15 Timbersled ratcheting

[DonnyBoy553]

Went riding today in Eastern Washington, snow was pretty set up. I had been riding a for a few hours when out of the blue I started to feel what I would guess was the track ratcheting while pulling a hill in 3rd ( it also did it in 2nd).

I tightened the track and it helped a little, but did not solve it entirely. After another hour of riding, it stopped altogether... but eventually came back in only 3rd gear, 2nd was fine the remainder of the day. I am pretty certain that the slipping I am feeling is coming from the track kit.

I suppose it could be my clutch slipping, but I find it curious that it is only in 3rd gear now.

The track kit is a 15 ST and the bike is a 16 KTM 450 XC-F. Second season on this track, never had any issues prior to today.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Kind of scratching my head.

I recently had to split the cases to replace a bent 2nd/4th shift fork...everything else looked good. The only other problem that I could see causing this slipping/ratcheting sensation could be that I lost a tooth on 3rd gear (Still doesn't explain why it was doing it in 2nd earlier).

Thanks for any input.

Brandon

 

[wwillf01]

I would think if it was ratcheting it would be happening in 1st also a lot.... Can't answer your gear question..

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[J800]

I recently went on a ride in set up snow and the bike was ratcheting really bad. I tightened the track until there was no more adjustment that could be made to get it to stop ratcheting to finish the day.
It turns out the front flex arm shaft was broken which alowed the track to slide quite a ways back.

 

[teal_210]

Check to make sure you haven't lost a bolt on your suspension arms, or broke the flex arm like mentioned above.

 

[DonnyBoy553]

I recently went on a ride in set up snow and the bike was ratcheting really bad. I tightened the track until there was no more adjustment that could be made to get it to stop ratcheting to finish the day.
It turns out the front flex arm shaft was broken which alowed the track to slide quite a ways back.

Ok, thanks I will check that out. I would assume that yours was ratcheting in all gears? Or did you notice it more in one particular gear?

Thanks,
B

 

[Revv Up]

Also check the chains tensions in different positions, could be a drive bearing.

 

[Uncle si]

X2 on checking bearings. If you destroy a driveshaft bearing it feels like track ratcheting.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

rat chit ting

Unless you have your track adjusted a little on the tight side, setup corn snow, laying on it in 3 rd you will likely experience some ratcheting.

Heavier snow ( like setup corn snow ) in your track system will tend to shove the track away from the drivers as the snow processes through......snow between the track and driver face, then having only 1/2 of the driver engaging the track lug, track ratchets under heavy load, other side of the hill different snow maybe not so much.

All the big sleds run anti ratchet drivers for that reason. On the kit I just sold, I ran WAHL bros anti ratchet drivers. If you have your front and rear shock somewhat out of sync, one loose / one stiff and you get into the wrong snow conditions or hit wind drifts climbing, the old ratchet game.

 

[Oregonizm]

Check your chain. Mine was trashed and the symptom was exactly as you describe.

 

[Motomick177]

Chain

Have you changed the chain case chain on your track? I had the same problem and I couldve sworn the track was ratcheting. I kept trying to tighten the track with the same result. I was stumped. I pulled the cover off the chain case and the chain had stretched so much that it was skipping on the sprockets and it couldnt even be tensioned enough. the chain was totally fine when I checked it the ride before.

 

[ges]

its the chain under the cover they are complete garbage