• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Tucker Rubber Belting Options

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Owners of rubber belted Tuckers will eventually be faced with replacing that belting. One can purchase new replacement belts from Tucker, but what other options are available?

Periodically on the forum, track belting gets discussed. Usually it’s a “Where can I get it the cheapest” type search. Belting comes in all kinds of different configurations - for different applications. For example, use in grain elevators, in manufacturing plants, at quarries for rock, and other minerals, and at asphalt plants, to name a few. The application dictates the belt’s specifics, such as; number of plies, rubber compound, thickness of the top and bottom covers, fabric material, minimum bend radius, amount of belt stretch, operating temperature range, etc. The best belt for one application may be totally unsuitable for another.

My personal opinion is using the wrong material just 'cause it’s “cheap” is a false economy. It’s a lot of work to change belts. Very frequently fasteners that have been in place for years simply don’t want to come apart. Another example of the fun of belt replacement is a “genius" who decides to weld a bolt head to a grouser so the bolt won’t turn. Yes, it’s more money, but using the right material should result in significantly longer belt life and more satisfactory performance. Belts tend to stretch a bit over time and the spacing between grousers on a track belt is crucial because that's how the grousers mesh with the drive sprockets. Improper grouser spacing caused by a stretched belt will cause excessive wear on the drive sprockets. Note: There are eight drive sprockets and getting one recovered costs roughly $250, plus tax and shipping.

I recently called Tucker for price and availability of new belts. It’s been several years since my previous inquiry and the prices have gone up…drastically. Belts are usually spec’d by plies and strength to start with, and Tucker no longer offers two ply, 220 PIW belts. (PIW or Pounds per Inch Width is a measure of the belts strength.) They now offer three ply, 330 PIW belting. That may be due to the general increase in horsepower of their product lineup. For a 1600 Series Tucker, one new belt is $361, and there are 16. With shipping, you’re pushing $6K. Yowsa!

While belting is available from numerous sources, this thread is about snowcat belting, and more specifically belting for Tucker Sno-Cats. Two commonly mentioned sources for belts, as well as recovered drive sprockets and idler/de-icer wheels are Fall Line, in Reno, NV and Mountain Services Group in Denver, CO. Customer service is extremely important to me, and when researching a company to see if I want to do business with them, if there are reviews of poor customer service - that’s a red flag.

Travis, screen name Archmage, posted a while ago he had a bad experience with Fall Line and recommended another supplier in the Denver area. I contacted that supplier - Rocky Mountain Supply - and shortly after Travis bought from them, the company was sold and the new owners no longer offer much in the way of snowcat belting, or cutting and punching of belt material. But based on the experience Travis had, I decided to skip Fall Line.

I contacted Mountain Services Group, or more accurately - I tried to contact Mountain Services Group. I called three times during normal business hours, left a message the first and third times, and never heard back. Maybe they’re great, but that level of customer service doesn’t work for me.

When it comes to snowcat belts, the smartest guy I know is Brad, the owner of Minnesota Outdoors, as well as a forum member (screen name MNoutdoors). Over the years he has contributed to various forum threads on belting and I was curious as to what he might have available, and at what cost. I recall he recommended thinner, “balanced” rubber covers as being desirable for snowcat belts. "Balanced" means the same thickness; top and bottom. The belting Minnesota Outdoors offers for Tuckers comes in two ply, 250 PIW, and three ply, 350 PIW material, and somewhat surprisingly he gets it from a European manufacturer. Brad quoted me $195/belt for two ply material and $228/belt for the three ply material. That’s cut to size (length and width) punched and with hinges, also called lacing.

The two ply belts from Tucker do not have balanced covers, rather one side is about twice as thick as the other. It’s really the fabric plies in a belt that have the strength, not the rubber, and Brad said that the thicker the rubber, the more movement it allows a grouser to have, even when the bolts are tight. Movement is bad as it will cause the belts to wear prematurely. The purpose of the rubber covering is to protect the fabric material. If you operate a snowcat on snow, and don’t use it in low-snow or no-snow conditions, thinner rubber covers would perhaps be better.

(Brad also mentioned some Tucker owners will replace four narrow belts with two wider belts which eliminates the gap between the two belts. The downside of a single, wider belt is that sidehill performance is lessened somewhat.)

We ordered the new belts from Minnesota Outdoors and the process was simple and painless. My contact there was Brad himself and his communication was always timely...the exact opposite of Mountain Services Group. The belts arrived ahead of schedule and fit perfectly.

There's a quote I saw decades ago in a small upholstery shop that I've since seen attributed to Ben Franklin. "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the satisfaction of low price". (I think you could also substitute "customer service" for "quality" and the quote would be equally true.) Either way, I think it's good advice; and worth heeding if you're looking for snowcat belting.

I need to order more belts for another machine... and I'll get them from Minnesota Outdoors.


 

redsqwrl

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Well said. +1 for mn outdoors.
Brads experience with all things tracked is impressive.
 
Top