Has anyone converted a Cyclone to an all rubber track?

[liquifireguy]

I am getting ready to start restoring a 76 Cyclone 440 that I have had for several years. The cleated track that is in it is in rough shape. Are there any rubber tracks still in production that could be converted to work on this sled without a lot of major modifications to the skid or tunnel? I am not opposed to doing some changes. This sled is going to be used a lot, so I would like to use a more modern track on it.

[JoeRainville]

LFG,

I converted a Liquidator to a Cat track last year. It's a 16" x 121" track they used on the Panther and others from about 1980-91 or so. The early versions had a 3.29" pitch, while the later versions and the replacement tracks were 2.52". What make them unique is that the track has 3 rows of drive lugs, one on each track belt, that basically line up with the JD spacing. The slide rail center is close, about 1/8" off. Some guys re-space their rails, some don't.

One issue is that your rear idlers should be moved down, or a larger diameter swapped on since the track is moved down since the slide are now riding on the inside thickness instead of the outside of the track belt, on the cleat.

One other solution that could make your sled a little nicer to ride, but still look "Deere" is to clone a 78 CC skid...

I hope this helps.
-Joe Rainville

[liquifireguy]

Is there any way to or advantage to use the cat skid as well, or am I better off using my cyclone skid?

[JoeRainville]

LFG,

It all depends how custom you want you sled to be. And you don't want to add 14" of rear travel to a leafer, as the nose down attitude makes the sled an ill-handling bitch due to lack of spindle caster. You can shorten the rear travel of a later skid, and add plastic skis to help level the sled out as some of the guys here have done.

One of the 'easier' mods might be to use a Trailfire ski, and with some work adapt the original 7 1/8" aluminum rear idlers (not sure if removing the bearing insert is enough, so some fab work might be needed) to the rear, as the larger idler covers for the change to a rubber track. It would look pretty original, take out a bunch of weight and ride nicer.

But a later model dual shock skid would be much nicer yet. Just depends on what you want to accomplish.

I hope this helps,
-Joe

[liquifireguy]

Thanks for the help Joe. I definitely want to keep the original stance, so I think I'll keep the Cyclone suspension and put the AC track on.