Rob W

P.S. I'm sure the board would really like a "shop tour" sometime...Just saying😉

Hi Alexander! It's been a while since I've been on here, but I was talking to Barrett this evening and he told me I should take a look on the board. Wow! Somebody finally made the weasel rear center floor! You are the man! nice job. It looks totally OEM! Way to put the Pullmax to work! Also noted your NEW dash panel and other fine parts...you are talented, and stubborn... I'm sure you could have found these parts, but what fun is that😁 While talking with Barrett we both realized we probably wouldn't have had P9's if you wasn't for you 🤣😂 Thanks! Keep up the good work...thought I don't think there is much more to make at this point! Best Regards, Rob

Guys, Maybe you've seen Mike's ad on here and some discussion over the years for new track bands for the T15 Weasel and M7 snow tractor... well, the production run is finally here... this is likely the only run. I just wanted to give a shout out to the team "behind the scenes" that made this happen and likely won't get enough credit where it is certainly due! Barrett Deveno and Jason Ball from the old weasel forum stepped up and put a ton of time into this project, to not only make the prototype bands that Mike tested last year, but to crank up for a limited run of parts, (all made in the USA) at a cost effective price. Special thanks goes out to Barrett, he was critical in design, cutting the tooling, and actually building and pressing the crimped band assemblies. Jason's design input and machining of the crimped terminal ends was also critical. Also a shout out to Greg Bilek at Starpoint in Ohio for his willingness to use his shop to vulcanize the bands and see this project through from the begining...without great vendors like Greg, these projects don't happen. By the way, for those interested in new bands for the standard weasel, this same method could be done for the 15" or (more likely) 20" bands, if anyone is motivated the clues and recipe is all there in previous posts.😉 Keep those weasels running! Rob in Idaho

Hi Larry, Thanks. Mike has asked us to start putting the production schedule together. I'd like to see some more miles before we start down that road. Always a good idea to test, test, test. Especially before committing to design and production. We'll try to keep posted a little better, but likely you'll see things available end of summer early fall, in time for winter. These things take time and all the vendors and production have to come together... a challenge any time in making a small production run of a high quality, reasonable cost project, but even harder during the crazy economic times the last couple of years. Will try to post some more pix and info soon. Regards, Rob

Guys, Haven't posted much on this in a while, but the "modular bands" progressed quite a bit to the testing stage. Mike Howard has received his bands and done a bit of work getting his T15 ready for testing. He has reported great success in the first 25 miles of operation. He probably has at least double that by now and I will update as he gets more information. He's gotten to third gear without any issues, stated that they are very quiet, excellent turning, etc. No perceptible wear at this juncture. He also ran it in the mud, but that was not intentional....so he says😂 This definitely appears to be a viable solution for re-banding weasel tracks with original the original look and function with upgraded serviceability. IMG_0365.3gp IMG_0374.3gp

prototype LAR grouser and Ambillary grouser

You might also want to take a look at these pix, they might be on here somewhere as well. Jake G. made these LAR/Ambillary copies from scratch... not sure where he got the centerguides, you could reuse them from something else? In that case you would only need the grouser (laser cut and press brake) , drive lug, roadpads, belt and hardware. He sure did a nice job, they look pretty much identical.

Thanks Guys, It's been a long road to get this far. Much of the credit on this project goes to Barrett D. from the old weasel board... (he might be lurking on here too😉) Without his tool making skills and work, (he did those beautiful molds and more), this project wouldn't be where it is. Also had some help from Jason B. from the old board and of course Mike H. for believing in this idea and making it happen. These are the "beta test" version, they will go on a machine in the near future for testing to make sure things are where they need to be. If they work well, there will be a small production run for T15 vehicles in the coming months. There are no plans at this time to make this type of band system available for the standard weasel track. However, pretty much the same recipe could be used, it would need appropriate molds and parts. Not impossible, to do, but not nothing either.

