It has taken since January of '07 to figure out the proper working diameter and the pitch of the teeth.

By the way, when you change the diameter of a sprocket is changes the way the teeth engage. So after many trial sprockets (we will call it research and development) 7 or so, none lined up 100%. Then FINALLY, a successful one. Shoulda paid more attention in geometry class 25 years ago.

Also found out a small detail I had forgotten about. The current tracks on the monster were not in the original plan. The original idea for the track was a continuous loop of heavy duty conveyor belt type material, the kind you can lift  a bus with ;) About a hundred feet of it was acquired from a friend. The drive axle was purchased under the specs of the old track system. It would have used a double drive sprocket like the real tank. Thereby using a narrower axle. Not so the case with this track. So extensions had to be fabricated and used to correct to space issue.

Ok, so that was the long story. Aren't you glad you read it?

Once the sprocket passes the field tests, a resin model will be cast and replace the wood blank. This will allow the sprocket to wear out before the track links. In this test, the sprocket can be changed easily with 4 bolts.

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