homemade tracks question

[martz694]

I've been looking around for tracks for the better part of the year and i think i have a good idea of what works best. Open tracks with optional extentions for deep snow seem to be the best thing since sliced bread. A friend of mine got these with an 1991 argo magnum he bought a few years back. He had never used them as they ran way too rough. (not hard to figure out why, there is way too much gap between the angles) So i bought them off of him for 150$ and i bought 80 feet of steel angle matching the originals. I am modifying the existing guides and will be putting in the stock argo ones to the angles that i add. eventually i will replace all of them but my budget is limited this year. i'm cutting out the center of the belt so the tracks will run open like escargos or adairs. my question is since i am cutting out the strap in the middle i'm making the tracks 1/2 inch longer right? and in turn i should shorten them a bit? they are already a bit long. i was thinking of measuring all my tires and placing them all accordingly to run tracks then inflating them to the psi i need to run the tracks. i would then measure the total length to go around all tires with a string and adding 1 inch.

[john swenson]

martz, i made my own homemade tracks and they worked great. i am not as wise about tracks as alot of the members are, but i am not sure cutting out the center of the belt will shorten the tracks. in terms of correct length, when i did mine i let the air out of the tires, laid the tracks on the ratcheted them tight as possible. cut and attached them then air the tires. let,s see what the others have to say. johnboy va.

[martz694]

@johnboy what i meant is the tracks are a bit long at the moment, since im cutting out the middle im removing 1/4 inch in between the tire and the crossers so im making more room thus making the tracks "longer". your way seems like a pretty good idea i can't see why it wouldn't work well. i might just try that. No power here today so can't work in the shop but hopefully i can have one side done by wednesday

[john swenson]

martz, i am curious as to how your tracks hook together. the ones i made have chain on the crossers that i pull tight on each end, then hook together with a quick link. because mine are solid rubber like your originals, i used a 4'' hinge with a pin to connect the belting after the quick links are connected. i left the belting long until i had connected the track with the quick links, then aired up the tires, then cut the belting to match up. it worked out very well. would like to see your finished product when your done. johnboy va.

[martz694]

they simply overlap 3 crossers over. i thought it was simple and seems to work good. im taking pictures as i go along i will post more soon

[martz694]

here is an idea of what it is going to look like. My steel comes in on wednesday so i will be able to add a piece in between each existing ones. it is going to take a very long time to get this done

[Buzz]

it is going to take a very long time to get this done

Aaah, you'll have fun. Look forward to seeing it!

[Buzz]

your tire tread will ride on the level of the steel which will be "slightly" (the belt thickness) lower than the top of the belt. Your grousers will be driven slightly (very slightly) slower than the tread of your center tires. Your center tires will slip very little...which is works out just fine, those are the tires you want to slip. It won't be very much at all and will happen easily over open grousers. Your track belting length should be just "slightly" shorter that the distance measured around all of your tires on the tread centerline. In fact you could probably just measure around your tires (when they're flat) and make the track belting that length. That way when you air them up, it should be about right. You can always shorten it an inch or two if needed. Hopefully that gives you a starting point.

[john swenson]

martz, they look really good. for anyone wanting to make a set of homebuilt tracks, that is a good design. you buy the belting, 1'' by 1'' angle probably 1/4'' thick to start. then instead of having to bend tire guides, buy some rectangle hard plastic or delrin stock and cut pieces about 4'' long. then drill a 3/8'' hole down thru the center. drill the holes in the angle so the guides are the right spaceing for the tire width and run the bolt thru the angle,then the belt, then the guide. add a lock nut and your done. both pieces of belts can be connected with a good flat hinge and a pin. the nice thing is if a guy wants a wider track , the belting and angle can be extended on the outer side of the tire for more width. johnboy va.

[martz694]

@buzz well thats what i was wondering if there would be a big difference in "space" in the track since i am removing the belting from in between the grousers and the tires. that was my plan for finding out the length i needed was to put all my tires on flat and measure the lentgh on each side with a string. make the tracks that long that way when i air them up they are nice and tight and i don't have too much sag.
@johnboy i've been looking at alternatives for the guides as the argo ones are expensive and they would have to be modified on my design. As it stands i only have guides every 8 inches which worked fine when they were full belted tracks used on snow. i'm not sure it will be enough for all season driving. My angles are 3/4 by 3/4 by 1/8 thick and 14 inches wide.

[Buzz]

sounds good marts!
john swenson- That's kinda my thought too, you can adjust the steel angle and location of uhmw guides to fit any tire and then make up a whole batch that way. It's very simple, but.......takes for damn ever. That's the only real downside, but for a do-it-yourselfer it works well. The main width/design factor is the contact width of the steel on the ground..because your guides are connected to this. For flat ground or snow, a wide contact patch is okay, but when you start getting on lumpy ground, a very wide contact patch is leveraged around by the ground...and therefore your guides get leveraged around too. An ideal design shape is one that is rigid between the tires, but additional width outboard of that- isn't affected by leverage, or it is a separate bolt-on and alllowed to flex or move w/o tilting the main tire-guide area. Mudd-ox uses narrow rigid guides on their wide rubber track.

Just be cautious of that when you're going over really crappy ground.
My steel is 1" x 1" 3/16" thick, and I haven't bent a single one yet. It's 18" wide on the ground. I considered using 1/4", but so far I think that would be overkill.

[john swenson]

martz, it may be your least exspensive and easiest way to add more tire guides between the existing ones i to use some inch and a half flatbar 3/16'' thick. cut the length where you have the length next to the tire you want then add 2 or 3 inches to go under the belting. then just bend a 90 degree bend at that point. just like a shelf bracket. if you go that route, after cutting the bar the right length, drill the 2 holes first before you bend and drill the 2 holes on each end of the new angle guides also. if you do not want to make your own guides, lowes sells some pretty heavy duty angle brackets. johnboy va.

[john swenson]

marts, i checked mc master carr co. they sell a 5 foot length of 1'' o.d. fiberglass rod which is very strong, for about $ 30.00. if you made the tire guides by cutting a 4'' lenght, you would get about 15 pieces out of that 5 footer. that would be about 2 bucks a guide. just a thought on comparing that to flat bar plus the labor of drilling 2 holes and then bending a 90 degree bend. after i bent all my tire guides ( 56 of them ) i was worn out. johnboy va.

[martz694]

thanks for all the input guys. the original guides are homemade flatbar similar to what johnboy said. i'm still mulling over my options and hoping that i get a nice big lightbulb above my head soon. as for my angles they are 14" wide but the actual ground contact side is only 12" ...i have them grinded to kind of taper off towards the middle ....i figured it would help with turning and keep the tracks flat. it doesn't affect snow performance as the belting takes car of widening the footprint. Do you have a link to that fiberglass rod you are talking about?

[john swenson]

martz, i believe mc master carr co. has their catalog on the internet. when you find them punch in fiberglass rod. it will show you. if not, let me know as i have the catalog and can give you parts no. and phone. i have bought alot of neat stuff from them over the years. johnboy va.