Power Claw vs. Attack 20. honest opinions?

polemite.productions · Apr 12, 2010

this season i went from the attack 20 to the power claw. overall, the pc works quite well for me. we didn't get too many days of bottomless powder to test it out in, however this past weekend was the deepest snow of the year. it was heavy spring snow, but i'd still call it powder. on friday it was still very fresh. not settled at all. it seemed to me that i was getting lots of track spin, but not much forward motion. i had to turn out pretty low on so pretty mellow hillclimbs. lower than some sleds that i think i should have been pulling on. especially since their skids were packed with snow, and my wasn't (thanks ezryde)

by the following evening, the snow had settled a bit and i was noticing a huge improvement in traction. however, i would say that the playing field had just been leveled with the other sleds. i had no significant gain over most of them. except when the hills were bumpy. (thanks ezryde)

now when i think back to when i had the attack 20 on (in hillclimb position), i seem to remember being untouchable in unsettled snow. and that was before the rkt bb. its been quite a while since i rode my a20, and even longer since it was in good condition. but has anyone else been getting the impression that the a20 hooks up better than the pc in the deep snow?

to be honest, i was wondering about this track from the start because the paddles are shaped the same as the a20 when it was in the powder position, and we all know that the a20 didn't work well at all unless you turned it to hillclimb.

carlc · Apr 12, 2010

personally, i think the powerclaw is the best track made. yes the attack 20 might work better for two to three days ayear, on the bottomless days, the powerclaw hooks up better in most snow conditions, especially hard pack, the back of the sledding isnt skating all over on the trails, and you dont have to switch your track around for hardpack. because you know the day after you switch it, it will snow. I have an attack 20 on my current sled, but would much rather have a PC 90% of rides.

polemite.productions · Apr 12, 2010

yeah, i've been enjoying the pc in most other snow conditions, but really the only noticable improvement i've felt is in the braking. and even at that, the a20 was only bad at braking in certain snow conditions. the pc might hook up better on the trail, but who cares about that?

but speaking of trail riding, when i had the a20 on, i never once overheated on the trail. it picked up any little it of snow that it could, and threw it up into the coolers. with the pc however, i find that i have to put the scratchers out when the snow gets hard, otherwise that overtemp light starts flashing up.

i never had any need to swap my a20 from one position to the other. ran it in hc all the time.

not trying to slag the pc. just honest observations.

Arctic Thunder · Apr 12, 2010

I never even tried my A20 in the hill climb position.

So not a really good comparison. But I wouldn't give up the PC for the A20 on any day.

The A20 was good in deeeeep light stuff. Otherwise no contest.

Now I don't know but I think I like my old challenger extreme as well or even better the the PC. The extreme would stop on the hard stuff 100x better.

Again my opinion.

Thunder

RKT · Apr 12, 2010

ALL good comments.. polemite.. IMO, you are 1000% accurate in your assessment...

I went on my Cat from the Attak 20 (never run in powder position) to the PowerClaw (changed NOTHING ELSE) and DEFINITLEY LOST speed on the hill and performance in the steep and deep (which we have 3-4 months of the year (very lucky.. for sure).

I find the the Powerclaw to be superior to the A20 ONLY on hard-packed snow.. ANYTIME you are in the deep, the PC tends to trench immediately and lose track speed very rapidly over the A20. We have been fighting what we thought to be a suspension issue on the 09 m8 and our 10 M8 only to find out that it is more track related than suspension. We even installed the M7 skid under our 2009 to prove this theory. This helped but still did not fix the trenching issues.

The Powerclaw seems to really shine the faster you spin it.. hence race gas turbo sleds love this track... but at lower track speeds, the PC tends to want to go to China in a big hurry...

The Challenger extreme track is on par with the PC at 15" width and is far exceeds the PC when at 16" width.. This is in all snow conditions..IMO.

So, for what its worth, the PC is nowhere near the all around track that the A20 (new and in HC position ONLY) is and ever was... IMO, of course

Good topic..

