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Are the shorter nuts steel? I retorque the studs on mine each season. The aluminum tall nuts do seem to need more turns on the first round of checking. I'm not sure why. They seem pretty good after that first check. I also replace any backers and studs that look really whacked. Once and awhile I'll find studs bent enough that they need the ol grinder cutoff which is surprisingly efficient. One thing I'll say about the practice of checking and retorquing. I don't think I've lost any since I started doing that process. Buddies still lose studs every so often and they run the sam

Glad to see part diagrams are starting to show. I don't have a clue if the screw is aluminum. The description does look that way. I don't recall ever seeing a shoulder bolt made of aluminum. Honestly, it wouldn't be a good design if that is the case. Shoulder bolts are nice in the fact that they seat and bottom out nicely. That feature would be a problem with stretchy composition material. It would not be a reusable bolt for that application.

Is that arm bent? I admittedly have no idea how the short arms are shaped. It's always hard to tell what is exactly happening with some of these posts. Seems odd if all the blue gunk on the nut and arm is extra locktite. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of threading a steel bolt into the thin aluminum upper spindle section if that's how they are built. I see the potential for too many back yard hacks going full bore on the bolt and splitting the spindle. That point is weaker than the steel A arm section with the bolt.

@Crnr2Crnr, It's funny that you mention the wheels. I'm not sure what direction I'm headed with the Catalyst sleds. I have not had time to look at the parts diagrams. The standard skids looked like they may ship with the previous version of octagoners. The RXC proto sleds looked like better wheels along the rails. If they are using the octagoners, I'll put in better wheels. If they ship with the old stock PPD wheels, I might just run em. Those are good enough and they are cheap. I usually swap in better bearings. The Soucy wheels are super durable and have half a dozen sitting.

I remember years ago when Bush came flapping into town for an event. One stretch of highway I drove every day was to be used for their drive to and from the airport for the event. They sure did clean up that stretch. The tents were removed from under the overpasses, graffiti was removed, and the whole roadside was tuned up. They planted trees, grass and flowers. The mowing crew switched to better equipment and did a really nice looking roadside. It seemed like quite the effort along that road for a simple drive. The work I saw took quite a few weeks. I'd be surprised if Bush

It's three settings. I'm surprised how little that adjustment gets changed. I don't ride the ATAC sled a whole lot, but it's rare to move the setting. The shocks are kinda meh and certainly work better with big guys. They seem to get the shocks moving enough to get travel and notice the difference. It seems like a cool feature, but it's a poor choice for myself with the current setup. I'd love to see Cat do a little fine tuning. They could knock it out of the park with the simple bar adjustment process on the IACT sleds. Add some manual adjustment to the presets and let users t

Not sure if there are going to be many options. One of the kids sent me this post off FB. Looks like we might be trying the idea @jonlafon1 has suggested.

Last year's reroute was a huge improvement. It was fun to ride the stretch of old grade we used to use for trail. Sadly, I also saw two ding dongs off trail and stuck right in a section marked "stay on trail". One guy looked like he was in someone's yard. I was pissed. It was tempting to hang around and chew them out. I sure as hell wasn't going to crawl through the drifts or help them out, so I let it go. Hopefully they got some form of Karma for that bonehead move. @Ziemann Yeah, Bingo's was perfect for sledding. He had the whole setup. We even used the shop once and awhile.

Thanks @jonlafon1 for clearing up the 11S route. I'm somewhat familiar with the area, but that trail seemed to be so inconsistent that we quit trying. It was easier to give a quick try when Bingos was still around. (That was our home base about five weeks per season.) I can't even guess how many times I've rode through that intersection. We gave 11S another shot early last season right after the doozy Christmas snow, but it hadn't been touched yet. We also had a brand new rider and one new sled. Those aren't the best terms for breaking trail. We just aimed for Marenisco before the

Last season's temporary route was pretty easy with all the snow. The stretch on the road shoulder was better than I expected. Granted, the good snow was a big factor, but it was better than the route around the ski hills. @jonlafon1, I have not been across the 11S trail for quite a few years. That thing seemed like it was partially closed quite often. Even tried early last season, and ran out of trail. Are you using roads vs. the trail? The trail 2 thing sure is a pain. We used to base right out of Wakefield and it just became more and more hassle. Thank God we didn't buy a pl

How is that bag? I have been using a tool wrap for years that worked quite well. It was small enough to carry on the bars and kept the tools tight with a cinch strap/buckle system. The variety of pockets worked well with some sewn tight along with adjustable velcro versions. I see that the bag has been discontinued and I've been on a quest to find a suitable replacement. It seems like quite a few bags are too big and cumbersome. Sounds like many of us have a similar method for tools. We carry just the tools we need. We also need them easy to access and use in cold.

We have been doing corn and soybeans. Maybe 2,500 acres done. We had our stuff planted before that round of spring storms. It sure is early for harvest. Odd to dry corn that goes in with temps around 90! 105-107 day corn is running under 20% already. We were joking that a couple good hair driers would probably dry this stuff. Beans are hit and miss right now. It's completely dependent on the variety. They are drying so fast that we couldn't wait until they were all ready. Two of the boys are doing beans by themselves. They are doing pretty good too. They did a couple days arou

@ZR6000RR, I hope you are correct about the belt drive system holding together. I'd have to argue that I can't compare it to a timing belt. In fact, I have quite a bit of faith in belts that run a more consistent load. These things run a lot of load through belts. We run the heck out of them for long hours and don't worry too much about belts. They do run chains in two spots, unloading auger and running parts of the head. The unload chain really takes a hit even with soft start. The feeder house chain gets a chatter load. I'm not sure why those areas use chains, but we

I'm going to comment on the bold. I like banging around in the rough junk once and awhile. It's fun and the workout let's you know you've been riding. I'm a pretty light guy and the shock valving works well for that stuff. The last RR sleds were almost perfect with a few tweaks for light riders. I could use full range of travel in those skids and still have a great ride. I rarely broke stuff in rough conditions. If I did, it's usually something I hit hard. I banged my chest hard into the bars a few times and thought for sure something had to be broke. On the other hand, I lose

I hear you on the belt drive concerns. I wish they would give me test mules to run in those conditions. It sure seems to be hard on sleds. I've been trying components for years just to get them to hold together. I hope the belt drive isn't one of those areas I need to make better. I never did the test rides. Buddies that did say the sleds turn. Sounds like Razors might be too much. I have a spare set of Curve skis I'm planning on trying. Funny deal with the spare set. My dealer was clearing out a storage area and found the set. He knew I ran the skis and asked if I wanted them.