atv tracks

S

schloss

New member
anybody put tracks on their atv for winter riding? trying to decide if they might be worth picking up. we had a pretty good drift wind rolling through yesterday, really making me think i need to find tracks, or get a snow machine. i'm in the bush, so both will probably end up costing about the same.

i guess i'm mostly curious about their performance. i've heard that they allow the atv to go places that a snow machine can't even go. anybody used them, or know anybody that uses them?
 
we had them 2 years ago on an old artic cat 4x4, dam that thing went anywhere, we would load a weeks worth of stuff on the racks and go back 15 miles into the woods with it. only set back was the trails we cut could not have any trees to close or you had to go around them.
It added about a foot to the width of the rig.
to bad the 4x blew the motor, had to put it to sleep.
 
how much snow did you have to deal with? we had dry powder yesterday, drifting across the trails and the tundra. trying to decide if it can handle it.

i'd heard that they allow the 4 wheeler to go places that even a snowmachine can't go. is that really true?
 
I have rode with a guy that had tracks on a newer KQ. He was going to let me ride it but he broke a tie rod end within a few miles. He told me quite a bit about the track setup, but I forgot which ones he had.

The tracks put a lot of extra strain on the machine and it was hard to steer. He broke the tie rod end, bent a tie rod, and busted an axle when be broke through some overflow within about a six month period. I dont know how hard he rode though.

If I remember right he said it bumped his machine from 10 inches of clearance to 14 inches. And it lowered the gearing somewhere around %30.

I wish I had a first hand experience with tracks, but I dont. So take it for what its worth. With all the snow this winter tracks have crossed my mind but I could buy a snowmachine for about the same price as a set of tracks. This has lead me to believe that, if I had the money, I would buy a snowmachine, especially since used machines are fairly inexpensive.
 
Here in manitoba the Hydro guys love them but they are only using them on power right of ways. Nice and open close to roads. Were I work the Forestry workers don't care for them They had a hub fall apart about 15 miles back in a old cut. They ended up using a skidder to get it out.

That would be my only concern about them is if something went wrong can it be fixed there or do you have to haul the whole machine out.
 
Schloss:
Can only speak about tracks on a Argo but the additional weight and decrease in speed may apply to what ever you are considering. Also the additional stress added to a drive train not designed for it may make a better mechanic out you if that is your goal. With tracks an Argo is very good in deep snow and will outperform my W/T snowmobile in terms of where it will go in deep snow only. Although the engineers tell you the tracks have least intrusive footprint but I think they tear up the tundra worse than anything especially with ice cleats. Also the added weight of the tracks may exceed the legal maximum weight that is allowed in some refuges like the one we border. The tracks are worthless in overflow and slush because it makes an all ready slow and heavy Argo slower and heavier and it will break through where a snowmobile won't. With tracks its 11-12mph max which doesn't give you much range during the dark months. Also there is only two things on the planet with a higher ride time to maintenance ratio than an Argo. Helicopters and women. I haven't found an ATV yet that doesn't warrant a quantity 2 in my neighborhood. Your right about going places where a snowmobile won't go. In my case described below it went to the middle of a remote lake and stayed there all winter while I went back and forth with my snowmobile. One thing I learned from the experience below is ask yourself not where it will go but where it will get you back from.

http://www.firestormak.com/site%20files/scupper/ugashik.html
 
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