Tracks - what are you buying?

[0neoldfart]

Seems like the latest and greatest these days is the 3" track. The purpose of this thread is to point out that they aren't for everyone, and perhaps guide the prospective buyer to the pros and cons. I will start by saying that I have a 3" on a boosted 4 stroke, as well as 2.5" and 2.6" tracks on some modified two stokes. They each have their place...
Pros: traction, great in bottomless snow. A 3" track on an epic powder day has no equal.
Cons: run hotter on trail, essentially you are building a sled that will ONLY be suited for deep powder days. Trail riding a 3" in low snow / hardpack conditions will result in accelerated hyfax wear, and premature track failure due to heat delamination (this can be reduced by scratcher use and keeping your speed down).
- Higher initial cost / replacement cost.
- The 3" tends to "push" when turning, the added traction can actually resist downhill turns and sidehilling (less likely to spin when you are trying to "set" it into the hill).
- slower track speeds.
- additional load on chaincase components and clutches (drag) - far more apparent on a stock sled.

I'm not trying to sway anyone into a decision, only YOU will know what's best for you and your application. I'm only suggesting that there are downsides and one should evaluate what is "best" for your needs. If you only ride good snow in the mountains, maybe a 3" is the ticket. If you like to ride a mix of local and mountain riding and don't have deep pockets, maybe the shorter lugged track is a better choice.
Food for thought.

 

[Lund]

I agree 100% and not much to add to PRO's and CON's as you pretty much summed it up.

After running a 3" for an entire season on my turbo, i found all the issues your talking about and that the guy's running the T3 are running into. Plus with the power of a 4 stroke turbo the lugs tended to go missing...LOL
2.5-2.6 are great all condition track's and is what i run now. This year i only saw 2 rides that were deep powder and not even enough to justify a 3" lug. The rest of the season for me was on settled snow or hard pack. I've experienced ZERO slider or heating issues but if i was running the 3" from before i would had been doing slider's by now and maybe even sit on the trail side to let the sled cool down for sure.

Too bad alot of guy's jumped on the T3 174 band wagon before doing real research and asking question's and are now finding out these thing's. The proof is in these threads people put up..."my T3 heats up on the trail"...."Premature slider wear on my T3" ...."T3 is so heavy", just a few thread i've notice come up this season.....duh...what you expect from a 174 with 3" lugs.

There was plenty of info. from the mod guy's about these big lug track's before getting into a sled with a 174 3" lug track.
174 3" lug track's are for handle bar deep snow day's and chute slaying.....ohya they also make great BS conversation about your manhood.

I'm in the market now for a new 2016, and actually can say i'm down sizing i guess. As it will be a 163 2.6 track, and not the 3".
Not to degrade the 3", it has it's place and so does the 174's, but imo this track real advantage is short lived.

But i do feel a little short when sitting there with a few other's running them 3" 174....make's me kinda shy now

 

[Summitric]

Have had my t3 174 on trail rides(rallies) already, and no problem. With scratchers down and 2 extra idler wheels and ski scratchers, never overheated once. However a cat with 3" was overheating and a polaris was having a hard time with 2.6" track.... Groomed hard pack trail. No excessive slider wear either...

I did experience a little hot running on the trail up to silent pass, but all the sleds were on that trail.... Instead of 4bars on the temp guage, had 7bars.

 

[TylerG]

Have had my t3 174 on trail rides(rallies) already, and no problem. With scratchers down and 2 extra idler wheels and ski scratchers, never overheated once. However a cat with 3" was overheating and a polaris was having a hard time with 2.6" track.... Groomed hard pack trail. No excessive slider wear either...

I did experience a little hot running on the trail up to silent pass, but all the sleds were on that trail.... Instead of 4bars on the temp guage, had 7bars.

you did a poker rally? where's the photographic proof?

 

[Lund]

Have had my t3 174 on trail rides(rallies) already, and no problem. With scratchers down and 2 extra idler wheels and ski scratchers, never overheated once. However a cat with 3" was overheating and a polaris was having a hard time with 2.6" track.... Groomed hard pack trail. No excessive slider wear either...

