Track Interchange Info

[JoeRainville]

Hey Guys,

This topic comes up quite often, so here is the track interchange information on most of the Deere sleds:

All 15" wide Boggie tracks interchange with each other, but the Gates track is the stronger of the two styles. Approx. dimentions are 118" X 15" with a 2.52 drive lug pitch. The exception is the wide track Model 600, with its 18" wide track. That track does not interchange with any other Deere sled, but fits other makes as does the 15" version. These are the only Deere tracks that fit non-Deere sleds.

Most cleated slide rail tracks from 74-78 interchange with each other except the Liquidator. The 15" 'bonded on' cleated tracks from 74-76 were not nearly as durable as the 2/3's rivited cleated track used from 77-78. Many of the older JDX's, Cyclone and Liquifires have been retrofitted with the newer track by now. However, if you are buying a 74 - 76 JDX, 295/s, 340/s, Liquifire or Cyclone, take a good look at the track. The aftermarket track available for these sleds is a 2/3 (10.5") cleated unit. Approx. dimentions: 121" X 15" with a 2.52 drive lug pitch.

The 78 340 Liquifire Cross Country and 76 Liquidator tracks interchange. But, both of these tracks are hard to find, and should generally be kept for the machine they belong to, in my opinion. Approx. dimentions: 121" X 15" with a 3.29 drive lug pitch.

All cleated track Trail (79-84) and Sportfire's (80-81) can be converted to the 80-84 Liquifire, 82-84 Sportfire or aftermarket rubber track with either a track drive sprocket swap, or drive axle ass'y swap. Rubber track approx. dimentions: 116" X 15 with a 3.29 drive lug pitch.

All "Direct Drive" Spitfire, Snow and Sprintfire 15" cleated tracks interchange with each other. And, the 79-80 Trailfire and 1980 Sportfire track also fits the direct drive sleds. The 81 and up Trail and Sport cleated tracks DO NOT fit the direct drive sleds, as Deere increased the track width about 1/2" that year, and it does not fit into the tunnel of the DD sleds. Approx. dimentions: 116" X 15 with a 2" drive lug pitch

81 Sportfire, 81-84 Trailfire tracks only fit the chaincase sleds: 79-84 Trail, 80-81 Sports. They are wider than the earlier track or the one used on the DD sleds. No need to 'save them for the DD sleds'. Approx. dimentions: 116" X 15.5" with a 2" drive lug pitch.

Cleat info: the earlier (74-76) 15" bonded on cleated tracks use a longer (~14.5") cleat then the later 78+ 15" cleated track. The early cleats have 3 rivet holes on the outer track belt. The later 78-84 version is the shorter 13.75" cleat with only 2 rivet holes on the outer trackbelt. The 2/3's cleat is 10.5" long. Deere did seem to keep the same bolt hole pattern for all there cleated tracks, just changed the length of the cleat. You can also use the threaded rivits still available to rivit the bonded cleats if you are trying to keep using one of those tracks.

The earlier 15" cleated track had predetermained crack point that was staggard from right to left in the center of the cleat. The newer 15" cleated tracks had a center breaking point. Never did like the factory cleat, I only used solid aftermarket ones, not the NOS Deere pieces.

FYI: All Deere slide rail tracks have the same center to center distances for the drive sprockets and the slide rail windows.

I hope this helps with your interchange questions,
-Joe Rainville
"Tech-Ed"

PS: Thanks to Kevin Cambel for busting me on forgetting the JD 600 wide track! The post has been updated...

[Jingles]

Thanks Joe. Great info. If I need to buy an aftermarket track for a Spitfire what's my
best bet. Will there be room for studs? If I were to modify the suspension for more clearence to the top of the tunnel, or more travel, how would I best determine the correct track length. Do you start with an available track and work back form there?
All help and suggestions greatly appreaciated. Thanks Ron.

[JoeRainville]

Hi Ron,

There is no "correct" aftermarket track to fit the Direct drive sleds, only cutting up the sled for a Polaris track with the same 2" drive lug pitch is the only alternative. And, due to all the changes, I can't really recomend it.

The Polaris track is of different length, slide rail center, and drive sprocket center. So, you must modify the suspension, change the drive sprocket postion, etc, ect..

As of now, the best thing to do is find a used or NOS track, but both are hard to find. Tracks from all the DD sleds fit each other, inc. all Spit, Sprint and Snowfire's. The original cleated tracks from 97-80 Trailfire's and 80 Sports fits the DD sleds, but as noted above, the 82-84 cleated tracks for the chaincase sleds was too wide to fit into the DD tunnels.

