Studded Tracks

Parts, snowdog, Tinger -

Studded Tracks

Sometimes, even tracked vehicles need extra grip.  This year the prairies we don't have a lot of snow but it's still cold, which means the lakes (and sometimes the rivers) freeze up perfectly smooth.  Conditions like these are ideal for skating, but not so much for snow machines.

One solution is to stud your tracks!  Snowdog tracks are designed for studs, making it easy to add them.  Each paddle has a series of available stud positions, and each paddle has an alternating pattern.  

For our first attempt at studding tracks, we're using Kold Kutter brand studs, 5/8" in length. These studs looks like slotted wood screws, but they have a sharp edge around the head.  You can install them easily with a socket tool and screw gun.

We ended up installing 168 studs in an alternating pattern because using all of the available spots would have used more than the 250 pcs we purchased.  It also seemed like overkill.

Installation took about 30 minutes, and we just rolled the machine backwards to access each paddle.  The only thing you need to watch for is over-tightening the screw.

We're looking forward to updating this post with the results of our testing!

Stay tuned!