Plastic Supertracks Swimming

[Coast2Coast]

I put the 18" supertracks on today and went down to a river I found nearby that was thawed out. So it was my first time floating the machine since I bought it over the winter and the lakes are still frozen. I discovered the machine is absolutley useless in the water with these tracks on. It actually moves backwards if you give it any more than idle speed since it fires so much water forward off the tracks. I found a nice gradual bank on the river and tried to get back out. No dice, I spent 45 minutes trying to get the machine to come back out of the water under its own power but it was futile. I was in a patient mode, just messing around. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about, it just would grab with one side and spin you around every time. Tried in forward and reverse. Tried leaning hard on the side that wasn't grabbing to get it to grab. I had to climb up on shore and pull winch cable to get it out of the river. I don't think the miss's was impressed lol.

I've seen some videos of argos with the 14.5" adair pro series tracks and they go along just fine. I saw one video of a guy with the same tracks but they had the extensions to make them 18" I believe, and he was just as lost as I was with my supertracks. He couldn't move, turn, or get out of the pond he was in. Something about those 14.5" tracks makes them the perfect swimming track from what I can see. That is what I would order if I was budgeting for tracks. One of my main criteria is to be able to cross challenging beaver problems in the Alberta wilderness in places and temperatures not suitable for human survival.

Tomorrow my new 24" argo tires are going on the conquest, we'll see how they hold up to the supertracks and the 20 year old 22" runamuks in the river.

[Fox Valley Argo Sales]

Yes, the argo plastic,super, and rubber tracks don't swim,one of the big advantages to upgrading to a better track.The pro series tracks are one of the most aggressive tracks out there,and the winter kit on the pro series(18")will swim,and get you in and out of a shoreline situation,and is the most aggressive pro series track.
Guessing the guy with the winterkit on just needed a little more experience with them.
As far as putting on 24" tires on your conquest,then tracks,you better check your clearance.

[msafi65]

My standard advice for a track vehicle is carry a canoe paddle.

[Coast2Coast]

I will be definitely strapping a paddle to the back of the backrest. No room for tracks with 24" tires on a conquest, I'll have to put the 22s back on for that.

The tracks on the video I watched were not adairs with winter kit, they were something else not on their website. They looked just like pro series tracks but were extended on each side with some kind of interlocking pieces, not rubber belt. I thought that's what I wanted before but now I do not believe that wider is better for unfrozen months usage.

[ARGOJIM]

erase erase

[SHOTGUN]

Definitely check out the Canadian track builders Escargo and Chanel track they will work very well for climbing beaver dams, they both have videos in action. Also you can call them both they are very friendly, you will not have to fight the exchange rate. If you want your tracks to swim check out Buzz's youtube videos on what he did to chanel track to make them swim very well.

[Buzz]

fyi, there is also a very good chance that you can fairly easily run channel tracks with 24" tires on a conquest. There is usually not a tub clearance problem with the channel grouser (assuming you don't have other issues going on with tub sag), the main issue is just getting the batch of 24" tires to fit axle-to-axle.

[Dozerlarry]

"places and temperatures not suitable for human survival" I guess you guys up there carry survival gear in case of a breakdown out in the boonies. I imagine a rifle too.

[ARGOJIM]

Just an edit to my above post, should have written Adair shackle tracks.

[SHOTGUN]

I do carry a few things to add some safety to going out alone, #1 though is letting someone know where you are going and when you plan on returning.

[Coast2Coast]

Definitely check out the Canadian track builders Escargo and Chanel track they will work very well for climbing beaver dams, they both have videos in action. Also you can call them both they are very friendly, you will not have to fight the exchange rate. If you want your tracks to swim check out Buzz's youtube videos on what he did to chanel track to make them swim very well.

