Im new to the forum and not sure where to post this, but since i ride a 2011 800 i figured id just put it here. Just wondering what are the pros and cons of trimming the tips of the lugs off the stock Polaris RMK track? Whats the difference in traction in various snow conditions?
Opinions On Trimming The Tips Off The Polaris RMK Track
- Thread starter TUFFPOLARIS
- Start date
Supposed to stiffen track a little and also allows for more room to evac snow from front of track. Not much room between track and tunnel. Look up F-Bombs posts on here, he explanes it well as he came up with the idea.
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ragingwong
Member
trimmed mine this summer,went out on jan 15th ,great snow about 16" fresh , trimmed track seemed to work awesome,no complaints,supposed to work even better in set up snow so i'll post results if i find any of that,chow
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IDAHO HOT SHOT
Well-known member
I never rode my Pro with the track not cut so I can't make a comparison, but it REALLY hooks up good with a firm base and seems to do well in the bottomless snow we have had so far.
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TGitt
Well-known member
Sorry Idaho Hot Shot! Meant to hit the green thumb but my stubby thumbs got the red one, stupid iPhone. Hit me with some negative rep to even it out.
As for my original post, I was going to say that so far so good with my trimmed track. Still floats well in the powdery snow(although that's hard to find this winter) and hooks up like a sum bi*** on the hard pack.
IMO this is the best mod you can do to your stock Pro... FOR FREE! I first trimmed my 10 D8 and ran my 11 Pro all last year with no Trim. There was a huge difference between the two in hook up, especially on Spring type snow conditions. The D8 would hook up, lift the skiis and climb like nobody's business while I was just spun like crazy and basically barely made it up the same hill. I decided to trim the 11 and the 12 Pro's this year before they even hit the snow. I have yet to see any cons to this mod, only PROs
I have ridden in bottomless 4ft pow with this track and had a friend with a stock 11 pro and there was no loss in deep snow performance between the two. It might have even been a little bit better. No trenching, lighter weight, more snow evacuation, killer hard pack traction, and the best part, it was FREE!
As far as how I did it, I jacked up sled on my lift, used a 2" wide carpenter's Square(24" length) and a Utility Razor blade knife with a new blade. I would place the square in between the paddles resting the 2" wide square on top of the row of paddles, use it as a straight edge, square it up with the paddle, and pull the blade to me using the square as my guide. I found this to be the cleanest and fastest method. I have tried the turkey knife with no luck, tried a sawzall, tried even some shears with no luck. It should take you about 15 minutes to complete this task.
I have ridden in bottomless 4ft pow with this track and had a friend with a stock 11 pro and there was no loss in deep snow performance between the two. It might have even been a little bit better. No trenching, lighter weight, more snow evacuation, killer hard pack traction, and the best part, it was FREE!As far as how I did it, I jacked up sled on my lift, used a 2" wide carpenter's Square(24" length) and a Utility Razor blade knife with a new blade. I would place the square in between the paddles resting the 2" wide square on top of the row of paddles, use it as a straight edge, square it up with the paddle, and pull the blade to me using the square as my guide. I found this to be the cleanest and fastest method. I have tried the turkey knife with no luck, tried a sawzall, tried even some shears with no luck. It should take you about 15 minutes to complete this task.
Sweet thanx for the input guys. I also read F-Bombs thread on the track mod. Sounds like you cant go wrong with it. Its free, easy to do, increased traction on the set up snow and no loss of traction in the powder. Ill try to find time next weekend, then the tough part will be trying to find enough snow to test it out lol.
Good to finally get a report on it in ak snow! Sounds like I need to get to cutting!
i am having a hard time cutting mine down but the more i here the more i wanna try it,more lug is always better imo but for the hard packed here this would be way better for me exp if i only do 10-14 days mountains at most per year,and u guys r saying no diff in the pow,u didnt even loose any floatation by making the lug stiffer and less lug ? dam this is tuff lol
The amount you trim off is minimal, but it sure does make the track hook up better.
Just do it, you'll be amazed.
Thanks F-Bomb!
Just do it, you'll be amazed.
Thanks F-Bomb!
Have been doing it since 2003 on vert escapes even with the old 2".
I know people who were doing this on their 09 Dragons. I have also heard it's easier on the lugs. I have not done this yet mostly because I am hesitant. (Chicken) Do we really know more than the track manufactures that spend a lot of money on R&D? I have also read posts here in the past where its not as good in the deep powder. I am still on the fence
I have two pro's. I will probably cave in and try it on one.
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I guess I'm on the other side of the fence here. I did the track trim and screw installation on my 08 Dragon and although it definitely hooked up better on the hardpack, I felt that it really took away from the powder riding. I definitely will not do it on my 12 pro. JMO
RMK-King
Super-Moderator
That was kind of my thoughts, you are stiffening the lugs which in theory would make it trench like the comp track does. Maybe they are still soft enough though?
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TGitt
Well-known member
Its more of an in between the comp and the 5.1. Doesn't hook up as good in the hard pack as the comp but floats a lot better. But with it trimmed I can tell it hooks up quite a bit better than the 5.1 non trimmed.
Just wondering how many of you thought that the braking was better. That's really the only concern I have with this track.
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gman086
Well-known member
The 5.1 PRO track was uses a STIFFER durometer than those used on the Dragons (confirmed with Carl's) so your comment has no bearing on this discussion. In fact F-Bomb doesn't even use screws in the Pro's 5.1 track because it doesn't need them (and would trench terribly if you did use them).
Here's something to ponder - for every 1/4" you cut (which is about the length you'll cut just taking off the tips) you will gain 4 mph track speed (this isn't a guess, I've heard this from Camoplast as well as DJ of northern catalyst) and that is exactly what I found on my sled. Ran it all last year with normal track and this year with cut track. ZERO regrets, better top speed, better track speed, better braking and better downhill control. Might be a slight dip on deep pow initial float but the increase in track speed makes up for it, once moving, from what I've seen.
I was leery about cutting mine too but the last straw was when I saw how much the lugs were folding over with just the weight of the sled on the trailer. After cutting they have about the same bend as the Challenger track on my Summit which has proven to be an excellent all-around track so I was immediately confident that I had done the right thing. Best product to cut the track is the Craftsman Handi-cut; change blades half-way thru and spray with silicone spray; easy job!
http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10...ord=cutting&prdNo=10&blockNo=10&blockType=L10
My 2 cents,
G MAN
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