Belt drive ?'s

line8 · Sep 25, 2017

I'm considering a belt drive for my 14.
It's pretty easy to find and read about the good and some hype. I can sometimes get blinded by that hype thing. I might be on this one.
Are there any negatives or cons that should be considered? Looking for real world experiences. Things to look out for in certain situations.

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knh208 · Sep 25, 2017

The top is open, so there is a chance you could get debris inside.

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89sandman · Sep 25, 2017

Had one on my 15 Pro and the only advantage I could tell over my 11 was weight savings. The amount of rotating mass you save by itself is so small it really doesn't change anything.

kiliki · Sep 25, 2017

you never have to change chain case oil:face-icon-small-hap
I have a tki and it is a very nice and simple product.

Bumpig · Sep 25, 2017

I put a tki on my 14 limited in February. It is the best mod I've ever done. The only con I've had is I had to go back to the trailer to get oil on the second ride. Just wasn't used to putting in oil every trip. I've done plenty of mods that I couldn't "feel" in performance but this isn't one of them.

sno*jet · Sep 25, 2017

a con i see, although the weight is close to the center, its still on the right side, where everybody removes lots of weight. what can we do on the clutch side? the pump one shock up a little more than the other side thing is cheezy imo.
other than that i want a belt drive myself.

DDECKER · Sep 25, 2017

TKI for sure!

line8 · Sep 25, 2017

It does seem like most of the reasons to do it are all positive. Anyone blow a belt? What caused it? Is it really a big deal if a Belt blows, other than if there isn't an extra one packed? Where I'm at is I keep thinking about the chain issues I "could possibly" encounter-currently at 1200 well maintained miles. I don't want to trade 1 possible issue for another likely or possible issue or vise versa.

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kiliki · Sep 25, 2017

i did a lot of looking on the blown belt and found very little in the way of people having problems. if you blow one you have other problems. if you bust a chain you will most likely need a chain case too. not so much with a belt. if you bust one you can change it out in the hills but not a super easy job.

Frostbite · Sep 25, 2017

I did the TKI and the only reason I did it was I was going to have to change out the aluminum lower gear in my chain case and while I was at it, I wanted to change my top gear and go down one tooth and also add a manual chain adjuster for reliability reasons.

By the time I did all of that, I was going to be well into the cost of new belt drive and what really pushed me over the top was being able to do the belt drive with the 2017 Mountain Cat chain case which lowered the drive shaft 1 1/8" inches.

Together I think they are the best mods I have done to my sled bar none. Before the lowered chain case (with the 36" front end added to my 2015 sled) I was tipping over because the balance point was trying to find the G spot. I just couldn't figure it out. I was tipping over all the time and looked like an absolute clown. I have been riding for decades and it was embarrassing!

The chain case/belt drive was a make it or sell it move for me. I wasn't going to put up with it any longer and either it worked or down the road my sled would have gone to be replaced by who knows what?

I have to say the change made me absolutely giddy and I am beyond happy. Heck, I even went on a 2018 Arctic Cat demo ride and jumped back and forth from my sled to the 2018 and I liked my own sled much better because it felt much lighter, snappier and just way more fun. So, the kit morphed my sled from one I was about done with to probably the best handling sled I have ever owned.

So, my advice would be, if you are going to go to the trouble of doing a belt drive, don't do half the job, add the lowered chain case as well.

0neoldfart · Sep 25, 2017

My experience...

I put a C3 belt drive on my M1100T pushing 280 hp at 350 miles, as the stock chain was toast. It now has 2200 miles, same belt, so they are plenty tough enough. The weight savings was considerable, and the fact that I can change it on the hill if I needed to appeals to me. So much that I added one on my M800 with a 925 big bore, and on my wife's 2013 Pro with a big bore. All have considerable mileage since the conversion, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. They feel a tad "quicker", might be a placebo effect. But I ride in very remote areas with usually only one other rider, so I like the peace of mind the belt gives me.
BTW, all of my drives are C3, but I've heard TKI and MVM both make a good setup as well, main reason I went with C3 is the availability for the 4 stroke, and they are local to me in Canada.

DDECKER · Sep 26, 2017

line8 said:
It does seem like most of the reasons to do it are all positive. Anyone blow a belt? What caused it? Is it really a big deal if a Belt blows, other than if there isn't an extra one packed? Where I'm at is I keep thinking about the chain issues I "could possibly" encounter-currently at 1200 well maintained miles. I don't want to trade 1 possible issue for another likely or possible issue or vise versa.

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Ive lost 1 belt on 3 different sleds, I was in wheelie mode and came down hard right on a rock to the drivers.....then bang!....belt broke 20/30 min later new belt on, Back to fun!!

I have no doubt if it was still chain driven it would of been worse, like 20 mile town out worse me frozen to my sled my buddy laughing his a$$ off at my broken cat worse... Just saying

Heypal · Sep 26, 2017

Convert to MTN Cat?

