Tank Treads

[M. Mellott]

Team 48 has used Brecoflex belts with a lot of success over the years. Several pictures of past systems are available on CD. Some pointers:

• Keep the belts properly tensioned, but not too tight

• Protect the tread from sideload stresses as much as possible by using mutiple wheels/sliders along the area of the belt that contacts the ground, and keeping the "open" distance between the wheels/sliders to a minimum

• Use a belt profile with a middle inner rib as opposed to flanged wheels--we typically used TK10-K13

• If memory serves me right, we were using an 1880mm long belt with 4" wheels (2" boggie wheels) in our 36"-long tread module, and those belts were about $350...EACH...three years ago

Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.