Re: tracks from tires

[Joe Sommer <anvilus9-at-adelphia.net>]

Dan,

At 01:15 PM 9/22/2004 -0400, "Dan W" <danw30-at-hotmail.com> wrote:
>How about using sections of old radial tires. Cut crosssectional. A jigsaw 
>with a metal cutting blade works well. They are FREE

Chunks of tire could work well for external
cleats on TTS.  However, the tire carcass
is much too thick to make a track by itself.

In addition to trying snow mobile track and
snow blower track, I also tried mountain bike
knobby tires.  I got a couple discards from
my local bike shop and slit the steel beads
away from the sidewalls with a Stanley knife
(Be very, very careful if you try this.)

When I flattened the tire carcass, it was close
to the circumference needed for a tank.

I mounted the carcass around two 5 inch DIA
wheels suitably spaced on steel shafts in a
2x4 frame.  I then pulled this "track" around
the wheels manually to get a feel for the
motor torque that would be required.

Although I believe that our motors could
turn this "track", I had a terrible time with
tracking on the wheels.  This "track" constantly
wandered laterally and it was difficult to prevent
it from throwing.

If anyone can devise a way to mount guide
horns on the inside wall of a mountain bike
tire carcass, it could provide a nice flexible
rubber track with great grip.  However, I could
not get anything to stick very well to my tires.

Give it a try,
Joe


**********************************************
Joe Sommer
2378 Nantucket Circle, State College, PA 16803
814.234.4773     anvilus9-at-adelphia.net
http://www.anvilus.com