1984 DMC 1450 tires

[Black Mtn Rd]

I've read through pages of info about foam filled vs non filled, "trailer tires", solid tires or original wheels with new filled tires.
I use my cat to access my mountain home, about 12 miles one way, on a "road" and rarely hauling much of a load. What's your opinions of a solid tire vs original rim/ foam filled? Most the time I can break trail after each storm so typically up to 2+ feet of powder on a packed trail
Also, what is the bolt pattern of the wheels on a 1450

 

[Idaho IMP]

I've read through pages of info about foam filled vs non filled, "trailer tires", solid tires or original wheels with new filled tires.
I use my cat to access my mountain home, about 12 miles one way, on a "road" and rarely hauling much of a load. What's your opinions of a solid tire vs original rim/ foam filled? Most the time I can break trail after each storm so typically up to 2+ feet of powder on a packed trail
Also, what is the bolt pattern of the wheels on a 1450

I believe your 1450 is the same as an IMP plus one additional track wheel. They are a one piece hub and rim, center bore fit to timken tapered bearings and special shoulder nuts and threaded spindle that ride on a1/2 x 20 grade 8 bolts, supported by leaf springs inside and outside of the track wheels (similar To a wheelbarrow) I run all foam filled tires. I beleive mine are dynatrail brand 4.10-8. The devil is the wheels. They are a 2-3/4 width x 8”. You must use the narrower rims to ensure the sidewalls of the tires clear the leaf packs and brackets. I took mine to Les Schwab and they shipped back to Redmond to do the foam. I like the foam fill as it takes the potential for a flat out of the equation. They’re a hassle to change in field conditions. The track wheels (rims) are very hard to find. I have 2 extra as spares. Hopefully yours are in decent shape. The Dyna- trails can be had off Amazon. They’re a great tire for the IMPS as they run a little narrower profile for better clearance. Hope this helps,

 

[mtncrawler]

Pros;
Not to worry about flats, no need to keep an eye on tire pressure
May help with not walking out of the track if you're horsing around

Cons:
Adds a surprising amount of weight
Transfers shock to other components

I think a lot of 1450's were used primarily as trail groomers which is why they commonly run foam filled/solid front. 1404 one piece wheels seem to be beat up all the time, probably from running on flats. The two piece rim and hub assembly not so much, maybe because they require inner tubes and thus don't loose just a little squeak of air with the pinch of a grouser. Last I knew, Spryte Improvement had hub/wheel assemblies available. My 1450 has foam/solid/2piece (ex-groomer) and I mounted up a new set of 2piece pneumatics for it that I haven't installed. I haven't used this machine much, just enough to know it is too heavy for any real off trail performance. This is a good question and I'd like to hear more opinions.

 

[Black Mtn Rd]

I have the original two piece wheels and probably the original foam filled tires with a solid, aluminum looking rim, on the front. The tires are showing signs of age so I'm planning out what to replace them with. From what I've read a guy can probably run the foam filled well past an air filled tire.
Thanks for the input, hadn't thought about tracking better

 

[mtncrawler]

Yea, we had a situation some years ago with a 1404 where the owner was hung up in deep snow on a stump, had a flat tire, and the bottom track tire guides were all to the inside of the wheels except for the front idler and the drive sprocket. It was quite the twisted mess and a long way out in the forest to boot. We had to go in with a 1200 (quite the trick trying to follow a 1404 path through deep timber) taking floor jacks, pry bars, come a longs, and everything else we could think of. Of course this happened right at tree line around 1200' where the weather is always nice and pleasant. The track was under a lot of tension and everything was really jammed up. Took a fair amount of head scratching, cussing, arguing and all that until we finally found an approach to the problem that worked. I think the wadded up flat tire combined with a suspended, side loaded track on a stump created just the right conditions for this to happen, and then the operator made things much worse with his forward/reverse attempts to free himself. Been over 30 years ago and I still remember this adventure. Kind of fondly, actually.