Putting tracks on the roxor for under 6k

[Wyohandscold]

I found a set of the old style Mattracks EZ UTV steel tracks. I bought the adapter kit for the outrageous 19k set up and plan on doing a little fabrication to make them work. So far I’m 3k into a set of really nice used tracks and 2k into the adapter kit. It really looks like it will be easy to make them work with a little welding. They’re rated to 3500 pounds but they should be fine to hold much more as long as I don’t get crazy with them. I figured curb weight on these things are around 3200 pounds so with the family, supplies for a weekend, snow load, etc I might be around 4K total weight at the most on the way to the cabin. I’ll post pictures as I do it and let you all know how it goes. I’m not sure if I’ll wait until after elk season or get it done before September but I’d like to get started soon just in case I hit an issue.

 

[1BB]

Over 30 years ago, I worked for the National Science Foundation for 367 long cold days at McMurdo Station, and at the South Pole in Antarctica. One of my jobs was vehicle repair and maintenance. They had Ford one ton pickups mostly, and they were testing out a few of these tracks on a couple trucks.

I couldn't wait to try them out. I thought they were the next best thing to canned bread and sliced beer.

Overall, they worked pretty good, but if you got on a hill and sideways, those track ribs turned into ice skates, and you were sliding sideways down a hill pretty fast, so keep that in mind when negotiating hilly terrain. Back then, the tracks were aluminum, so that didn't help. I see these are rubber, BUT I'd still watch the hills. I mean tires are rubber and we slide all over hells half acre in the winters with them.

The other thing, and most importantly, these are VERY VERY hard on power steering systems. EVERY SINGLE truck with tracks on it, had to have the entire PS system replaced after just a couple months. The friction that those tracks have on the ground when turning, is so much greater than that of the small surface area of a tire, that you really need a REAL hydraulic system in a vehicle if you plan on running them any length of time.

There's a reason the military in WWII had HALF TRACKS, and not tracks on all four corners. If I was you, I'd keep the front end wheeled and maybe add chains to the tires if needed, and go with tracks on the rear ONLY...but that's me.

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing this come to life, and your results. Good luck.