Talked to a old timer at the gas station who changed my mind on studded tracks

I've always been a no-stud guy, thought they wreck trails too fast. But this dude named Dave up near Brainerd, MN pulled up on a beat up '98 Polaris and told me he's run studs for 20 winters without a single trail closure complaint. He showed me his track wear pattern and it was way lighter than I expected. Made me wonder if I've been overthinking this whole time. Anyone else had a similar conversation that flipped your opinion?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_wells6715d ago

Dave from Brainerd knows his stuff, I've seen the same thing up here in Ely where guys run studs year after year and the trails stay solid if you keep the lugs low.

fisher.diana14d ago

Last winter my buddy Jim up in International Falls tried switching to those low-lug studs after years of running regular ones and his 2018 Polaris ripped right through January without a single tear in the trail. He told me @rowan_wells67 the key is keeping the lugs at 1.3 inches or less so they don't grab and chunk out the snow like bigger ones do. Jim ran them all February too and the only issue he had was a little extra slide wear but nothing that cost him more than a weekend to fix. I'm sold on that approach for sure.