Tracks on a UTV

[RoyJackson]

I'm kicking around buying tracks for my Gator 855D. I have heard, but no personal experience, that using tracks is tough on the running gear.
For you guys who have had tracks on your UTV for a while (couple years, at least), are they tough on the driveline?

 

[Rustyiron]

Roy the only thing it could possibly be hard on would be to belt and that's up to the operator.
Your gear ratio is effectively lowered as the drive wheel powering the tracks is only about 14" and that's like driving on 14" tall tires.

 

[ArlyA]

Roy, Where do you plan operating with the tracks??

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy, Where do you plan operating with the tracks??

I've got about 10 acres here in Vermont...and still 6-7 inches of frozen snow.
My neighbor's Gator (an 825) is down on his part of the field...been there about 3 weeks now and I doubt he get's it back up (field is about 15-20 feet lower elevation than the property his and my houses are). He did the same thing about 2 years ago. It'll be a few more weeks or so before he can drive it up...
Basically, my Gator is parked once we get more than a couple inches of snow.
I figure with tracks, I could get more use out of it during the snow season...

 

[ArlyA]

Yes you could, but changing the pods out is a hassle. Will you be the person switching them out?? I assume you'll remove them for summer use and I can't recommend there use in the non snow season.

 

[FTG-05]

Saw this the other day:

 

[nybirdman]

Better spent the $4-5K on a used snowmobile.Not worth the expense or hassle IMHO.

 

[ArlyA]

I could have got a used sled for the 5500 our pods cost but we didn't. There is far, far more utility in our 6x6 than a sled can offer. Sleds are great for going fast, poor at many other jobs. Kind of depends on what the user wants to do.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm in the same boat. Just too much money and another thing to spend money on for repair, plus the hassle and storage.

Plus, you get older and the time between putting them on and taking them off is the blink of an eye.

 

[Rustyiron]

I sure enjoy motoring around our land in the utv, seeing and monitoring it in the beautiful winter setting all winter long at an enjoyable 4-5 mph versus ripping through the woods too fast to see anything on a sled, not to mention with my wife and dog. If one was patient, I'd bet you could get into a set of used tracks for $3000. The particular mounting parts can be purchased as the tracks themselves are 1 of 2 sizes.
ATV and utv, the utv being a little bigger/longer.