Snowmobile tracks come in some basic pitches, 2.52″, 2.86″, 3.00″, and 3.50″. Trail and crossover tracks come in at the lower sizes while the mountain tracks have been stretched out to 3.50″ in recent years. As the pitch grows we see more space from lug to lug which opens up the track to allow more snow per scoop. This gets the track to grab a big mouthful of snow and get the sled to lift up on top of the snow. We also see less weight with larger pitches as there are fewer lugs/rods per given length. A shorter pitch gives more lugs per length of track so on hard pack trails we get more traction. A smaller pitch also stretches less under high speed use and holds its shape better for increased top end. Each pitch has plus and minus attributes and this determines what the manufacturer feels works best with the type of sled that it is installed on.
The pitch of the track must match the pitch of the drive sprockets so it is very important when ordering a track that you get the correct pitch. Manufacturers tend to switch the pitch between models so it is best to measure your pitch before ordering a new replacement track. Also on mountain sleds it is common for riders to switch drivers/pitch if looking at a different style of track so if your sled was purchased used, it would be advisable to measure before ordering.
Track pitch is very important and is easy to measure. The pitch of the track is determined by the center to center distance of the inner drive nubs on the track. In the first pic we can see that this is a 2.86″ pitch. If you have a hard time determining this number (sometimes a tape measuring a chunk of rubber isn’t so exact) another method is to measure 11 nubs which is 10 spaces (see pic 2). This gives a larger number to work with as for example; 2.52″ pitch x 10 spaces = 25.2″ while a 2.86″ pitch x 10 spaces = 28.6″. This is almost 3 inches and is very easy to see. Of course a 3.00″ pitch would equal 30″ with the 3.50″ pitch ending up at 35″. See pic #3 for the final measurement.