Reproduction UC Track availability?

[RichardT10829]

as per the other thread which is on the same lines, i would be willing to chip in with the many to have a mould made, but the problems i can potentially see are

who retains the completed mould ?

what can be put in place to prevent the mould being held to ransome by any one person or firm who want the business regardless if it could be made cheaper elsewhere ?

with these things its very much down to trust, i would be willing to take the step but there would have to be a clear published agreement of the terms and conditions to those that chip in so to speak.

[Doghouse]

I agree, but guess there's nothing we can't sort out together- where there's a will, there's a way, etc....
I might suggest if a mould were to be made, those chipping in would need to agree their "initial" order, check the supplier would be happy to proceed on the terms agreed (ie X price for Y sets of track of Z size to persons A,B,C etc) and if everyone agreed to that, then the mould cost might be moot- whether it's retained by the company, or one of the forum members but with a clear agreement anyone of the initial group can use it again- remembering of course that moulds don't last forever and I suspect can "fail" at any time.... Anyone any thoughts/ counter/better suggestions?
(there's ALWAYS better than mine )
Good discussion to be having
David

[eddy8men]

hi fella's

the track discussion has come up before and my first thought was china but there could be a problem with quality control, other than that it would have to be a local foundry and if the cost of machining was too high why not do it yourself, you'd need a pillar drill and a jig and some buggar willing to work for £30 a day for cash and you'd have your tracks in a couple of weeks (possibly). seems simple enough but then things often do until you start digging a little deeper but let's face it someone sometime is gonna have to bite the bullet and go down the new track route it's just a matter of time.

eddy

[ajmac]

We could do with merging parts of these threads together! I'll continue on this one due to the title!
I'm on to it.... when I get a good original as a pattern I'll get a quote, I've posed the question already.... watch this space. Depanding on the quote I'll consider stumping up the set-up costs and offering the track 'ready to fit', fag packet calculation shows it isn't going to be cheap as there are so many links for an entire carrier one of the reasons why no one has done it before.... perhaps. I dread to think how much the new Sherman track from Albert Steenman (sp?)

[eddy8men]

pretty sure it was £10k for a set of new sherman tracks if memory serves me right, i think £3k for the carrier would be about right but then again when there are no more tracks left you'll have no choice, so maybe better that enthusiasts get together and work something out as opposed to a dealer doing it making a living out of us.
alistair i know where there are two t16's for sale from the same guy in the midlands, i had a look at them a couple of month back, let me know if you're interested and i'll fill you in on a couple of interesting details.

all the best

eddy

[ajmac]

Originally Posted by eddy8men

better that enthusiasts get together and work something out as opposed to a dealer doing it making a living out of us

Yup - some dealers really don't do it for a love of the hobby, but lets not get into that.

[RichardT10829]

dont get me started on this guys hahahaha the lads here are probably sick of my rants about the hoarding pirates of the MV fraternity i am blown away that there are more UK members on here (carrier wise) now with our brothers over seas it takes a good day to sometimes get a reply due to the time zone differential...... i am sad and always seem to floating about on here it gets lonely on these boards sometimes

[tankbarrell]

Originally Posted by eddy8men

pretty sure it was £10k for a set of new sherman tracks if memory serves me right,

eddy

Try 25,000 Euros. Joop Staman has invested a huge sum of money to prototype and produce new Sherman tracks which include end connectors and wedgebolts. there have been problems, all of which he has had to pay for before he can sell any and there is no guarantee of how many sets he will sell. It makes carrier track look like childs play.

I doubt anyone here would do the same for the love of the hobby!

[RichardT10829]

yeah i was going to say you are looking circa 10k for carrier tracks, as Adrian has said Staman put masses of money into research and development of the track systems, mind they are absolutely fantastic ! it would be great if they could do similar for carriers with a rubber main tracklink ideal for roads.

[ajmac]

Originally Posted by tankbarrell

I doubt anyone here would do the same for the love of the hobby!

No, but... let me tell you a story.... that chap I mentioned with the machine shop.
He does everything he does for the Love of it and winning VSSC races, which perhaps says something about the man I guess
He had his own engine block and head pattern made, his own pistons forged and bespoke Carrillo rods, the lot... as you can imagine Adrian I go dizzy when I pop around the workshop
Anyway... his plan takes the following structure... pay up front for everything in order to beat the ERAs (Drity cheating Bas*ards, he would say) all the R&D is for his own car. Meanwhile let all the fraternity know what you are doing and start clocking up orders for unobtainable spares which you are having remanufactured for your engine. When you take delivery of your cylinderhead castings (for example), you don't just get two for your car but ten, eight to sell. He has got to a break point now where he is making money had over fist because he is able to manufacture ANY part for the Riley engine.

The above was just for interest - as normal I do agree with you Adrian!