Archive through February 6, 2001

Route 6x6 Discussion Board: Shop Talk: Tech Tips and Q&A section: Tracks: Archive through February 6, 2001
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Troy Balduc on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I was planning on buying tracks for my argo bigfoot and was wondering if anybody had tried some monster tracks from rampntrailer.com

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By kevinv on Unrecorded Date: Edit

They look ok. Body to track clearance might be a problem, the lugs look pretty tall. Traction would be unbelievable. Is the wider tires of the Bigfoot acceptable to the track?

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By balduc2t on Unrecorded Date: Edit

the rampntrailer tracks are one solid track. I was wondering how much the tracks would loosen over time. I was also wondering if someone could do me a favor and take 2 pounds of air from every tire from one side only. Then measure the length around the 3 tires. the tighter the better i think. This has to be done on a Vanguard 6x6!
I would like the length that you had came up with

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Gord Young on Unrecorded Date: Edit

**** PART 1 of 2 ****

I too had the unfortunate experience of rolling an ARGO 6x6. I wasn't travelling that fast but lost control behind the sticks when I was a NEW driver. Though this did not deter me from driving an AATV, it was an eye opener of the dangers. It happened when I was test driving the machine that I subsequently bought. There was a laceration to one hand, but to say the least I was lucky.

There was a lot of afterthought and in discussion with a friend in Newfoundland who sells ARGO's I was enlightened to the possibilities. For one I was probably going too fast on umknown terrain. For another the TIRES were not designed for an AATV. The previous owner had installed regular 4x4 ATV tires. This was DANGEROUS.

If I can offer a little advice based on my research and personal testing, please consider the following:

Regular ATV tires are not designed for skidd steer vehicles like the ARGO or MAX. These machines require the tires that they are designed to use; tires that have very little/negligible lateral traction. The Runamuk and Rawhide tires that come with ARGO's are good examples of tires that have good forward/reverse traction but little sideways (lateral) traction. They are more expensive generally than some of the replacement aftermarket ATV tires out there, but they are a must for safety's sake.

Here is the mechanism of roll-over that I experienced. Judge this for yourselves and ask which tires you should buy. I was going down a slight grade at approximately 15-20 MPH. Not that fast. I tried to slow the machine with both brakes and quuickly learned that the machine, if not controlled very carefully, begins to fish-tail slightly. Well, this was when things went terribly wrong. The machine became unstable as the tires tried to straighten the machine ina jerky fashion. The next thing I knew was that the machine was side-on to the direction of travel, and the tires dug in!!! Yes!

(SEE PART 2 of this Message below)

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By kevinv on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I have the Tru-Trax tracks off of my machine right now. I could measure the pin to pin length if you would like. Let me know what you need.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By balduc2t on Unrecorded Date: Edit

i need you to take 2 pounds out of every tire from one side and measure the total length around all tires you could give me that measurement and give me the pin to pin length thank you
Troy Balduc

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Kevinv on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Balduc2t,
Measurement of the "tire" surface on my tracks is 166". These fit a '98 Argo Vanguard.
All,
Big snowstorm last night(Mid-Thumb Michigan), many roads impassable, drove my Vanguard to work(7 mi.). Passed 4WD trucks littering the landscape. Fun stuff.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By balduc2t on Unrecorded Date: Edit

kevinv,
I bet it was fun. Hope I get tracks soon thank you Troy

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By bear on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I was wondering if someone could do the same measurement using a argo bigfoot with 22 inch tires

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By greg petersen on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Jason E
I am going to try making tracks out of tractor tires. I think by cutting of the side walls and leaving only the treads,it should be able to turn around a wheel. I'm building a home made ATV so length of track isn't an issue for me. One will have to through bolt metal keepers to keep the tracks on the tires. I don't have the typical 6 wheels, I might use a sprocket and boggie wheels, like on a snow cat.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By balduc2t on Unrecorded Date: Edit

is it all right to us rawhide tires with tracks?

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By craig on Unrecorded Date: Edit

het greg look in the general photos under 1972 ferret and look at the tracks on that machine they are mining belt and angle iron cleats that are turned by 14 in. car tires pretty simple.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By greg on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Craig,
That's kind of what I had in mind. The belting would be real cheap, maybe even free. If the belts damage easily it's easy enough to rebuild them.Once you build the steel hardware, it should last forever. Thanks for the tip

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By E LO McKenney on Unrecorded Date: Edit

If you live in farm country most ag supply places will have baler belting, that should do the trick. Let us know how they work.

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