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Originally Posted by Cory
Your assumption that treads will give you more torque is not true. You will have the exact same amount of torque as if you used wheels.
Cons: One glaring con nobody mentioned is that you have to tension them properly. If you dont, theyll fall off when you try to turn.
Perhaps the biggest con is their steep price tag. Belts are around $270 each as someone said, plus you need the pulleys, which will run you another couple hundred. All said, youre going to spend near 1000 dollars, just to get the robot running. Also, I believe many teams who used treads either tore them like crazy, or wore them down very fast. I seem to remember 226 saying they used 7+ belts over the course of the season. That adds up to quite a bit of money.
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You are right Cory, we spent a literal fortune on the tracks last year and it would make me think twice about doing it again (Can't remember if it was seven or eight ripped belts). As Cory stated above the self aligning pulley's were $100 each ($400 total) and the belts were close to $150 for serrated and almost $300 for the solid center. As for shipping them, Brecoflex ran pretty far behind in getting us replacements, and our use for them is way out of their design parameters as far as Brecoflex was concerned. Our gearboxes may have been too much for them last year. Also, don't think that because you have treads you can climb anything, it all depends on the type of treads and their orientation compared to the chassis (Look at most tanks and the front has a steep angle instead of a big pulley)
I haven't checked with the company that Andy Baker posted but they may be better price or delivery than Brecoflex and they sell self aligning tracks there also.
On a side note, we noticed no difference in the tearing between the regular Brecoflex belts with the serrated center rib and the solid core which cost twice as much. Our failures started on the edge of the tread and continued across the belt and appeared to have nothing to do with the center. Many teams also had de-lamination problems with the tracks.
Treads are definately cool, they suck power out of the drivetrain like no other on turning, and you can get great traction, but, don't sell pneumatic tires short. I was VERY impressed with the performance of some of the six wheeled bots out there and their pushing force