Northern Tracks Forum
Performance Forums => Drivetrain => Topic started by: homebrew on January 26, 2010, 10:21:02 am
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Does anyone know what the pitch and cleat spacing should be on bomber tracks? we are having a bit of trouble with cleats catching on the sprocket and snapping.
Our drives were rerubberized before we got the machine and we don't know if there is too much rubber on them or not enough or what.
If anyone has a close up picture of their drives or dimensions of the drives, it would help alot.
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Are you tracks tight enough? One of the main reasons for cleats breaking is the tracks are too loose and they wrap in the sprocket when you start moving.
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Are they new heavy cleats?
There is more than one thickness of cleat and if they get wore flat atall they weaken fast.
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One thing I will find out, I cut the sprocket covering 3 inches wide. Maybe should be a little narrower? BIGDAVE
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The linings on my sprockets are 2 3/4 inches wide and the cleats are spaced at 3 3/4 inches (center to center) on the belts. I agree that running the tracks too loose could cause broken cleats and of course once the cleats are worn down in the center they lose most of their strength too... Hard to get a good reading on the thickness of the sprocket lining but mine look to be made out of the tread of a car tire and about 3/8 in thick. They are the origional linings. 1951 narrow woodie.
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Mine are about 3 inches and made from a Bias Ply Tire. I see most people now using 3 inch belting like the track belts for lagging. Just as well as I don't think you can find bias tires any more and steel belted radials wouldn't work. Mine have been on a long time but look good yet. Early 1953 metal with Aluminum sprockets.
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The track belts look to be about 5 1/2 to 3/4 wide and about .55in thick.x270in long. When I get serious about talking to belt builders, I will need exact specs for them, or at least good enough measures. Maybe they will even punch holes. $700 per belt newat Bombardier! Maybe belt guys can make a 24in for $700 and cut it into strips. The sprocket cover came from the local hardware. It is not quite 1/2in.
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Big Dave,
Check with Dan at Shavers. He has them all cut and pre-punched. Not sure of the cost, but I was told that he has them.
Oldsledz
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Now that sounds like a good job for Jeff in his spare time, besides, I don't speak French. I can't even oreder a beer in French. Molson? LaBatts? Beer, eh? please
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instead of using bias ply tires to affix to the sprockets, I went to a JD dealer and picked up some jd round baler belting. very durable and easy to work with.
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dan shavers i don't believe is french..lol..if he is he never once spoke french to me.He's a great person to talk to and quite fair,i'm not certain but beliveve his belts are 640 a side pre punched..that's 4 belts 3 ply all u need for rubber for the complete bombardier.
prices may have changed,and 4ply are more expensive
kpm
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I installed Dan's pre-punched belts on my machine and they work very well... not french either...
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Does anyone know what the pitch and cleat spacing should be on bomber tracks? we are having a bit of trouble with cleats catching on the sprocket and snapping.
Our drives were rerubberized before we got the machine and we don't know if there is too much rubber on them or not enough or what.
If anyone has a close up picture of their drives or dimensions of the drives, it would help alot.
Can someone tell me what the word "PITCH" means, what mine should be & how far apart my cleats should be ?? I was talking to a company in Ontario that sells the material, but they need to know what the pitch is. I think there are 72 cleats on each track... am I right ??
OT's getting on track....
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Around here everybody orders strips of rubber from places like Canadian Bearings cut to width and about 6 cleat lengths longer then needed, drill out the holes with drill & template shown with some dish soap. Then overlap them when bolting back together. cost about $200.00 per 2 pieces last time I did it.
http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a477/sandybay/HPIM0927.jpg
http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a477/sandybay/HPIM0929.jpg
http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a477/sandybay/HPIM0928.jpg
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Does anyone know what the pitch and cleat spacing should be on bomber tracks? we are having a bit of trouble with cleats catching on the sprocket and snapping.
Our drives were rerubberized before we got the machine and we don't know if there is too much rubber on them or not enough or what.
If anyone has a close up picture of their drives or dimensions of the drives, it would help alot.
Can someone tell me what the word "PITCH" means, what mine should be & how far apart my cleats should be ?? I was talking to a company in Ontario that sells the material, but they need to know what the pitch is. I think there are 72 cleats on each track... am I right ??
OT's getting on track....
Here as link to measure gear pitch's.
Hope it helps and keeps you on the right track :D ;D
http://www.fi.edu/time/Journey/Time/Lessons/printgeomgears.html
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Sandaybay..... my son you got me scratching my head. The only sense I can get outta this is that if I drilled holes in the template @ a certain distance apart that should be what I need to drill in the track. So is that space between the holes the PITCH ?? I have 11 teeth on my sprocket. OH well.... back to school to learn something new...
A bewildered OT.
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Pitch diameter is a term used to take measurements of the diameter of a gear or a screw using pitch points. Pitch points on a gear could be found if a straight line were drawn up from two of the gear's teeth located side by side and the two lines were connected by a curve. In the case of a gear or sprocket, pitch basically measures the distance between teeth.
any better?
