metal tracks [TANKS]

["Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos" <xchrysk-at-otenet.gr>]

They are not all that heavy Neroc. Every meter of 3 inch-wide track weighs together with the bolts and nuts, 1.3 kg only.  I would think that in a 3 foot long tank with hinges 4 inches wide, the weight of each track would be about 4 kg - a total of 8 kg for both tracks.  This shouldn't be heavier than a roller chain track.  When you think that a 24 V motor for a scooter carries teh weight of a 15-year-old, and you use TWO of these motors in a 35 kg heavy tank, 8 kg on the tracks is not an awful lot of weight. WHat I fear is that in my 3 foot long tank, the weight will be such that the little rods that engage the tracks will bend. I'll have to find out.

 

The good thing about them is that the hinges are completely closed. Unlike teh roller chain tracks  that have gaps between teh pads, the hinges  don't allow little wooden sticks or rocks to stick in between and possibly jam. And unlike belts that use a friction system, they don't have to be stretched , so you can enjoy the sagging. That gives you some tolerance too. MOtors and ball bearings don't suffer. HInges are cheap, and you don't have to devise special pads. They go up concrete ramps 30 degrees from horizontal.   When sand gets into the pivots part, it fills in the pivot and the track stretches, but only a little. if 1/10 th of a mm of sand in every pivot, that results in an overall of 1 cm per track, or 5mm of tensioning - maximum. SOme fine tuning is part of the fun in the hobby.

 

 

 

 

 

>Chrys your hinged tracks are great.
>For me they could go in the how to, section.
>but they must be heavy.get yourself some treadmill.