Plastic or Metal tracks

[oldfeller]

IMO the metal gears will destroy the plastic tracks quite fast.

Hi Gerula
Thank you for your reply .
You could be right in what you say, have you tested this idea to find out how long they would last.
Regards
Gerwyn

First of all I believed that by gears you ment the gears that engage the tracks (sprockets?) not the gears in the gearbox. English isn't my main language, so things like this happen . I think it's obvious that getting metal sprockets will kill plastic tracks quite fast.

But my affirmation was correct even if you mean getting metal gears in the gearboxes. I suppose you'd get metal gears in order to get 3:1 ratio, and the extra traction is going to rapidly damage the plastic tracks. I haven't tested on tanks, but it's mechanical common sense, so to speak. It's like getting a sport gearbox on a car without beefing up the clutch.

Hi Gerula
Your English writing looks great to me. Its the metal gears driving the tank that I need the help with and they are just normal gears no difference to the plastic ones same ratio but I hope they will take more of a hammering than the plastic ones, , I'm not sure with the brass gears if they have the same ratio or not. so It would not be like a sports gearbox, if they do have the same ratio then it should be no problem using them with plastic tracks.
Gerwyn

[Woz]

Metal gears don't have a clutch so if something jams the track then the chances are the track will break. Also a metal drive sprocket will wear out the plastic track. You could use metal gears and a plastic sproket if you've got spare track links.

The thing with metal tracks is that almost all the weight is on the wheels and because of this they don't effect the suspension too much, so you only need to stiffen up the suspension a bit.
If you added the weight of the tracks inside the tank then all this extra weight will go through the suspension. To stop the tank from sitting on it's belly you'd have to tighten up the suspension quite a lot and you may end up with the suspension being so tight that it doesn't work properly.

[oldfeller]

Hi Woz
Thank you for letting me know the problem I would have in fitting weights inside the hull. Am I right then in thinking in theory I can run my tank using metal gears with plastic tracks as long as I use the plastic drive wheels "sprocket".
Gerwyn

[Woz]

You only need metal gears if you're using metal tracks they don't give you any extra traction. If you're going to use plastic tracks then just glue the clutch in plastic gearboxes so they don't slip.

You can add extra weight to the tank but you'll need to clock* the suspension spring.

Another thing you can do is to fill in the wheels, I filled the wheels of my Tiger with washers and milliputt. This adds weight to the tank without effecting the suspension.


* Drill new holes so the suspension is stiffer.

[oldfeller]

Hi Woz
Cheers Mate , the information you have given me as been a great help to me.
Regards.
Gerwyn

[oldfeller]

Hi All
I would like to thank you for all for your help "realy appreciated ".
Gerwyn