Reviews on the 3" Power Claw

[summ8rmk]

Ur speedo will read 12.5% or as stated above 1/8 higher than factory.
So if ur speedo reads 40 x .125% =5mph lower so 35mph. Plus if cat is already 5% high 40x .175%= 7mph 33mph real speed when speedo reads 40.

 

[Woody67]

I am going on about 20 hours without any sleep right now so I hope this makes a little sense. If you look at a gearing chart with everything being equal as far as clutching and gearing when you go from 8 tooth drivers to 7 tooth drivers you loose about 10 mph on average.

Now lets see how this applies to the sled. You have a sensor that is picking up a magnetic pulse from the track shaft. From the factory your speedo is programed for 8 tooth drivers which come standard on the Proclimb. So a certain amount of revolutions of that shaft equals a mile. For every revolution of that shaft the sensor is picking up a pulse or sensing that magnetic tick on the track shaft and sending it to the speedo and the speedo is converting it into mph which you see displayed.

From factory they have drivers that have 8 teeth spaced 3" apart propelling the track. Now that driver has to be so big to have 8 teeth on it spaced 3" apart. Now if you put drivers on that same track shaft that have 7 teeth and are spaced 3" apart the driver is going to be smaller. So the track shaft is spinning the same speed as if it still had the 8 tooth drivers on it, and that is what you would be seeing on your speedometer. But you have the 7 tooth drivers on that same shaft with a smaller diameter and it is spinning the track at a lesser rate. You still think you are going the same speed, because your speedo tells you that you are. In all reality you are going 10 mph slower than what your speedometer is telling you at top end. It will be a lesser amount of difference at lower speeds than higher speeds. Same concept as putting smaller or bigger tires on your truck, your speedometer will be off.

Think about this, if you like how the 19/50 performs on your new sled and you put a 3" track on it with seven tooth drivers you would have to put 21/49 gearing in it to keep the same top end speed as you had with 19/50. The 21/49 would still be slower by about 1 mph over the 19/50. The lower the gearing you go with the lower you clutch temps will be, because they don't have to work as hard to spin the track. Cat's easy fix for a bad clutch problem and overheating.

All of my figures might not be 100% correct, but I think they are very close. If you go with the 7 tooth drivers you should make a gearing change to accommodate for the smaller circumference of the 7 tooth driver.

Very correct. Stock sled with 2.62 gearing 19/50 moves the track 9.5" each revolution of the driven clutch. With 7 tooth drivers the track moves 8.25". Gear up to 2.33 21/49 and it now moves 9.5" again.

First ride today with 3" PC and it felt real good. It rained overnight so the snow was crusty on top with some powder underneath. We had two almost identical sleds. Both very light SLP stage III Proclimb M8 162". No trail riding as we had to unload very high up. 3" does not spin near as much as the 2.6". Can't say about track speed as speedo is reading high on the sled with 7T drivers. IMO with the exception of trail riding (possibly) there will be no comparison between similar sleds. With the limited testing we did today I would say the difference is similar to the 2.25" to the 2.6". It goes way better and felt great going downhill to. I thought it was slowed down better under braking than the 2.6" Also the sleds were clutched exactly the same with the 2.6" sled having a touch higher gearing. The bigger track seemed to have very little effect on the clutching...at least in this snow.

Thanks,
Woody

 

[GlennRMK]

I had the opportunity to ride the 162x2.6 and 162x3 on identical 2015 M8s today. 3" sled has 21/49 gearing with 7 tooths. 2.6 has 19/50 with 8 tooths

Big difference with the 3". Feels like it just gets up on the snow and keeps going.

We were riding pretty bottomless snow at 9000 ft and no base and I actually think a guy needs to pull at least 3 grams out. Both sleds had 68s. 2.6 was pulling 7900-8050. 3" sled was around 7600-7700.

63s might even be needed at my elevation

2.6 sled could probably drop to 67s or grind to 66

I have the 153x3 with 19/50 and 7 tooths and 65s. RPM is real close.

 

[CO 2.0]

Mbms, What gearing did you have on the 3"? I have 20/49 hyvo team on order for a couple weeks now and still won't get them for a week or two since they are on backorder still.

 

[Woody67]

Mbms, What gearing did you have on the 3"? I have 20/49 hyvo team on order for a couple weeks now and still won't get them for a week or two since they are on backorder still.

I have a TKI belt drive with a 2.33 ratio and a 7 tooth driver. So same gearing as a 19/50 with 8 tooth driver.

Thanks,
Woody

 

[madmax]

So when your dealer puts the 3" on for the exchange program do they put the 7 tooth drivers on?

We put on which ever the customer wants. All we have done this year have used $199 seven tooth kit.

 

[mountainhorse]

Who has the best prices on these tracks?


.

 

[GlennRMK]

Very impressed with the 3" track

Had my 153x3 out in good deep snow with a crusty base yesterday

Very impressed with its ability to get up on the snow and keep creeping along.

