I have been using tracks on ATV and UTV's for 20 years. The first two sets were Camoplast and the last set was by Mattracks. Here is what you should know. I use them year around, mostly during snow in the winter, mud in the spring. We do not use them usually much in the summer as tires work then. I leave them on the machine year around. They are not abused and the same type of use for all three sets of tracks to compare by.
Initially Camoplast had bearings that could be replaced in the bogey wheels and hifax. That set of tracks was on a Honda 400 ATV and they lasted 10 years. I had to replace the bearings once over that period for a cost of $500. Great design and very efficient. Did not lose any speed. Cost for tracks was $3,200. I gave them to an employee. The tracks became loose after 10 years and I run a surveying business so down time is costly.
Second set of Camoplast went on a Arctic Cat TBX 700. After 3 years the bearings were going bad. I find out the bearings are cast into the bogey wheels on the new design so you need to buy the entire wheel and not just the bearing. Instead of a $7-$10 bearing it is $30/wheel. I replaced the large wheels for about $1,000. I would need another $2,000 for the small bogey wheels if I was to replace those. I sold the tracks. They cost me $3,800 new.
I purchase a set of Mattracks out of Karlstad, MN for my 2016 Honda Pioneer 700. I added electronic power steering on the machine. I purchased the XT UR [front] and XT UR Plus [rear]. They have different options based on the quality of bearings. $6,500 $8,500 or $9,500 costs. I went with the $6,500 track option. I picked up the machine in Grand Forks and drove it to Karlstad and had the factory install the tracks in May of 2016. In May of 2017, I noticed several bad bearings. They had a 1 year warranty so I took the machine back to the factory and they upgraded the bearings to the better grade bearing. I paid them the difference between the bearing cost and $500 for labor for a total of $1,772 in repairs.
We used the machine a bit in the winter, but not so much and in the spring mostly. In May of 2019 we noticed the lugs on the tracks were torn off the rear tracks. I contacted Mattracks and they said there was an upgrade. I sent them $2,100 for the upgrade and new tracks. I figured I could put in the parts. After I received the parts, there was no way I could install them. I took the parts and machine back to Karlstad to have them put the upgrade kit in. They called me after looking at our tracks and said a lot was worn and bad bearings again. It would cost another $4,200 on top of the $2,100 to get them repaired and that did not include labor. When I posed the question to Mattracks as "Why would I give you $6,300 to fix tracks that I paid $6,500 for just 3 years earlier and I had paid another $1,772 for the good bearings?" they had no answer. The Mattracks would have cost me $14,500 to operate 3 years or $4,850/year.
I figured it cost me $7.75/mile driven or $32/hour just to run Mattracks and that does not account for the cost of the UTV. They look great, but after spending the above, it was a great learning experience. Only those that want to waste their money should run tracks. I would have been better to run Camoplast tracks for $4,500 and throw them away as soon as they started having bearing issues. It would have been cheaper. I am looking at Kimpex tracks next. I may just stop working in the winter or use a snowmobile. Not enough profit margin to run tracks on most jobs.