I came very close to deciding to go with these tracks before I got my argo. But I was not impressed with the swimming performance. How can I find these videos of the escargos modified to improve swimming?

fyi, there is also a very good chance that you can fairly easily run channel tracks with 24" tires on a conquest. There is usually not a tub clearance problem with the channel grouser (assuming you don't have other issues going on with tub sag), the main issue is just getting the batch of 24" tires to fit axle-to-axle.

It would be great if they'd fit, but I don't think it's possible. Even if they did fit, the gearing change of the 24" tires plus the weight of tracks would stop the old conquest in her tracks, she has a hard time turning them. Even with the 22" runamuks the plastic tracks slapped the tub all the time and they're about as thin as it gets. I upped the tire pressures, still snow would build up between tires and tracks and slap them into the tub. If I were going to take it out somewhere other than just around the lake, I'd find some kind of plastic runners, maybe some snowmobile track runners, and screw/glue them onto the underside of the tub to prevent wearing through. There are some nasty gouges in mine. Also, one of the rear hubs or the frame holding it seems to be bent. The lugs of the rear wheel touch the lugs of the wheel in front of it. All the others have 1/2" of space. I think tension from tracks would flex the axles enough that they would make too much contact.

"places and temperatures not suitable for human survival" I guess you guys up there carry survival gear in case of a breakdown out in the boonies. I imagine a rifle too.

We spent 19 overnights in a tent this past november in temps as low as -20 celcius. When the temps are that low you do not have the luxury of wading waste deep or worse through the yet unfrozen beaver ponds and muskeg to run a winch cable . At least not without ruining a day of hunting at the very least. So yes we carry what we need because murphy's law states that you will be in that beaver pond sooner or later.

[Buzz]

do you have a picture showing your tub clearance above your tire? The track belting would be driven slower than the speed of the 24" tires anyway, basically at the speed equal to a 19" tire. So long as you use track tuners, you will get the full benefit of a lower torque requirement to drive the track. So if you had the tub clearance above the tire, your axles would require the torque to drive a 19" tire to make the track work, and you would get the ground clearance and bouyancy of the 24" tire. Just depends on your tub clearance. It's one of my favorite conquest set ups, although not every tub can do it. You can even put 22" tires on the corner to simulate a banana frame like the newer machines and give a bit more clearance between axle #1 and #2, frequently a tight spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8fqoPTu9Ek

this simply mod worked better than some of the other videos, unfortunately the view is from the driver's perspective, and I'm a crappy cameraman

[Dozerlarry]

I have always admired the Canadians (Alaskans too) for your unflappable attitudes toward the cold weather you have to live in.

[ARGOJIM]

1 to 2 is the tightest fitment of 24's, though they would not work with tracks ( super tracks) ( which it appears you not doing), an 8 inch wide rim will squat the tires a tad. If you haven't circumferenced your tires yet, you may have smaller ones in the lot to move to 1 and 2.

[Coast2Coast]

Buzz - those work pretty well. I saw version 2 of the video as youtube pointed to it next. Where did you come across those, were you able to make them yourself? I see what you mean about the gear reduction affect of that type of track, but that only comes into effect in soft stuff. It's on the hard pack where I have a hard time, in which case both types of tracks would be at the ratio given by the tire itself plus the grouser thickness, if that makes any sense. The conquest has a hard time turning with just the 24" tires alone I found out today when I got the new ones out for a test. I had to use low range for anything involving turning at low speeds, unless I was in soft stuff. Perhaps I should think about replacing my whining old gears with the low range ones. I kinda had planned all along to just toss the 22s back on for tracks, they're sitting in the shed still on the old wheels ready to go. I need to take some apart and fix the leaking beads though.

Larry - It's a roller coaster ride here for temps, 24 degrees C today. You're either too hot or you're too cold .

Jim - I didn't circumference the tires, that's a good idea.

Here's a video from today in the exact spots I was trying to get out of the river with the supertracks. The machine barely hesitates to climb out with the new tires. The gradual part where I enter the water at first wasn't even possible (to exit) with the tracks.

https://youtu.be/BfQsUWeKXbk