New Type of Tracks - Chanel Tracks

[mightymaxIV]

Here are the new mods to my channel tracks, put them on every 2nd channel (50 total), added 2 3/4" tuners also.
Front and rears are at 7lbs,
Mids are at 5lbs

Just traced the curve of the one crosser on a piece 1/8" board then did it again till it seemed to fit, added them to the outside of the crosser and made them a lil' bit shorter/lower to allow for the welds not to dig in the belt/tires and the cleat not catch in when turning on hard surfaces . Had a friend water jet and weld them on. He said it should add strength by creating a gusset. They are 12ga .104" .
Installing them I had to take both the front/rear tires off cause the added cleats wouldn't clear the tub with the front/rear tires on. Removed a cpl crossers (just on the outside) and that allowed for easy installation for the rear tire by pulling the tracks back till the belt was touching the front axle.
Seemed to swim ok at lower rpm (not great) but the weight of the tracks on the argo made it a bit nose heavy, wasn't moving too quick. At high rpm they threw plenty of water in the back of the tub but didn't improve speed at all. Think it kinda went slower.

Hope you guys like them.

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Very impressive piece of engineering GusGus, I don't see anything that could stop that awesome setup!

[thorn]

Throwing a question out there for you guys. Since my tires are a bit oversized, the gap between my grousers wear I put in the Flexco 550 hinge in is approx 2 1/2" bigger/wider than what the normal spacing is. I am wondering if I should bolt another grouser onto one side of the Flexco hinge bolts, which happen to have the same bolt hole spacing as the grouser. The track seems to run smoothly when I ran it off the ground, but you can feel that gap a little as it wraps around the end tires.

I noticed that a gent on here with escargo tracks has a grouser bolted to each hinge side on his tracks, so I am thinking this would work and close that big gap. I think he is also using the Flexco 550s. I just don't know if the grouser bolted to the hinge would cause unwanted stress to it (hinge). Any thoughts?

[riotwarrior]

I believe the track sticks 1/2 inch above the tire which is the thickness of the crosser..the crosser is 1.5 inch wide by 1/2 thick

Hi, thanks for the info,

After reading and re-reading a bunch of this thread, I suddenly had a brain fart....epiphany if you would...

So with that epiphany, I do need some more information if you would please.

What are the two belt widths? Inner and outer?

I've got some old snowmobile tracks with some paddles on them 1 1/2" hi IIRC and I'm thinking if one cut a strip of sled track for the OUTER belt and used plain belting on the inner belt, one could have some paddles to assist in water and mud...just a brain fart is all.

I'll get some pics of the materials I have and then we could discuss this a bit further.

I was going to run the tracks full width but that would require extensive trimming down of many of the lugs for tub clearance and subsequent loss of paddle for snow.

Just thinking outloud here folks....always trying to come up with new ideas for us we all are right?

E D I T

Just contacted local steel sales and...
1 1/2" x 1/2" leg channel

20' length $28.45
75 buck min

Now I'd also like to know how wide the grousers are currently on yer setup.

Also about how many grousers would it take for a SIX wheel unit if you could count it would be really appreciated...

I just counted on a picture and get about 36 grousers to wrap around six wheels, so with that being said and the fact I've got a significantly great axle spacing than Argo I'd say 40-48 per side for my ride, as an estimate for now.

Then I can roughly estimate the required amount of channel required and then work on building a press mould for my shop press and make some grousers ...

Thanks..for any and all help

Al

[valmet58]

I have been told that for a 2009 6x6 frontier with 24x10x8 tires i would need 40 grousers per track..
for a 1988 argo 6x6 which is shorter than the 2009 it would need 36 grousers per side...

[valmet58]

As for the belt width it depends if you have spacers installed or not,,,with 2.5 inch spacers you can have 4 inch wide belts inside and outside which would give you 18 inch tracks with 24x10 tires..
this is what i have been quoted for ...(2009 frontier) $2000. installed

[riotwarrior]

I have been told that for a 2009 6x6 frontier with 24x10x8 tires i would need 40 grousers per track..
for a 1988 argo 6x6 which is shorter than the 2009 it would need 36 grousers per side...

Ok so with this picture here you can see that my wheel spacing is considerably greater than most ARGO's my wheel base is +- an inch or two 56" these are 22x12x8 bear claws...I need some 20" tyres for tracks.


So what is a 09 wheel base? I'm guessing not as large as mine, but who knows, this is why I'm thinking 48 grousers per track.