The only other alternative I explored a few years back was to make a new drive sprocket with a 3.29" drive lug pitch so the rubber 80-84 Liquifire and 82-84 Sportfire track could fit, as all other measurements were about the same. However, there was no demand at the time to cover the cost of a new hex drive axle and 3 custom sprockets.

As you have found with your Yamaha converted sled, going to a regular size 2.52" drive pitch sprocket removed the gear ratio and tunnel clearance.

I will probably have more to post later,
-Joe Rainville
"Tech-Ed"

[Jingles]

Thanks again Joe. Determined to find the best way to do the track conversion. I think
the Yamaha conversion I've got can be made to work OK, but now I have the track out of 78' as well, and I am willing to buy a brand new track and drive sprockets. I don't like to beg, but please help more! The yamaha drive sprokets are ment for a hex shaft, but actually fit pretty good on the original JD shaft and I don't think that's a problem.
Fabricating/ modifying parts are witihin my means to an extent. Unfortunately I have to keep a full time job, thats not nearly as fun as fixing up the sleds. Ron.

[JoeRainville]

Hi Ron,

I will try to give you more info on the Deere direct drive sleds so you can think about how you can adapt a track to it. Here is what I can tell you off the top of my head:

What the direct drive (DD) chassis does is provide gear reduction with a larger diameter driven clutch and significantly smaller diameter track drive sprockets. The large diameter driven/small sprocket takes the place of the chain case on regular sleds. A typical gear ratio can be in the 19:40 range, so there was alot to make up using only pulley diameters.

But, the removal of the chain case took out about 40 separate parts, and made the sled very light, at 285 lbs for the 78-82 Spitfire's. But, the chassis was only built to handle about 30-35 hp. The 2" drive lug pitch was invented for DD sleds so there was enough tooth contact on the smaller sprockets. Even in the 70's Deere sleds had 2.52" pitch tracks up to the 78 Liquifire's and Cyclones.

One draw back was the you now have to wrap the track around a tighter radius, consuming more power than a regular size track sprocket. At very cold temps, very stiff tracks don't like to bend that far. So, the track for the Spitfire was relatively thin compared to other tracks. They could get away with it, since it was cleated. However, that it one reason why the 440 Trailfire and Sportfire's are tough on tracks, while the Dd sleds and 340 Trails seem to last much longer. Deere combated the increased rolling/bending resistance with a larger rear idler, to try to ballance the system.

The original track for the DD sleds is about 116" long. You can find 116" tracks, but most have a 2.52" drive lug pitch, or the Deere track for LF & Sport with a 3.29" pitch. And, most other tracks have different sprocket and slide rail centers.

Only the Polaris track from there DD sleds has a 2" drive lug pitch, all others I have found use the 2.52 or 3.29. There are no 2.52 sprockets small enough to use on a DD sled. If you did try a regular sprocket, you just erased your gear ratio, and will burn the heck out of your belt trying to get the sled to move. Not to meantion the reduction in tunnel clearances. Even the 82-84 Sprintfire is tough on drive clutches because the belt slips a lot because it has an 8 tooth sprocket over the standard 7 tooth.

I spoke to Kimpex about modifying their aftermarket 80-84 liquifire track to a 2" drive lug pitch. They told me it would be about $300,000 for a new mold. Ouch. So, the only option I can come up with is a new drive spocket with a 3.29" to use a LF track. But then, you would need a new hex shaft since you can drill the center of a round shaft to drive the sprocket, as the shaft usually brakes.

Feel free to share your thoughts as you work on your project!
-Joe Rainville

[Jingles]

Thanks Joe for going above and beyond the call of duty. I guess what I'm going to do is put the conversion sled back together aand check out the whole setup more carefully. It seamed to work OK before I tore it apart because the suspension seemed
to be siezed, but that turned out to be because it had been assembled wrong. [although the shaft was siezed in the front swing arm, still working on that.] Am going to drill another set of holes in the driveshaft, this time in the outboard shoulder of the drive spokets so the track will be centered in the tunnel. Should be snow soon so that I can check it out properly, then I guess I can post in the classifieds looking to replace a broken track drive shaft? Well thanks again for all the help.,Will post what I learn as I
go. Happy sledding. Ron.

[Matt]

This topic has been modified to remove unnecessary posts.