E-Bay Spitfire with rubber conversion track

ChickenRat · Post by **ChickenRat** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:27 pm

Joe,

Was that the Sprint that was for sale in WI on Craigslist? I e-mailed but it was sold.

Robb

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:37 pm

According the the seller of the 80 Spitfire in PA on ebay that started this whole thing, the track on it is a Kimpex Durado 110x15x2.0. A Polaris replacement.
So it is short and as we all know size does matter.

Todd

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:20 pm

Peter, I believe Joe was going to stagger the teeth on his 3.39 driver. If that is correct than it should offer continuios bite.

Joe, is the belt thickness of the JD 3.39 tracks going to be an issue like the Polaris ones? Are tracks readily available?

I have a 3 Sprints and one is trackless.

Todd

Liquifire84 · Post by **Liquifire84** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:49 pm

Todd,

The kit came from image enterprises. According to the guy that had this kit. The track had windows in it.

Brice

basketdators · Post by **basketdators** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:53 am

Todd
Skidoo of this vintage are external, and my track is stock. I looked at the drivers today,I'd say they are at least 8" in diam.
Joe's idea of getting 3 peices and making one is great ,if at all posible.
What about a track off of the early 70's Cats[Puma,etc.], they were thin and used the 3 pieces with grouser bars. I have no idea on lenght though.
I wouldn't be afraid to widen or narrow suspension as most people have access to a welder and zippy wheels.
It would be nice to get length as close as possible, longer better than shorter.
If all rubber track were to be used you could holesaw holes in it to decrease mass, this may also help the problem of the wrap on smaller diam. drivers.
Bill

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:42 am

Hey Joe, The guy you got the Sprint from just sold a Scorpion on ebay today and he and his shill bidder ran it way up again.
I hope that you did not get caught up in that crap on your Sprint.
Todd

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:10 am

Bill the early Cat tracks are 17" wide so that is out as they are 2" too wide.
A track from a Jag is 116" so the length is right on the money but they are 2.52 drive and unless there are 5" dia 2.52 drivers available that is also out.

At this point Joe has the best idea with the 3.39 drivers but I have two questions.

Why not stay with the round shaft for the custom made 3.39's?

Is there a aftermarket track being made now that will work for this conversion? I would hate to see one JD scarped out to fix another JD.

I am sure that, as someone mentioned earlier in this post, there are a lot of DD sleds out there that are not on the snow for this very reason. I have one and my neighbor has one in his garage also. His track though is somewhere in a swap 7 miles south of town.

Todd

JoeRainville · Post by **JoeRainville** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:59 pm

Todd,

I want to use a hex shaft because I do not think drilling the center of the shaft that has full belt tension on one end to be a good idea for durabilty. So, it's ether a hex shaft to drive the sprockets or drilling a hole.

Some of the 77 Liquifire 2/3's cleated track had a center row of drive lugs. Some of the owners got the idea to remove the center idler and add a drive sprocket to help avoid ratching. So, they had to drill the round shaft to provide torque to the center sprocket. They all broke after that modification. This could be one of the reasons the 78 Liquifire 440's were updated to hex shafts. Granted, the LF's were 45 and 55 hp vs about 30, but I don't want to chance it.

As far as track availability, Kimpex made an aftermarket track for the 80-84 LF's and 82-84 Sports. Not sure if they are still in every catilog, but there are tons of them around.

-Rainville

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:08 pm

OK Joe, good ennough for me. Let's go for it.

Should we start a list if guys that want the conversion setup?
Put me down for four.

When you say there are Kimpex tracks out there do you mean new ones?

Thanks Joe, Todd

Horicon Joe · Post by **Horicon Joe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:15 pm

I got the sled at Waconia ..... Thanks for the delivery CHUCK!

Horicon Joe · Post by **Horicon Joe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:18 pm

This is a shot of the track #

Horicon Joe · Post by **Horicon Joe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:20 pm

It is a Quimpex track. Everything is stock on the sled except the guy widened the skid
by adding about .375 of washers to each side of the cross members to make the slides run down the middle of the track clips. Looks real simple ...........

Joe

mwking · Post by **mwking** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:18 pm

I was looking in the Kimpex catelogue trying to find a 04-796 track and I can't find this part number listed. Check out their complete track listing starting on page 243 http://www.kimpex.ca/catalog.php?action=nav&page=243&show=1.

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:05 am

04-746 is long ago discontinued but was for Polaris 110x15x 2.0 with 11.75 spacing on the slides. Deere uses 12" hence the washers.

69camaro · Post by **69camaro** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:26 am

Does anyone know the dimensions of a Kawasaki Drifter track. I have a sneaky feeling this track on Joe's Sprintfire could be this. Duane