[Jenkins]

Hi all, new member from British Columbia, Canada. I have 2021 Northstar 3 seater with camso tracks. Been out a few times this winter. Looking for some advice from others with experience. On hardpack roads I've been using high range and 2 wheel drive. Good going with a few inches of fresh snow I use high range and 4 wheel drive. Otherwise I use low range and 4wd. Is this right?

 

[Gerb4653]

I believe they recommend awd all the time for wear purposes. Certainly there are instances when turf mode and or 2wd will get you where your going but that is just what camso recommends. Once in awd it will keep the front engaged because there are different tooth counts on the drive sprockets, hence all four will dig and wear more consistently. I have on two instances drove in turf mode or 2wd. Once was the first time i drove another unit with tracks after installing them and the other mine. Once i got into just a bit of snow the rear dug and there i sat. Both times throwing it in awd pulled me right out and both times were a DOH moment.

As far as when to use high and low i guess these machines have enough power to pull through about most stuff. I feel high will get me in and out of a potential situation a bit quicker but then again i am just blasting around in the ditches and on flat ground. I monitor the belt temp on my machine and dont see elevated temps even in the deep stuff. Im hoping to take it to Wyoming this winter to play in the elevation and suspect I will have to run it in low some.

 

[Big Blue]

I run AWD in the deep and steep stuff, but on hard pack flat trails 2wd. High gear is fine on trails and hard pack but low is better in the deep and steep. The first picture even AWD didn’t do. Almost seven feet of snow at about 9,000 feet. I’ve been running Polaris prospector tracks for 3 years, maintenance and daily inspection is the key.

 

[Jenkins]

How high of belt temperature do you get?

 

[Big Blue]

I have no way of knowing belt temp on my machin. It’s a 2020 Northstar crew. Still running the same belt. When I bought the tracks and the dealer installed them, I have them put a new belt on just being on the safe side. That was three years ago. I pack the original factory belt as a backup just in case.

 

[Gerb4653]

This year will be different. I recently got my Razorback fan that works with the temp gauge and when i started the install i also moved the sensor to read off the primary side. I lost a belt for no apparent reason and it cracked the inner cover so the second hole to test the sensor in a new spost wasn’t a bother. Where the sensor was before was near the air outlet and it was possibly reading a bit of the secondary shave temperature. The reason I say that is because there were times when my belt temps would spike to 230° once everything warmed up good. And when I moved it to the primary side I was able to make sure it was hitting it in the center of the belt better plus the belt is at the top of the sheaves more so than the second areas when you’re running it so less chance to not read the belt. At any rate I have more consistent temps as in they don’t fluctuate by 20 to 40° for no apparent reason. I think the hottest temp I saw now was around 170 at which point the fan will kick in just a little bit and if it goes higher than that the fan speed increases. It’s still a work in progress because the fan is designed for larger plumbing like you would find on a rzr. Also I did not want to put it in line with the factory clutch intake so I installed a different clutch cover off an RS1 which lets me blow the air directly onto the secondary without inhibiting the factory side. This then provides me with more problems as how to get the larger plumbing the way I want it but it’s coming along.

Long story short I would expect 150 degree temps or maybe cooler since the incoming air is going to be much colder plus there will now be more of it.

 

[Jenkins]

What suspension settings for tracks? I'm trying one notch from the stiffest.

 

[Gerb4653]

I guess i havnt touched mine. Its still on the softest setting.

 

[Golfbum]

Hi everyone. I’ve been running tracks for three seasons and this is the first with my crew cab. It’s a blast blowing through the snow and it’s amazing what these things will go through! Just curious if anyone has issues like me with the side windows on all four doors fogging up pretty bad when running in the powder? I bought fender flares to hopefully help keep the snow from blowing up on the side of the Ranger but I haven’t tried them out yet. Checking to see if anyone has any tricks on keeping the windows clear? The vents help the front windows but not the rear ones. Has anyone tried auxiliary fans blowing on the rear windows? Also a friend of mine mentioned riding with the air conditioner on with the temp turned up so it pulls the moisture out of the cab. Thanks for any tips you might have!

 

[Gerb4653]

AC is supposed to help but i have not had much luck keeping them cleared off. Most of the glass not directly receiving air seems to fog over when plowing through the snow. I have a fan that i bought last year. Was planning to mount in the center so i could turn it in different directions but never got to installing it. We didn’t have much snow to go play in so it wasn’t a huge deal. Working nights this week so maybe ill have some time during the day to throw it in. Heres a pic of the track I installed to mount a radio and potentially this fan.

This is the fan I have although i am not so certain it’s a “turbo” fan as it states. It didn’t seem to spin all that fast but maybe it wont require a bunch of airflow to help keep windows clear.

And your absolutely right about the tracks being a blast in the snow!!!!

HELLA 003361002 12V Black 2-Speed Turbo Fan

 

[Golfbum]

Thanks for the info. That track is a pretty cool idea! Like you mentioned it probably wouldn’t take much airflow to help. I’ll check out that fan. Thanks!

 

[Gerb4653]

Heres the fan mounted. It can spin in any direction and slide around so long as a head isn’t in the way. The things i don’t like about it is that one side of the blades are exposed. Not sure why? Also everything being plastic i am not sure how well it will hold up to bouncing around. Guess well see. Heck its only money.

 

[Golfbum]

Lol. That’s true we’ve all thrown money into these things with stuff we don’t end up using! The fan looks like it should work pretty good to move air around. You’ll have to let me know how it works. Thanks for the update!