Home made rubber tracks

[North Country Tough]

If I'm not mistaken , Mr Argo, is a member here too, but under a different username. Nice guy too.
Strange yr for snow, we should have at least a couple ft by now, but are sitting at maybe 6".............. It was even raining here last week. Crazy yr for sure, i got to see snow in July and rain in December.

RD

Thats crazy RD,here in southern ont banana belt its at least 6c full sun,and we got the barbi on the deck going as I type this and wifey is cookin up lunch with a beer in hand with a t shirt on,them 4 snowmobiles in the garage are just taking up space.

[teddybear894]

Looks great! Do they swim at all? Mine don't swim at all mounted in either direction.

[smog]

Looks great! Do they swim at all? Mine don't swim at all mounted in either direction.

no water to test in...

Went for a ride this morning. All went well, it made the MaxIV climb on snow covered hills without a problem.

and just to answer a question was asked in private messaging, over the 4snow tires, the top of the tracks are at 25.5" giving the MaxIV the maximum ground clearance allowed with a stock lower body (with mods) higher than that, the top lugs would be way too close to the "inner fenders" (by the way, I pushed up the body feature behind the front seat so now the "inner fenders" are completely flat from front to back leaving only the rivets in the way.)

[julios57]

Excellent forethought and execution in building. good to see the flow from the idea to completion. and home made as well. great job

[jpswift1]

I'm a cheap ass who won't pay top dollars for something that can be done at home.

Before buying anything, I always ask myself how much will I get if I have to sell it quickly; if it's less that what I paid then it's just not worth it.

I think the very same way. And hats off to you for constructing those tracks....they look great!

[smog]

first full day of riding on the new tracks :

1. as Tim of Adair Argo told me, the tire guides are rough on the tire sidewalls, I will have to make them smoother where it was laser cut.

2. the maxxis snow tires are way too soft for regular tire guides. the 4snow tires are ok in the plastic argo tracks with LARGE tire guides but too soft for the steel tire guides.


here is a picture taken by Martwell :

[Mike]

Your max sure sounded good.

[smog]

it performed as it should !!

Sortie St-Calixte - a set on Flickr

[guyfox]

it performed as it should !!

Sortie St-Calixte - a set on Flickr

Those are some great looking pics....I bet you all had a great day out playing in the snow.

Did you encounter any problems with the tracks????

How are the steel track guides on the tires????? any damage to the sidewalls????

[smog]

Those are some great looking pics....I bet you all had a great day out playing in the snow.

Did you encounter any problems with the tracks????

How are the steel track guides on the tires????? any damage to the sidewalls????

No problem with the tracks, always had a lot of traction. The tracks seems to do better at low speed than full rage full throttle uphill climbing. Low speed make it cling to the slopes a lot better.

Yes I have to make the guide edges a bit smoother as the very soft maxxis tires are showing a lot of sidewall rubbing.

[smog]

first full day of riding on the new tracks :

1. as Tim of Adair Argo told me, the tire guides are rough on the tire sidewalls, I will have to make them smoother where it was laser cut.

2. the maxxis snow tires are way too soft for regular tire guides. the 4snow tires are ok in the plastic argo tracks with LARGE tire guides but too soft for the steel tire guides.

Keep in mind we were 4 inside the Max IV and the tracks made a fantastic job in the fluffy snow.

and I had another idea for home made track guides :

it's just an unfinished guide but I made it with galvanised electrical conduit. It's cheap and will not rust.
the flats were made with a standard bench vise and the bend was formed by pressing the edge of a T on the tube.

It's an idea, don't call me back if it doesn't cure cancer or destroy your AATV.

[Obsessed]

hey Smog...havent heard from you for a while...hope all is well :-)

thinking about how to update your wheel guide concept...how about if you start with another batch of guides identical to the first set, but this time make the two outer mounting flange bends first, and then string each unfinished guide with a piece of rubber hose (or some type of hose that is not to sticky..like aqua plex, or underground black water line tubing)....looks like it would slide on pretty easy from the side with the lesser angle...then make the center bend and let it crush the hose also....seems like you might get a softer curve at the top of the guide which will save a lot of wear and tear on the side walls...and if you play with the width of your metal guide, you could probably get a really nice fit inside of whatever hose you chose to use...my guess is that this design change might be easy enough on the tires that you could run the soft 4-SNOW tires for a couple more seasons :-)

best of luck to you! and hope to see more winter deep snow videos of you and your friends before the snow is all gone

tim

[smog]

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm working hard to build my own business ( www.northernliftgates.com ) going from my welder pants to the dressed suit and tie to meet clients for commercial presentation.

The tracks are performing perfectly but I have an issue with the clutching as the High rpm bandolero engine can't be unleashed and is held back to very low rpm under load....


as for the tire guides, Tim of Adair Argo told me the sleeved tube could be a solution to save the crappy tires.

I don't have a closer picture but here are Martwell's tire guides, you can see he installed the guides at a 7.5" pitch, the guides have a very sharp top "curve" but he never had a problem with the old runamuk.

I will keep the 4snow tires and just sand/grind the sharp edges on the tire guides.

[smog]

Update on the DIY rubber tracks

He had a ride yesterday with 10 other members/family from Sentier6x6.

The 15" rubber tracks performed very well in the "coarse salt" dry snow condition. The Max IV climbed the sloped trails with ease, I never had to be towed by another AATV. the deep lugs grip is just amazing. This cheap set of tracks was even performing after all the plastic tracks ripped the snow off the trails leaving exposed rock/ice/frozen stumps.

I am very happy of this 750$ DIY track set.

Something people on a budget who want to ride in snow should consider.


NO it is not a track set for summer, NO it shouldn't swim. IF you are looking for mud/swimming, get a set of Adair tracks

[micmac]

Smog,

Did you ever change anything on the tire guides to smooth them out? I remember you posting that they were scuffing the Maxxis tires and that was a concern. What did you come up with for a solution?