E D I T OH Ya I still need a grouser width you have and how wide your betls/tyres are so I can calculate out this darn materials list TY

As for the belt width it depends if you have spacers installed or not,,,with 2.5 inch spacers you can have 4 inch wide belts inside and outside which would give you 18 inch tracks with 24x10 tires..
this is what i have been quoted for ...(2009 frontier) $2000. installed

Here these are the two different sets of tracks I have, which there are two of each type.
Angled outer cleats


Straight outer cleats


I can cut off the outer edge and make a couple of different tracks and you can see there is significant differences between the two types and sizes too.

Straight about 6" wide total but could be cut narrower if needed


Angled cleats about 8" total but again could be cut down some...


So ripping the outer edges off the tracks could make an interesting combination of belted bar track don't you think?

I suppose one could find other track types too and see what they could come up with. Or a combination of angular cleats on outside and straight cleats on inside? I dunno...just throwing ideas around here is all...

Whatcha all think?

[riotwarrior]

calculated out about 42-45 grousers per side at approximately 18" so figure 50 per side = 50x18"= 75 feet so 5 bars each side for wiggle room. so bout 150 a side for channel iron.

Add in bolts...and a guy can have a wicked cool set of tracks. NOT counting time that's not bad at all..I've got drill presses and tools to make the channel easy enough.

That leaves a couple pieces of plate 1 1/2 - 1 5/8" thick then some plate the same width as inside measurement of the channel and make two press plates. That makes a nice setup to make the actual jigs to bend the material in a press....what kind of press I'm thinking something like a wood splitter would be sufficient to be quick and powerful.

Could be fabbing some tracks in spring...hard to say.


Anyway just thinking out loud, first and foremost I need six 20 or 21" tyres to replace the ones I have for track clearances.

Whatcha all think?

[valmet58]

Can somebody tell me how thick is the belt that marcel uses..Thanks

[Old Tucker]

My Chanel track uses a 1/2inch belt

[thorn]

2014-11-29 13.53.05.jpg2014-11-29 13.46.52.jpgWell last weekend I took my Conquest out for the first time with the Chanel tracks (20") with track tuners on the center hubs. The snow depth ranged from 1-3 feet depending on elevation. The machine was overloaded with 4 adults, 1 dog, and approx 200 lbs worth of gear inside and I was pulling 3 kids in a Otter sled. It managed to climb up the mountain and we got our X-mas trees, but it was slow going. The channels seemed to do very good, but I did have some tire slippage in the rears. That went away once I put more air in the front and back tires and I need to experiment with the psi a bit. I think the machine might be geared a bit too low now with the gear reduction tracks and I might pull my clutch and back the spring position off a bit.

I first want to take it out again with a "normal" load and try it out first, but I could tell I lost quite a bit of top end in high running on the flat, but like I mentioned I was loaded down and pulling a trailer.

The machine does steer easier for sure. I have some aluminum angle (2"hx3"w) that I am going to put on the inside and outside belts between every other grouser for paddles when I get some free time.

[valmet58]

with these tracks on a 6x6 frontier do you need track tuners do disengage the middle wheels to minimise chain windup...thanks

[ArgoBill]

I believe this is the same type of track I had purchased from a fellow named Marcel Couseneau in Quebec, at (couseneaumarcel@hotmail.com) this year for my 2007 Agro Avenger with aggressive tires as you noted. Half the price of others and they work really well. My unit is no speed demon but I was impressed with how well they worked in water and snow. Would like to attach a pic for your reference but I am really green to the site so have not figured out how to achieve this yet. Harold.

[valmet58]

hey guys..i know this track fits different tire sizes...what i would like to know is : how far is the belt from the tires with 24x10x8 frontier tires...thanks..is it touching the flanks of the tire on both sides .

[thorn]

I don't know if this answers your question, but Marcel sizes (bends) the grousers to the width of the tire used. He told me that with the 10" wide tires he can only do a 19" wide track max. The 11" wide tires I use on my 20" wide Chanel tracks has an approx 1/2 gap or so on the side between the belt and the tires. This varies a bit as the track will move a bit side to side.

[Buzz]

you can easily cut the belting back if you want more clearance to the tire sidewall. If it's done correctly, the belting should sit out a good 1/2" from the top portion of the grouser-guide. You still want the grouser's guides to fit the sidewall width of the tire w/o being sloppy though.