Here are some updates..., it's been a while. This is a segmented band system, they bolt together on the the grouser, much like a M114/M116. Segmented so you can replace a section if it fails. Both ends of the segment are fully crimped in a 100 ton press. The H plates and cables "float" in the vulcanized rubber just like the OEM bands were made. The crimps have been tested to over 8000lb pull strength. (see previous photos) Whole cable assembly is fixtured in matching mold halves with unvulcanized rubber, and put in a 200 ton heated vulcanizing press. These are only for the T15 right now, first full set are being molded, and should be tested soon. A similar setup could be used on a standard weasel but you would need to make new molds, same concept should work though. This pitch and grouser setup is the same as the M7, so with an insert in the mold to adjust for length, they would work on that vehicle as well. M7 uses the same grouser as the T15 and same pitch. Enjoy.... IMG_3527 (1) (1).MOV

Hi Patrick, Not trying to rain on your parade, really I wish you luck on reworking the French track, but I truly think there's not much to work with if you want a viable track system. They may end up being lighter if you shed the chains and roadpads, but I still think the grouser is so lacking it has little value. Lack of a roadpad was one of the problems with the ambillary grouser, otherwise it was pretty genius. There really isn't much OEM info on the Ambillary, I think John covered about all that is really know. When we started the LAR project we were really just trying to remake the OEM weasel track, however, after learning how complicated (read expensive) they would be to manufacture, we started looking at alternatives. I saw photos of the Ambillary used on weasels both in the Arctic(Greenland) with the US Army and in the Antarctic. It was a proven track system in extreme conditions. The only negative feedback I heard from previous owners was that it was really noisy on hard surfaces (no road pad) After looking at that track system in detail and seeing what could be made today easier, the LAR track was born. We acquired some Ambillary track, replaced a few grousers with our own and ran them side by side on a machine that had OEM track on the other side. The Ambillary track ran great (and our example was OLD)... I broke a track that day at 25MPH (be careful out there) However, it wasn't the old Ambillary track we were using that broke, it was the OEM weasel track on the other side! We made changes (modularity) so that worn parts could be removed and also to make assembly easier...and added a replaceable road pad. As I was suggesting to 42 rocker, the Ambillary track is about the easiest design to manufacture....so easy in fact that besides the centerguide, you really don't need anything special. (just laser cut and press brake the grouser) There's more that one way to make a centerguide too.... the ones on the T15 are "folded" steel and welded....sure, they are too short in design, but folded would probably work fine. Weight is pretty important if you can keep that on par with OEM, and things roll well, you can probably get to 3rd gear. Good luck with the rebanding... I'm sure you'll get it going, you have persistence!

I must jump in here... The LAR track are NOTHING like the French track, they are night and day different. Apples to oranges. LAR track probably weighs a couple hundred pounds less too! You are best off walking away from those French track...don't waste your time, they are so heavy even if you rebuild, you will never get out of second gear. Total waste of time, you will wish you never put in the effort. You are better off making your own track, just copy the LAR design, press brake the grousers, make some centerguides, and use 5/8 x 6" belting and have some road pads poured out of urethane. (or you can buy a complete set of pads from me) 42 Rocker, I remember you from the 42 board...you have the skills, but don't waste your time and effort patching up the "french" track.

Larry, Pretty sure those go down on either side of the instrument panel, pretty much out of sight. There are two of them and where your cutouts are there should be bolt holes.

Guys, I have a nice set of late 20" track for sale. These originally came with my weasel, I ran them for two seasons in the snow and then worked with Mike Howard to develop the LAR track. After that I no longer needed them. Since then, they have been sitting in my shop on two pallets on pallet racks, properly stored on edge, with large radius bends. The bands are original BF Goodrich Rubber which is has some cracks in the rubber... BFG tracks commonly have some cracks by now, and the compound has a higher durometer than the Mondajlen Rubber bands from Norway and I believe they are a little stronger. They don't really show any cables. What I'm trying to say, is I think they still have some life in them. The grousers are in very good shape with a lot of rubber and many pads left. there may a few that are missing pads or are bent/broken but very few. I will supply 4 NOS grousers. If you want a decent set of original bands or two full sets of grousers here you go, I would not recommend taking them apart for grousers, if you are concerned put an auxiliary band between the inner and out and forget your worries. If you want OEM bands to last....run them in the snow. $4000 Decent original track are hard to find. Call me at 208 845-0823 if you don't get me leave a message with your name number and I'll give you a call back. These and the other track I have for sale will go to other venues for sale if there's no action. Please don't bug me with what else might be for sale. I will try to post some pictures on the pallet later, but they have limited access right now. Here is an old video of them running on my machine. https://vimeo.com/146055976 Thanks, Rob