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M29C Weasel Track Rebuild


Kcanarr

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Good Evening,

I recently purchased a M29C and finally got it running. Thanks to the helpful folks on this fourm! Runs great! Greased everything on the drive train, backed it off the trailer and started to test drive it and while backing up I bushed the left track partially off. I kinda had a feeling something was going to break and I was planning on either pulling these tracks off and going through them or rebuilding the spare set that it came with and swapping them out. 

 

Was hoping other people on here would have some insight on that... I'm new to the weasel world and have been doing some research, not a whole lot but some. Looking around it seems that the rubber bands for the tracks is hard to come by. I was wondering what people have done to repair/improve the tracks over the years. 

The part that broke was a chain link that somebody else installed I'm guessing years ago, and if possible I'd like to install something better, I'm sure this worked great if it didn't set and got frequent lube. However, it sat and froze up. I know that the OG had cables that ran along them and that seems like an okay idea but any insight on best way to go about this would be great. 

 

A little insight on my intentions (if it help).

I was planning on getting the rig running, going through the tracks and boggie wheels and such, I'm not looking to restore the Weasel this winter but plan to later down the road. I mainly and trying to get it going to be able to move my cabin materials across a lake this winter and was to make sure that I won't have any issues with the tracks mainly. 

 

I'll continue to do research and studying on them but was mainly wondering what people have done in the past to solve the issue of replacing the hard-to-find rubber bands. 

Thanks in advance!

 

Kennedy 

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I’m planning to rebuild a couple sets of tracks this winter. I purchased several hundred feet of 4” wide new 1/2” thick 3 ply conveyor belting. I’m not sure where you are located but I have extra material to spare. Some of it will need to be trimmed to narrow it for the outside bands. The gentleman I purchased my weasel from had a machinist make an injection mold for road pads and can get them made up if you need some I can supply the contact info. I plan on adding a double thick conveyor for the wheel contact area and a single outside and inside belt. Hopefully that will suffice?  I’m not sure if I’ll use elevator bolts or pronged t nuts or a mixture of both to secure everything yet. I’m currently drilling a long piece of 1/2” thick steel flat stock for my hole template. 

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Thanks fellas!

I like the snake river setup but I have some questions, is there any reason I couldnt just use the hat channels that are already being used to hold the outer bands in place? Just looking at the out bands that he has it looks like he fabricated new tabs to help hold the belt down. 

 

5280Beltfed; I also like your setup, I'm in Anchorage and have a supplier here that I would think have the materials in house but I'm not 100% on that and won't be able to chat with anybody until Monday now. I like the setup that you had made, would be interested in chatting with the outfit that made those for you. 

 

Couple general questions:

 

Is the material that people are using now just as tough at the original material with the cable in them? Just wondering cause I'm unsure. 

Does anybody happen to have lengths of bolts they bought for holding the track together so I can start rounding those up? 

 

 

Thanks again a bunch for your help everybody!!!

 

Kennedy

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Good evening guys 

I have been doing some research on the track rebuild and trying to get all my materials gathered up before I start ripping and tearing.

I contacted the gentleman in MI about the road pads and he said that he was not interested in doing just one pair because it was not worth it to him and that he would need to get a few sets together in order to make it worth his wild. He also mentioned that he would sell the stuff for making them for about $5500 but that’s a bit out of my price range haha. 

iv seen some point running a combination of a few different things. Some at 1/2”thick doubled up. Some are 3/4” and some are 7/8” thick. I’m trying to round up the materials to get going and trying to figure out thickness, width, and length of the rubber needed. Also a description of it would be great. I chatted with a company locally here today and sounds like there is a few different types  of conveyor belt material out there, depending on ply and stuff. 
 

also, I was told that people use used belt material because it’s already stretched. Is there an industry that you guys have found usually has that stuff? ( aviation, shipping, etc.) 

 

thanks!

 

does anybody

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2 hours ago, Kcanarr said:

Good evening guys 

I have been doing some research on the track rebuild and trying to get all my materials gathered up before I start ripping and tearing.

