add bolt heads to the inside of your track. Your track should drive...

[jjort]

does your machine sit there and just spin the tires inside the track...and the track doesn't move at all? Just so I understand, is that what is happening? You mentioned being stuck (high-centered I think), and the tires were spinning inside the track too? It looks like your lugs down the center should actually side-load the crossers (just a bit)...based on your pictures. So I would keep the corner tires firm so that those lugs don't compress up. Keep the corner tires maybe 5 front, 6 back, and swap the largest to the corners for a bit more tension and try that.
My advice for what it's worth, would be to not add bolt heads to the inside of your track. Your track should drive...

under normal conditions the track drives fine...everything seems ok and the tires do not spin inside the track. Its only when I am putting a lot of stress on the drivetrain...ie plowing or climbing a steep bank or getting stuck where the machine is high centered with no weight on the track...thats the only time the wheels spin. I am actually going to try letting some pressure out of the corner tires (going to 3psi)... I think the tires will squash around the crossers and solve the problem.. The treads are pretty stiff.
I spent the morning pulling everything off and measuring tires... most were 68 inches around biggest was 69 and smallest was 67 1/4.

[Buzz]

the track fails to drive at all too right...under those conditions. Sorry to beat a dead horse