Track Tuners ?

[North Country Tough]

Anybody using this technology,tell me what the deal is and how well they work,is this a must have for rubber tracks,and what are they priced like,need some input before I bust off a call to Adair.

[Rock Doctor]

I'm waiting for a set right now. They sound good, in theory, hope they work as well as i think they will.

[MaxRules]

I talked to Tim about these and he seems to have done his research and has put plenty of time and dollars into this little upgrade. They are made to reduce chain binding when running tracks. Tim told me a few real world tests he did with the Tuners so I believe they'll help. I know one thing for sure, something has to be done to reduce the chain issues people are seeing when running tracks.

[North Country Tough]

I talked to Tim about these and he seems to have done his research and has put plenty of time and dollars into this little upgrade. They are made to reduce chain binding when running tracks. Tim told me a few real world tests he did with the Tuners so I believe they'll help. I know one thing for sure, something has to be done to reduce the chain issues people are seeing when running tracks.

Thanks MaxRules good info,and this is probably a stupid question but who is Tim,is this somebody that has got them on his machine?

[MaxRules]

Tim owns Adair Argo and makes the track tuners. They have been a few years in the making so he can tell you a lot about them.

[Rock Doctor]

Tim owns Adair Argo and makes the track tuners. They have been a few years in the making so he can tell you a lot about them.

Have you had a chance to try the Track Tuners? I have a set coming, but no experience with them yet.


RD

[tattooman]

Anyone have a picture of these tracks turners on the adiar tacks

[Obsessed]

Anyone have a picture of these tracks turners on the adiar tacks

tattooman, "track tuners" are not normally used on adair tracks or any other type of of plastic track as these types of tracks do not create the chain windup issues.. They are intended for over the tire style rubber tracks and other track designs that actually run the track belting on a different circumfrence than the outside tip of the tires which causes the center tires to spin faster than the tracks.. Rock Doctor is attempting a unique application where he is wanting to run larger than normal 24" tires on the four middle axles, and then normal size 22" tires on the front and back axles.. If this works for him then there will be an increase in ground clearance as well as an improved approach and departure angle by lifting the front and rear of the track similar to the current frame design on newer 8x8 machines. "Track tuners" will allow the center tires to free wheel and eliminate the binding that would normally prevent this type of modification..

Hope this make some sense

[tattooman]

Sounds incredible

[DerekF]

any updates on these? Pricing? I have been avoiding running my rubber tracks this winter because of windup. If these work I want a set!

[Buzz]

Sure sounds like a great idea to run different size tires or for use with rubber tracks in "non-snow" conditions. (high friction inside tracks). However, the problem I have run into during the winter (with rubber tracks)....is that when crossing patches of water or slush, I've had the water freeze making ice on the inside of the track. When climbing an incline afterward, the tires slip inside the tracks. Sure, you can overcome this sometimes with momentum and feathering of the throttle, but not always. Sometimes the wheel force needed to turn the tracks and propel the machine up the hill is more than the force of friction remaining on the inside of the tracks. I can't help but think having 4 tires inside each track "helping" would definitely be better than 2.....kind of like having 4 guys pushing your stuck car on the snow while wearing slippery shoes versus just 2 guys pushing. To be fair, I've never run just the front and rear axles with tracks, and they are the most important wheels when using tracks. I sure would like to know if just 2 axles turning would be more apt to slip inside the tracks. What does a set of track tuner's cost?

[North Country Tough]

Any report on them out of BC yet still watchin Doc.

[Rock Doctor]

Not really anything to report. The Track Tuners are working fine (keeping in mind that they are not needed on Adair Tracks anyway).
Have NOT had much time to do any more testing, Work and cold temps have limited our riding. This weekend is supposed to be really nice though, so I should be putting a few hours on the Conquests.

Couple things:
Have not had any issues with Ice Buildup on the Adair Tracks that might effect the Tuners, but I have not run through any "overflow" yet this winter.
Have not had any tire slip issues in the tracks while using Tuners. The actual contact surface of the middle tires to the tracks is almost nothing, so I don't see much of an issue with only driving the tracks with the front and rear tires (your analogy of having 4 guys push a stuck truck instead of 2 should really be more like 2 guys and a midget pushing as opposed to just the 2 guys). Problems could arise if you get a flat on the front or back tire though.


RD

[North Country Tough]

Thanks Doc,as far as wind up issues for me nothing major yet,mind you I use it mostly for plowing and the constant go this way go the other way turn spin probably helps,the other reason is there has been only two storms this year and the snow was gone 3 days later,the sun comes out and its 50 degrees again.Wont likely take it to the cottage this winter we are still trying to get enough snowmobiling in,been a lousy winter here.N.C.T

[DerekF]

Well, an update. I ordered a set of track tuners about a month ago, they arrived a few weeks ago and I finally got an opportunity to put them on. My first impression is that I liked them, easy to grease, quality looks good. The only issue on the install was that the wheel bolts on the track tunes are larger than the wheel bolts on the argo axle shafts, (3/4 for argo, 13/16 for track tuners if memory serves me right) This made the bolt on the tuners the exactly the same size as the bolt pattern wheel hole and if the wheel holes are squished a bit from cranking the tires tight you have to ream the holes out to get the wheels on. No big deal though.

I tried them out yesterday. I would run the machine up for a few minutes and then check the chains, etc. All the windup issues that I seemed to be plagued with, with my rubber tracks, seemed to be gone. (And I should say that I do know how to set the tracks up, but I still felt like there was too much chain 'back pressure' for my liking) I then would check the chain tighteners to see if they had ratcheted up. None of them had moved. So, just to check, I loosed off my tensioners right off, ran the argo, the chain tensioners did not ratchet up past the point of where they were with tires only.

Yesterday I took the machine for a good workout. It turns easier, climbs better, all the funny creaking, straining sounds that I disliked with tracks on seem to be gone. There appears to be much less pressure on the drive system with these on.

All in all, so far, I am very very happy with the difference. I will take some video and post it.

Derek