Track Tuners ?

[jacobsrf]

Tuners

I run escargo tracks with tuners no problems after 50 mile moose trip I carry a spare spacer in case one goes bad. The units look like they are well built. I have not had any chain problems.

[Obsessed]

Hey Obsessed or anyone with track tuner experience...

1) If all of your wheels were the same circumference would track tuners be necessary?

2) Wouldn't it make sense to install 6 tuners (on an 8x8) and drive the track from either the front or back wheels?

Hey North...good questions.

No...if your tires were all exactly the same and would consistently stay the same then there wouldn't be much benefit from track tuners...problem is that modern ATV tire manufacturing processes result in surprisingly random size tires and current AATV manufactures haven't made much of an effort to try and pair up common sized tires so most machines running around today already have a pretty mismatched set on them. Some dealers will go through great lengths to put matched sets on the machines they sell, but most dealers don't have the depth of inventory to effectively be able to do this. In my opinion, late model argo's benefit from slightly mismatched front and back tires (because of current chain tensioners), and larger ones in the center will actually help a skid steer machine turn much easier, but caution should be taken with these setups to eliminate the distructive effects of the resulting chain windup.

Perfect sized tires would work in a factory type of track, but a classic style of track will always benefit from the track tuners because those gear reduction types of tracks naturally end up severally overdriving all the center tires...generally to the tune of about 25% faster than the track is actually moving.

In a perfect world yes... Eliminating all of the driven wheels and there chains and sprockets and tensioners from a track system except for one would make sense except most common track options for these machines rely on friction to drive there track and there simply isn't enough friction all of the time necessary if you don't keep both the front and rear tire working. It will work in areas where there is not much lubrication or heavy loads, but will frequently fail throughout a typical days ride.... Fail meaning simply start uncontrollably slipping the remaining driven wheel or wheels inside of the track so that the machine essentially goes nowhere.

Best of luck and I hope this helps explain your questions.

Tim

[plott hound]

installed my adair tuners and spacers on my HDI today,put the argo rubber tracks on and went for a ride before snow melts.the adair spacers are sure a lot easier to install then the argo spacers.anyhow,went up through the bush roads and through a ditch back up onto main road and felt the tires slipping in the tracks.tracks and tires were well lubricated with water so im sure that is a factor.has anyone else experienced this?im a little concerned about the tires slipping in a big slush hole on the lake,might be better off having all wheels driving in the tracks??????????? tracks are installed without the space and are a little on the tight side right now.

cheers

[Buzz]

sorry plott, but the problem is the doggone rubber tracks. Crap. Smooth on the inside with very little for the tire lugs to grab ahold of (side load). Newer style tires do a little better job of grabbing the bottom of the tire-guides on the outer edge of the tires. Still not very good though. Rawhide III's suck even worse if you get anything slippery inside your track and attempt heavier-load maneuvers especially from a standstill. Water that freezes in the winter is the worst. Open grouser tracks on the other hand allow the tire lugs to fall between grousers and side-load the grouser faces. The grouser centers on elevated-belt tracks actually move and can especially "find their home" between tire lugs. That's the key, using the tire lugs to sideload and drive the grouser-faces. When rubber tracks slip/grab, slip/grab it makes an awful noise as the chains load/unload repeatedly. Same thing happens with rubber tracks even if you drive the center tires, but the benefit of the tuners is definitely worth keeping them on.

[plott hound]

thanks buzz,when the snow returns I will give the tracks a good work out with and without the tuners.plowing snow should tell me how bad the slippage will be.

[Noel Woods]

Per Tim's earlier quote regarding the driven wheels:

"It will work in areas where there is not much lubrication or heavy loads, but will frequently fail throughout a typical days ride.... Fail meaning simply start uncontrollably slipping the remaining driven wheel or wheels inside of the track so that the machine essentially goes nowhere."

I once sheared an axle pin on a machine which took me down to one wheel driving an Adair tracked machine. I was far back in a swamp with two other machines without tracks. Yes, I noticed the one side wasn't pulling as well as the other, but I managed to keep going until I found a side trail out and in fact towed the other machines out of several obstacles. It would be a much simpler machine to have one driven wheel per side. I just wonder if a machine with one powered tire per side operating with a track system with maybe an automatic track tensioner might be the ticket.

Simple in design, cost effective, etc. Maybe not quite as capable as a machine with all driven wheels, but probably good enough.

[Buzz]

yep, you can limp along but as soon as you hit a spot where you need a lot of driving force to turn the track (like a steep climb)- you're done. You just gotta have both corner tires driven to stand a chance. A couple of us up here have driven for several hours (tracked) through nasty swamp conditions with middle tires missing/removed (broken axle or broken older-style track tuner) without a problem at all. But, remove power from a corner wheel and you're screwed if you're loaded, towing, or have to do any climbing.
I have long schemed to bolt on a sprocket set-up with bouyancy added while letting the remaining axles idle. But, I'm concerned that the factory axles/bearings/frame would not be up the task, and as long as you leave both corner axles "driving", you'll never have problems driving your track...as long as it's open grouser style.

[plott hound]

good info guys,if these argo tracks give me a rash I might have to borrow some coin from NCT and get a set of channel tracks.

[thorn]

It looks like I am finally going to be able to test out my Chanels and track tuners on the annual x-mas tree hunt either Friday or Saturday. We have been getting some good snow in the high country and I am dying to try them out!!! Seems like you wouldn't have any problem selling your Rubbers in your area.

[plott hound]

sounds cool thorn,let us know how those tracks perform.

It looks like I am finally going to be able to test out my Chanels on the annual x-mas tree hunt either Friday or Saturday. We have been getting some good snow in the high country and I am dying to try them out!!! Seems like you wouldn't have any problem selling your Rubbers in your area.

[plott hound]

threw the plow on today and cleaned the yard out.right hand side track is slipping real bad so tomorrow im gonna air up and see if that stops it.if not the tuners are coming off and the experiment will continue.

[Buzz]

sounds like your track is loose and/or slippery on the inside. In certain conditions there is no way to totally avoid the slipping with rubber tracks.

[plott hound]

definitely slippery on the inside.gonna air up again tomorrow and see if it improves.

[john swenson]

hey guys, just wondering what, if anything could be fastened to the inside of the tracks for the tires to grab. maybe some 3/16 '' thick ''dimpled '' rubber strips maybe 2'' wide and as long as the track width. spaced maybe every 4-6 ''. use a bolt with a low profile head. just a thought , maybe other possibilities. maybe someone has tried something that works. johnboy va.

[North Country Tough]

good info guys,if these argo tracks give me a rash I might have to borrow some coin from NCT and get a set of channel tracks.

Would ya like a second set of them rubber shoes Plott,luv ta send mine down the road and try them Channels,never used tuners afraid too, mostly we travel to the camp when there is slush or what others call overflow and don't wanna be stuck with slippage but on the other hand chain breakage could make it a bad day too,that said hasn't happened yet but I do change out chains from time to time,