19/50 with 7 tooths seems good in the trees.

My buddy has 13 PRO RMK with a 162x3 Challenger and he is very happy with his 3" as well.

 

[Justified]

Just a quick question in gearing. 19/50 gearing 7 tooth drivers the same as 18/50 gearing with 8 tooth drivers? I have a x3 with 8 tooth drivers and thinking I need to drop a gear to hold rpm.

 

[knifedge]

Just a quick question in gearing. 19/50 gearing 7 tooth drivers the same as 18/50 gearing with 8 tooth drivers? I have a x3 with 8 tooth drivers and thinking I need to drop a gear to hold rpm.

--maybe just change clutch weights -- call racinstation for setup

 

[0neoldfart]

Not quite...

Running a 7 tooth driver is about 87.5% of an 8 tooth. 19/50 with 7 tooth equates roughly to 2.95:1 final drive, whereas 19/50 with 8 tooth drivers equates to 2.63:1 final drive.

 

[knifedge]

I am going on about 20 hours without any sleep right now so I hope this makes a little sense. If you look at a gearing chart with everything being equal as far as clutching and gearing when you go from 8 tooth drivers to 7 tooth drivers you loose about 10 mph on average.

Now lets see how this applies to the sled. You have a sensor that is picking up a magnetic pulse from the track shaft. From the factory your speedo is programed for 8 tooth drivers which come standard on the Proclimb. So a certain amount of revolutions of that shaft equals a mile. For every revolution of that shaft the sensor is picking up a pulse or sensing that magnetic tick on the track shaft and sending it to the speedo and the speedo is converting it into mph which you see displayed.

From factory they have drivers that have 8 teeth spaced 3" apart propelling the track. Now that driver has to be so big to have 8 teeth on it spaced 3" apart. Now if you put drivers on that same track shaft that have 7 teeth and are spaced 3" apart the driver is going to be smaller. So the track shaft is spinning the same speed as if it still had the 8 tooth drivers on it, and that is what you would be seeing on your speedometer. But you have the 7 tooth drivers on that same shaft with a smaller diameter and it is spinning the track at a lesser rate. You still think you are going the same speed, because your speedo tells you that you are. In all reality you are going 10 mph slower than what your speedometer is telling you at top end. It will be a lesser amount of difference at lower speeds than higher speeds. Same concept as putting smaller or bigger tires on your truck, your speedometer will be off.

Think about this, if you like how the 19/50 performs on your new sled and you put a 3" track on it with seven tooth drivers you would have to put 21/49 gearing in it to keep the same top end speed as you had with 19/50. The 21/49 would still be slower by about 1 mph over the 19/50. The lower the gearing you go with the lower you clutch temps will be, because they don't have to work as hard to spin the track. Cat's easy fix for a bad clutch problem and overheating.

All of my figures might not be 100% correct, but I think they are very close. If you go with the 7 tooth drivers you should make a gearing change to accommodate for the smaller circumference of the 7 tooth driver.

ggg

 

[madmax]

100% sold on the 3" track now. Wow, the track just keeps going. It's really good for the riding I do. Of course the RKT 925 doesn't hurt either. Well worth the money to upgrade if you like to explore, hit the trees and climb through stuff were you maybe should be.

 

[ranger12]

Has anybody run the Challenger X3 and the Powerclaw 3"? Do they have the same characteristics? I plan on getting some time on the Powerclaw later this week for the first time. Rode the X3 all of last year on 2 sleds. Plan on giving a review later if we can find some good snow.

 

[philsummers21]

the 3" CE outdoes the 2.6 PC that's only experience ive seen. never 3" vs 3"

 

[CO 2.0]

And the 3" PC easily out does the 2.6 PC. I have 2 days now on the 3" PC with the last day being really deep. Very impressed with this track so far

 

[Woody67]

And the 3" PC easily out does the 2.6 PC. I have 2 days now on the 3" PC with the last day being really deep. Very impressed with this track so far

Agreed, 2nd ride today in way better snow. The track is the real deal. I have ridden most tracks out there. Easily the best track on the market right now. And all of the concerns about not having the standalone fingers are for naught. The braking performance is excellent and it works just fine on the trail.

Thanks,
Woody

 

[M8 Turbo]

i will agree 3"PC is by far better than the 2.6PC. I ride with another guy with the 3X and it seems to trench more than the 3"PC, and we have the same sleds pretty much. And the breaking is great as well with the 3"pc. I've gone fast down trail and the track seem good on the hard pack trail as well.

 

[Snopro_69]

How's the hard packed icey trail with the new 3". The x3 really does suck on hard hard pack/ice. Even though it dosent matter cuz that's not why we have 3"s haha. But she sure does spin out easy in that stuff.

 

[philsummers21]

So question for you guys with the 3" Would you rather have the 3" or Belt drive