Bolens Diablo Rouge and Hus Ski Discussion Forums

Has anyone else seen this kind of track wear from the lobes on the track guide rods ahead of the rear idlers?
I haven’t seen this wear on any old tracks, but the lobes do seems to wear flat where the track contacts. The first three years of running my Diablo I didn’t have this wear. At the beginning of this year I noticed it. The lobes were actually wearing into the lacers. I tried turning the rods for less contact and adjusting the track. Still wearing. My old tracks came apart in Constance Bay and I installed a good set of tracks. They are wearing also. My hubs are not original. They have a single 6205 bearings in them. They do have some side to side play, but not excessive. Cogs are the same size. I’m going to remove these lobed guide rods for next year. The 500’s didn’t have them. Bolens said they were installed for safety; meant to prevent throwing a track and causing damage with a properly adjusting track. I suspect they were more to prevent the tracks from catching on the end of bogie station rail and locking up at high speed.

In any case I am going to remove them or do some modifications to eliminate the track wear. Maybe remove the lobes and install a nylon tube on the rod which won’t wear the track. Another option would be wheel assemblies with two bogie wheels on the top of the bogie station rail for the track to run on? Francois Tassé has a Diablo where this was done.

What do others have for clearance between the track and these lobes? For whatever reason, the clearance on my Diablo is not enough.

I looked at my Diablos and some have wear like that. The ones that are not worn probobly had the sprockets fail before the machine had enough miles on it to wear that rod out. I think it would be smart to put a bolt-on wheel or Hyfax rail on top of the bogie rail. It just seems like in order to keep the tracks from slapping the body pan, they have to be so tight that the rubber on the original sprockets gets squished to the point that the cleats are digging into the hubs. My 444 tracks slap the body pan too and makes an awful sound with the new stainless cleats (like fingernails on a chalkboard). I have to adjust the tracks to the point where I think they are too tight to keep them from slapping.The Hus-Ski 200, 200-A, and 400 have a steel support on the top where the track can rest and the 600 twin tracks have a wood slider the same as the bottom one to support the tracks.

Thanks for your input. I'll post a picture of what I come up with to avoid this wear. I did a lot of long high speed runs this year and last on hard packed surfaces with no snow for lubrication. Possibly this caused more wear than normal. I also ran a lot with my work sleigh. It has a carrier on the rear which adds a lot of weight, lifting the rear of the tractor. This may let the rear axle move lower putting the track closer to those lobes. Contributing factors? I remember now hearing a slapping noise at times which could have been the lacers hitting those lobes. I think I'll pull another sleigh behind me next year for heavy loads. We'll see what happens next year.

I removed those lobed rods and mounted bogie assemblies on top of the rail. Had a good run on Sat. and so far so good.

That looks like a very good upgrade Roy.