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Around here everybody orders strips of rubber from places like Canadian Bearings cut to width and about 6 cleat lengths longer then needed, drill out the holes with drill & template shown with some dish soap. Then overlap them when bolting back together. cost about $200.00 per 2 pieces last time I did it.
If you overlapped the track which people down here have done, they say you will have a thump every time the track turns around. I can buy the proper joiners & track material here. I have a set of plug hole cutters. All I need to know is how far to space the holes so I can make up a jig to keep it all in line.........I think ??? ???
OT.
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Mine are spaced 3.750" apart in length, best way to check is to measure the distance between 10 cleats divide by 10 measure 15, divide by 15 and so on. Should all be the same answer.
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I have heard that if you over lap that would happen. But my c18 has both sides like that and does not seem to. But the joiner that you have sounds good.
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Mine are spaced 3.750" apart in length, best way to check is to measure the distance between 10 cleats divide by 10 measure 15, divide by 15 and so on. Should all be the same answer.
Below is a pic of one of my sprockets.
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m366/theoldtrucker/DSCF0319.jpg
That sounds alot easier. I guess this is the normal spacing for all these bombers. I can check out ( Mike's 57 rebuild ) as I don't have an old track to go by. Thanks teacher.....OT. appreciates the school-in' lessons. 8) ::) ;D
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Cleat spacing on my origional belts was 3.75 in. center to center which is the same as Dan Shavers replacement belts. (1951 woodie)
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Thanks Averyman. I measured Mike's today & it was the same as yours. It's making more sense to me now.
OT.
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If belts or over lapped, they have to be put on the right way so they don't thump. The best way i can describe it is, with the splice on the top of the tires, the belt end pointing towards the front of the bomber has to be on top and the end pointing to the back has to be on the bottom. :-\
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I guess it would be OK to overlap the belts if you don't have access to the joiners. I think the cost of joiners here are $ 20-25 bucks for a pack of 5.
What is the cost for 1 belt, punched & ready for the track ??
OT.... gettin on track...
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320 bucks
kpm
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KPM.... is that for one piece ?? You multiply that by 4 for a total of $1,280 bucks... ??? :o
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Got new complete tracks last year (belts and cleats) close to $4200.00, not cheap.
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$320 per belt is about right, if you are using your old cleats add another $100 for new bolts and self locking nuts to complete the whole job. We sandblasted the backing plates and the part of the cleat that contacts the belt and primed them try and protect them from rust. (Likely not worth the considerable effort)....
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Thanks Averyman. My cleats look to be in great shape. I am thinking about getting a sand blaster big enough to clean a rim & do my cleats & backing plates. People tell me that POR 15 is supposed good for that kind of application.
OT.
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The track belts look to be about 5 1/2 to 3/4 wide and about .55in thick.x270in long. When I get serious about talking to belt builders, I will need exact specs for them, or at least good enough measures. Maybe they will even punch holes. $700 per belt newat Bombardier! Maybe belt guys can make a 24in for $700 and cut it into strips. The sprocket cover came from the local hardware. It is not quite 1/2in.
I hope to buy some belting shortly. It is supposed to be 4 ply. They sell it @ $2.00 per ft. If I bought 25 ft. would that be long enough ?? At 48" wide I should have enough to make belts for myself & Mike.
Is the spacing for the holes @ 3 3/4" center ?? Cranmam would 3 ply belting @ 3" wide be good for the sprockets ?? The proper joiners are $25 for 5..
OT
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25 feet is lots for length. That is sure cheap...2$ a foot for 48 inch. I had 24 inch with factory edges so I used a scribe to mark off 5 and a half inches off each side and I used these as my outside belts with the factory sides out. Then I marked of 5 and a half from what remained on each side and cut my other two. I used an ordinary Olfa kife. I made a nice straight shallow cut right on the line, then put a board under the bigger part, inside the line so the cut piece is falling away from the cut and not binding. Olfa makes a knife with an offset blade that no doubt would be easier to use,but I couldn't find one when I needed it. Some guys go 6 inches but it is too tight on the woodies. Your numbers seem right to me.
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I got it... Picked up a piece of belting 40' long by 4' wide for $40 bucks. It's 3 ply. He called it 600 P.I.W. He said I haven't got a worry about breaking it. It's used to move limestone from land to the ships. They buy it in 500' rolls.
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Hey all!
Fall is comming , and the change in temp at night is noticeable the last week!
There is a big difference in belting ,and not just the number of ply's. The conveyor belting is made to streach and be flexable when agregate is loaded on them . This flexing keeps the belts from breaking.
Several times conveyor belting has been cut,dilled for groomer tracks , and always ends up a problem. The tension cant be kept consistant , and they end up to tight, to loose and come off. In the end the money is spent on the proper track belting , and almost never have the tension issue.
Good belting is worth the money when they last so long.
48 bomber
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I was told this stuff is already stretched out. I don't know if it makes a difference or not. A friend uses it on his J5's all the time with no trouble. How is the proper track belt made ??
??? OT.