How long does a track usually last?

[frosty]

Looking at a 2012 F800 with 5800 miles, question is how long has a person had a track until it blew apart? Track is studded and has some string at the edges, but my 15 has that. So I'm really interested in buying it but concerned on the wear items. Sled is emuculate, has been taken care of but still has the mileage concern.

Any input would be grateful

 

[POLARISDAN]

Mine blew up around 4000..doubt its an original if its studded..TORE MY COOLER ALL UP..WOULD HAVE CHANGED IT HAD I KNOWN

 

[dwz]

15000 miles on 2 Apex's XTX track still looks good, not running any studs, all groomed trail miles and easy launchs out of the hole.

 

[raceinsnow]

The tracks 10-15+ years ago were not the best. I have not seen a track come apart in over 15 years unless it had a stud pull out or a tear in it from running over something. The newer tracks are better. If all you have is the edges that are frayed then I would not be worried about it. You should take a propane tourch and melt / burn the cords on the track edges. All tracks should be inspected for cracking, dry rot and holes. The life of the track can be shortend also if the sled is stored sitting in the dirt outside and the track is to tight. On that sled the skid frame bearings,drive shaft and jack shaft should be replaced.They have had problems with the rear boggie wheel bearings coming apart.

 

[snoduke88]

I have two sleds a2005 550pol fan and a 2003 yam 600 triple I have over17,000 on both track are fine. I always loosen track and store with track raised.

 

[whitedust]

Yami tracks are 2 ply heavier than single ply so last a lot longer. My attak had studs & 10K+ miles track looked like it was new when I traded in but I only ride in good conditions.

 

[G]

raceinsnow is right. Tracks are better than they used to be. However if they do explode at high speed they can do a lot of damage. A lot of sleds use a cooler mounted directly in front of the track. If the track shreds at speed that cooler is probably going to suffer some damage especially if the track is studded. On some models the cooler is part of the bulkhead and is not replaceable. It can do enough damage to total a sled. Also I have seen tracks come out the back and take out the back of the seat. Also if your track decides to come out at high speed you have no brakes. All things to consider. I personally do not trust a track with over 5000 miles. Even if it looks good. But then I always run studs plus I ride alone a lot so I try to head off as many problems as I can. Tracks are about $500 bucks. Plus studs if you run them. There are always going to be sleds that have a lot of miles with no troubles. But in real life they are the exception rather than the rule. If it is an 800 you can be sure it has had some torque put through it in its life. Folks generally don't buy 800s to go slow. I would replace it.

 

[whitedust]

If you do replace the track go with a prestudded track...I swear by them ...no more studs for me.

 

[snocrazy]

Raceinsnow nails it.
MY last 2 tracks were due to extreme circumstances.
Hitting stumps while wide open.... Last season I had plastic tip come off of rail in rear susp. That one did a number.
Still looking for a non studded 121x15x1.25 for the old SRX700

 

[frosty]

Thanks for all input guys, you all pretty much confirmed my gut feeling on replacing it. Replacing a track isn't that big a deal, just time and patience. I would prefer to buy new, but being a trail rider once in a blue moon, I figure get a nice clean used sled. Figuring the sled being almost at 6kmiles, most of the gremlins have been worked out or replaced. I know the 12's had problems with clutches in the beginning, but I worried more about the bearings on the jack shaft and the chain case items. The boggy wheels look better than my 2015 M8's.

The rails appear straight and really couldn't find any nicks or scuffs on it. The sled appears well maintained, I just hate the what ifs. You can get that with any sled, but I usually have a warranty to cover that.

 

[G]

Ultimate track story for you guys. I used to ride with a guy with a 700 Pol. He had 144 studs. He loved to spin over everything. Railroad tracks, tar roads, sticks, ice - you name it. All the studs on the track were bent backwards. He finally spun over a rock and sliced a big gash in the track. Keep in mind this guy was super-cheap. He found a used track somewhere for $100 bucks with no studs. He took off his old track and wanted to save the bent studs that were in it. He could not get a socket on the old studs to get them off because they were all bent too badly. So he put the old track back on the sled backwards and proceeded to drive normally - for him - and spin over whatever he encountered for about a tank of gas. By then the gash in the in the track was really wide but he got what he wanted. The studs were all mostly bent back straight. He was so happy. He took the track off - again - and was able to take out the old studs. You can about imagine the condition they were in. He then installed these old studs into his used $100 buck track. He was too cheap to buy locktight so he just put a little sand on the threads and hit them with the impact wrench. He put another 2000 miles on the sled before he traded it off. I helped him load it for its last trip to the dealer. JUST ABOUT ALL THE STUDS WERE STILL THERE!!!!!!!!!

 

[POLARISDAN]

If you do replace the track go with a prestudded track...I swear by them ...no more studs for me.

sorry pre studded is gay

- - - Updated - - -

cooler protector a must with real studs..and we ride alot of roads and ditches in MN..so we burn the heck out of studs and tracks(now i know of course)

but i would never ride without studs..ride way to fast and want to stop on a dime

 

[skidoodoug]

I had over 9000 miles on my 01 MXZ studded track before needing replacing.
Got close to 5000 on the replacement and noticed one stud had pulled out last year.
IMO they are like tires and depends on the way its treated. I would bet if the sled is that nice, track would be fine.

 

[journeyman]

I picked up a really clean/well maintained one owner 2007 Attak GT from Kip (Pat's of Greenland) 2 years ago. It had 12,000 miles on it at the time and it now has close to 14,000 miles. It had the original 136" Ripsaw with no studs and it looked great. I had it pulled off during the season this past Feb. and replaced it with a Ripsaw II for better traction. I ended up getting $220 for the track this summer, it was still in great shape. From my understanding I was told the previous owner only rode the machine in the UP of Michigan so it most likely was never used in marginal snow conditions.

The latest edition of Snow Goer has the article about Nick Keller and his high mileage 2010 Yamaha Vector. It shows a large blowup of the machine and how long the wear parts lasted him. In his 99+ thousand miles he went through 7 tracks but claimed only one failed. It claims he got between 13-16,000 out of several tracks but generally only replaced them if the lugs started showing wear signs.

 

[whitedust]

sorry pre studded is gay

- - - Updated - - -

cooler protector a must with real studs..and we ride alot of roads and ditches in MN..so we burn the heck out of studs and tracks(now i know of course)

but i would never ride without studs..ride way to fast and want to stop on a dime

Ice ripper works great on Apex XTX no pull thrus or thrown stud worries much better for sled than studs. Sounds like you are way too dependent on studs for your riding style.... been there done that. You should try prestudded before you discount performance.