I contacted the gentleman in MI about the road pads and he said that he was not interested in doing just one pair because it was not worth it to him and that he would need to get a few sets together in order to make it worth his wild. He also mentioned that he would sell the stuff for making them for about $5500 but that’s a bit out of my price range haha. 

iv seen some point running a combination of a few different things. Some at 1/2”thick doubled up. Some are 3/4” and some are 7/8” thick. I’m trying to round up the materials to get going and trying to figure out thickness, width, and length of the rubber needed. Also a description of it would be great. I chatted with a company locally here today and sounds like there is a few different types  of conveyor belt material out there, depending on ply and stuff. 
 

also, I was told that people use used belt material because it’s already stretched. Is there an industry that you guys have found usually has that stuff? ( aviation, shipping, etc.) 

 

thanks!

 

does anybody

92D7EE19-6091-4D5B-9196-BD92BE186E74.jpeg

BDA10B9F-7271-4DD2-BD11-DAD76403393A.jpeg

F3501B4D-E8A9-4362-8696-B631997F3914.jpeg

Here is another track fix idea that may help. This track repair kit is made by Trond Overvik in Norway. Trond's pictures below tell the story better. I believe that Trond still frequents the Weasel forums and may still make this track fix kit.

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Goof afternooon guys,

Thanks for the photos and tips. I found a local store here that sells the conveyor belt material. They have 1/2" thick 4 ply that would work I think. From the looks of it I'd run 1/2" thick on the out bands and double it up (1" thick) for the inside bands. Does that sound correct?

Another question that I have is does it make a huge difference using used conveyor belt VS. new belt? I know used stuff is already stretched and using new stuff might cause problems later down the road, but I wasnt sure if aybody have experience with this in the past.

 

Once I get everything together for it I would think it would go somewhat fast, but I also havnt done one yet so I'm not 100% sure haha.

 

Last question is i noticed that OMZ29C  the photos that you shared has the metal steel plates recessed in the outer rubber bands, do you know how that was done?

 

Thanks again for the help fellas!

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 11/5/2020 at 3:54 PM, 5280Beltfed said:

I’m planning to rebuild a couple sets of tracks this winter. I purchased several hundred feet of 4” wide new 1/2” thick 3 ply conveyor belting. I’m not sure where you are located but I have extra material to spare. Some of it will need to be trimmed to narrow it for the outside bands. The gentleman I purchased my weasel from had a machinist make an injection mold for road pads and can get them made up if you need some I can supply the contact info. I plan on adding a double thick conveyor for the wheel contact area and a single outside and inside belt. Hopefully that will suffice?  I’m not sure if I’ll use elevator bolts or pronged t nuts or a mixture of both to secure everything yet. I’m currently drilling a long piece of 1/2” thick steel flat stock for my hole template. 

748F04D7-736E-4F6F-9F02-E1B3F41A3E7A.jpeg

3876FA35-72EA-41F1-BC83-3EF3DEBEC106.jpegB8D6BA5E-8DA0-4103-B125-42251444CB74.jpeg

How mony pads did you make at a time? 

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  • 3 months later...
On 11/5/2020 at 5:54 PM, 5280Beltfed said:

I’m planning to rebuild a couple sets of tracks this winter. I purchased several hundred feet of 4” wide new 1/2” thick 3 ply conveyor belting. I’m not sure where you are located but I have extra material to spare. Some of it will need to be trimmed to narrow it for the outside bands. The gentleman I purchased my weasel from had a machinist make an injection mold for road pads and can get them made up if you need some I can supply the contact info. I plan on adding a double thick conveyor for the wheel contact area and a single outside and inside belt. Hopefully that will suffice?  I’m not sure if I’ll use elevator bolts or pronged t nuts or a mixture of both to secure everything yet. I’m currently drilling a long piece of 1/2” thick steel flat stock for my hole template. 

748F04D7-736E-4F6F-9F02-E1B3F41A3E7A.jpeg

3876FA35-72EA-41F1-BC83-3EF3DEBEC106.jpeg

B8D6BA5E-8DA0-4103-B125-42251444CB74.jpeg

I would love some replacement road pads like these. Any idea who has them and how much?

 

Thanks 

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

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