Matt-
what I mean is don't just drop a sprocket onto a motor arbor shaft and expect it to carry the entire weight of the machine. I can't tell you how many teams we see which have a drill arbor with a sprocket "bit" directly driving a wheel sprocket. The immense drain on the motor either causes a fuse to blow or a wobble in the sprocket destroys the drill gearboxes.
Better would be to have the drill motor axle supported on both sides of a sprocket. This drives a series of two or more sprockets which are equally well supported and that builds up the advantage for the wheels.
Personally we prefer sprockets to gears at team 25 since, in the event of a seizure, the chain is the weakest part of the system and it jumps before teeth get ground off.
You can also easily replace a chain without tearing out a whole gear box by using a snugging device somewhere in the system.
We have not have one fail us in three years. And our results speak for themselves.
WC
