This might sound like a silly question but with this being my first year as a snowmobile owner I have an excuse,.....right? :sarcasm: Here it goes.......How often do you put new studs on a track, yearly? The reason I ask is because when I bought my sled last fall the guy I bought it from had just studded the track. They had 0 miles on them when I bought it. I have put about 650 miles on so far this winter and man are they nasty looking. By no means have they been abused, I usually ride on groomed trails with an occasional road to cross. I do not spin the track when crossing the road, I knew they were new when I bought the sled and wanted to keep them as close to that as possible. After my ride this past weekend I looked at them closely out of curiosity only to find a few of them broke with about half the length of the stud missing :cussing: or many with no point left on them at all. :cussing: Does this sound normal for only going that many miles or does it sound like cheap studs to you? Thanks in advance for your input

You would be forking out alot of money if u put new studs in every year. It sounds likethe studs that are on it are really cheap studs because i put about 600 miles on my new one this year and they look just about what they did when i got the sled.

Do you know what kind of studs and backers they are? No, thats not normal for them to wear and snap that fast. Do yourself a favor and pull the belt, then flip the sled on its side and check how tight they are, go through all of them, if your not really beating on them they should last alot longer...

I've got over 8000 kms on mine and while a few of them are bent and they are wore down a little they are all still there and working.I mostly ride groomed trails as well with a few road crossings here and there.I have 144 woody's gold diggers 7mm.There certainly not the cheapest stud you can buy but even the cheap ones aren't cheap when you have to replace them all the time and if the ends are worn off there just extra wieght in your track.

It sounds like your stud are pretty cheap. They should last alot longer than that.
What I do with mine is, I check my track regularly and replace when I see damaged or broken ones. I usually go through 4-5 a season. :D

I had the same problem on my '01 mxz 700. Stock track and 168 sno-stuff stainless steel studs. The track still spins. I put on 600 miles and the stud is wore about 1/4 around the carbide insert. What is acceptable wear? And what studs will normally last the longest under average conditions?

;) I had put 1500 miles on and had to replace about ten studs and i abused them.

ripped 7 out of my track..what a mess, :cussing: do yourself a favour,take out all the outside studs. you won't notice the difference and you'll save your track..............

It sounds as though the previous owner studded with regular steel studs and not carbide tipped studs.

:D

Originally posted by legolamb@Feb 19 2003, 07:32 AM
It sounds as though the previous owner studded with regular steel studs and not carbide tipped studs.

:D
I agree, probably steel studs. I used them when I first started studding, never again. After the first season they were garbage, good for drags when you can lay the sled on it's side and sharpen them.

IMO, Normally the track is wrecked before the studs are. I drive pretty hard so that may be why. But Ive hardly ever seen a studded track last longer then 6000km.