I did experience a little hot running on the trail up to silent pass, but all the sleds were on that trail.... Instead of 4bars on the temp guage, had 7bars.

The addition of the idler's really help, i had to do the same on my Nytro and so does the scratcher location and not just scratcher's.
The Cat's offer two types of cooling system on their mountain sled's, so depending on the model the guy had over heating on the trail wouldn't surprise me.
One model they offer has a bulkhead and tunnel exchangers, while the other model only has a bulkhead exchanger, which won't fair very well on hard pack and was designed for soft stuff.

 

[Bnorth]

I agree with most of the findings on the 3" however I will be leaving mine on, adds to the fun factor. I also never trail ride, the closest is a ride up the mountain from home. With scratchers down I haven't had any heat issues or slider wear issues. I do miss the 2.5 flex edge on off camber hardpack situations but I can get over it as I am looking forward to not having to ride in those conditions as much next winter!!!

 

[getzcold]

After the rain then the freeze I was wanting a hill cross track with the ice cleats on the end of the paddle. Have never seen anyone running one outside of hill cross racing.


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[oler1234]

Too bad someone didn't make a 2.75 track... I might switch it up next season to something else besides my camo extreme 3". Fun factor is there, but I miss the challenge!

 

[ferniesnow]

Yes, the 3 " track on the T3 sucks on icy hills. It is the one disadvantage I found this year. I like how the 3" track "oldtimers" keep saying we should have done our research. How did they find out?..........probably by trial and error! Just the same as us. Under different conditions there can be heating problems and that is pretty easy to rectify. I was on a ride with 8 sleds this year and there wasn't one that wasn't heating up and it was a mixture of track sizes and all of the big 4 manufacturers. Yes, I wore out a pair of sliders but that isn't the end of the world. I put in two sets of idlers (just like the 2014 XM 163) and used the stock scratchers all the time. End of problem. There are always solutions to poor design and I am happy that I have enough jingle in my pockets and read enough that those minor irritants can be readily fixed.

Will I keep my T3 174? For what I do, you betcha. It is awesome. I only rode in one day of prime pow (2-3') this winter and that was a 12 km trail break in and it was a blast. After that the weather turned cold and the snow settled so the prime pow was done. I had a chit hook grin that still comes back just thinking about it. Could I have done the trail break in with a 163? I have for the quite a few years but it didn't compare to the T3. The hard crusty snow in the alpine was a pita and the 163 handled it much better as far as cooling was concerned but that was exceptional conditions.

It boils down to how you ride, where you ride, and what you ride (like in trees, meadows, chutes, etc.). Your conditioning also plays a mighty big roll in the type of riding you can do. ES is a god send for the shoulders on those long days of many stucks where the shorter tracks think they can follow the ol' fart on the yellow MacT3.

 

[norona]

don't have one bad thing to say about going to the 3 inch from a 2.5, made no difference except in what the sled could do better. Both my t3 163 and 174 are bone stock and run like champs, I can't tell the difference on the roads getting to where I ride. This year has been the lowest snow year on record, next year the issues guys have been talking about on the trails will be a non-issue.

 

[chris79]

This was the worst snow year ever for me, and personally i wouldn't go back to a 2.5". I really liked the T3. Mines a 163. I still have my polaris with a camo ex 2.5" and its bad on ice too. Keep it around for the wife or family to ride once and a while. Still find myself on the T3 in any conditions. Just to clarify so i dont get **** on.Not saying anything against the pro, great sleds. They still do some things better than the t3 but overall i enjoy the t3 a lot. My 2 cents.


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[scrfce]

U know havent had a 3" but imo its the only way to go. My riding buds all have them and in any snow condition i like to call it cheating, they have a waaay easier time gettin thru **** than i do, just slowly brappin along.

And wen people say the lower snow theyre a wash to a 2.5". I say no way.
Wen the conditions get like that we ve got a spot called no mans land....basically just steeper, more tech, gnarlier pillow,treed, gully, waterfall type terrain and the 3" still punks the 2.5". It undoubtedly gets more traction and moves more snow even in sub par conditions. Again tho this isnt trail riding.
I think the pros of 3" far outweigh the cons.