So another question regarding a belt drive. What is involved to take a "Normal" 2016 Sno Pro and convert it to a Mountain Cat (lower drivers) using a belt drive system? Then a guy could scrap the chain AND mimic what was so successful on the 2017 MTN Cat in one fell swoop!

line8 · Sep 26, 2017

Heypal said:
So another question regarding a belt drive. What is involved to take a "Normal" 2016 Sno Pro and convert it to a Mountain Cat (lower drivers) using a belt drive system? Then a guy could scrap the chain AND mimic what was so successful on the 2017 MTN Cat in one fell swoop!

I searched this one here last night? There's a handful of threads with good info on it. Frostbite who responded a couple back did just that.

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Frostbite · Sep 26, 2017

I'm telling you that doing the Mountain Cat kit is a game changer. Doing the trim work for the lowered chain case (especially on the clutch side) is a real pain in the neck but, it's worth it.

I did the TKI kit but others may be just as good or better. I just don't have experience with the other kits.

It's all about the instructions, mine sucked but Tom sent me a file of instructions someone else who had done the kit had made and this helped. He was there to answer the phone when I had questions.

Gearing - I wanted to be a 2.42 but Tom insisted 2.52 would be better. The 2.52 is indeed good but, I haven't been able to compare it to 2.42 gears just yet. Tom will swap gears out with you for free if you decide you want to change. I think i will just order a new upper so I can have both to try.

boondocker97 · Sep 26, 2017

Pros:
-Lighter
-Quicker acceleration of the system if you are on/off throttle a lot
-Easy to change gear ratios
-More room in the side of the sled
-Easy to change if you encounter disaster
-No oil change mess
-Can actually see your 2-stroke oil level in the plastic tank
-Sounds cool when you're bench racing

Cons:
-Cost
-Little or no improvement in top end performance once everything is up to speed. So if you are a climber or ride open terrain at WOT without varying throttle much you might not see a huge change in performance.
-Gates belts make a mess when they are new and wearing the coating off
-Have to adjust the belt a few times in first 100 miles. Fine after that.
-Can't adjust tension on a TKI with stock can in place. No problem with aftermarket can.
-Carrying another spare belt. I'm not sure why I do it. Never carried a chain before and I have more faith in the belt. It is really light though.
-Takes weight off one side of sled. (Polaris is the most unbalanced sled side to side stock and no one complains about it)
-I don't get to experience the joy of taking my chain case apart in a creek bottom to fish out a broken chain and then get to drag it out by hand until it's to a place that's towable. Then get to ride a backup sled for 2 days that are left of the trip.

sno*jet · Sep 26, 2017

boondocker97 said:
-Takes weight off one side of sled. (Polaris is the most unbalanced sled side to side stock and no one complains about it)

that would be surprising to me if true. the part in parentheses

idahoskiguy · Sep 27, 2017

Cool - But a total waste

Ran a belt drive on a 2015 Summit 174 that was pretty tricked out and other than the cool factor the belt drive in my opinion was a total waste of time and money.:face-icon-small-win

boondocker97 · Sep 27, 2017

sno*jet said:
that would be surprising to me if true. the part in parentheses

Here's the findings of the deep powder challenge from 2014 model year so not exactly current. I'm guessing someone got upset from the test so they don't do it anymore.

Speed Shop Inc. · Sep 27, 2017

BELT DRIVES

We have been using the C3 belt drives for several years now. The first year I ran one personally was 2013-2014 season. I put over 2000 miles on it that year before selling it. I know the guy who has the sled and he has only changed the belt once since he got it from me, and he only did it because it had 5000 miles on it. The belt drive is much cleaner under the hood, much less weight, and if it does break a belt, it's doesn't cause major damage like a chain can. In my experience it does help the sled to accelerate quicker. And I have 3 guys running them drag racing with 500-600 horsepower 1100 turbos that say it helps the top speed pull on their race machines. So it is definitely more efficient. By the way the big drag race sleds run the same 896 belt Gigatorque belt that comes in all of the kits. Just check your belt tension on the first day or tow of riding and then they never seem to stretch out after that.
If a belt blows its because the tension is too lose. If the belt skips on the cogs is when you have an issue. So simply watch the belt tension on your first day or two on the snow with the belt drive installed. We have them in stock. They are $799 if you want to run premix or $899 with the lightweight oil tank and billet mount. 2015 models come with a new jackshaft because the stock shaft holds the sprockets on with C clips, and we wanted to use a bolt to hold the top pulley on tight. We also do this with the kits for the 2016-2017 models, which uses our BDX jackshaft that is 2.5 lbs lighter than the stock jackshaft. The 16-17 kits are $140 more.

http://www.bd-xtreme.com/index.php?id_category=89&controller=category&n=142

Belt drive ?'s

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