Kelsey

paulharris · Apr 12, 2010

i used to always run the attack 20 in hillclimb position when living in washington on my sleds and absolutely loved it! in snow that is a little bit denser like washington (and i think BC snow is similar) it really works well in hillclimb position all around and is soooo fun for springtime too. I run different track now in colorado because snow is much lighter. But i have several attack 20 tracks stockpiled in washington because i like them so much lol. (and i wont sell them lol) Btw i did try a powerclaw here and was dissapointed in its performance much like you described.

golfsnownut · Apr 12, 2010

I replaced A20 track with a Challenger last spring and it was great for spring ride however when went out riding again last month in deep powder and I started to regret for changing the tracks and sold my A20 because this Challenger makes a huge trenching and got stuck bad in deep snow that requires assistances to getting the sled unstuck very unlikely with A20 where I almost never got stuck or deep trenching, real shine in powder snow everywhere. Now I wish I had A20 back on it....

knzee · Apr 12, 2010

I like the camo extreme over the powerclaw in any snow condition. Seems like if you have your suspension set up right you should be able to get away from the trenching even with an extreme. Also seems like a lot more people are stabing rails through the power claw then any other track.

polemite.productions · Apr 12, 2010

RKT said:
ALL good comments.. polemite.. IMO, you are 1000% accurate in your assessment...

I went on my Cat from the Attak 20 (never run in powder position) to the PowerClaw (changed NOTHING ELSE) and DEFINITLEY LOST speed on the hill and performance in the steep and deep (which we have 3-4 months of the year (very lucky.. for sure).

I find the the Powerclaw to be superior to the A20 ONLY on hard-packed snow.. ANYTIME you are in the deep, the PC tends to trench immediately and lose track speed very rapidly over the A20. We have been fighting what we thought to be a suspension issue on the 09 m8 and our 10 M8 only to find out that it is more track related than suspension. We even installed the M7 skid under our 2009 to prove this theory. This helped but still did not fix the trenching issues.

The Powerclaw seems to really shine the faster you spin it.. hence race gas turbo sleds love this track... but at lower track speeds, the PC tends to want to go to China in a big hurry...

The Challenger extreme track is on par with the PC at 15" width and is far exceeds the PC when at 16" width.. This is in all snow conditions..IMO.

So, for what its worth, the PC is nowhere near the all around track that the A20 (new and in HC position ONLY) is and ever was... IMO, of course

Good topic..

Kelsey

thanks for chiming in! funny you mention the track speed thing... i got to try out the pc before i did your bb to the motor. i definitely noticed that the sled would pick up out of the snow better when i had the extra power.

also, i totally agree with your mention of the a20 needing to be new to work right. with mine, the paddles got super soft over the years and were folding over. this was when my braking really went for a dump.

so i wonder if there would be any gain if a guy turned the pc around?

dmkhnr · Apr 12, 2010

My theory is that if you flip the a20 to hillclimb and straighten the paddles canting them forward like powder position made for the best track on the market. Great hookup in hero snow, and great floatation (I found more trackspeed) than running it in the powder position.
The powerclaw is a good track in the powder, it floats, and has good trackspeed on a stock modified sled.
However on a turbo sled it trenches, it is ok for boonin, but the turbo spins it up so fast that it digs a grave.

I ride deeeeep snow here on a regular basis, in fact I'll be hitting 24" of fresh first thing tomorrow morning. I'm one of the few that loved the a-20, and put the pc at a very close second.

Wheel House Motorsports · Apr 12, 2010

well, my opinion might be slightly strange as the sled I run it on is definately a hair different!! running it on a turbo yami motor at 10# of boost in anything with any sort of crunchyness or wetness its out of controll fast, it hooks up like its going out of style. mine has a LOT of the tips broken off so that is definately not helping me and it tends to trench at lows speeds, slightly due to skid setup and other factors, like the power. i cut the ribs off the front and the back as an experiment(the track was free) and i really am liking it, it isnt breakign any lugs off like i thought it would and seems to keep the tips MUCH straighter, and now I dont notice the scary downhill like I did before. I have never ridden a P-claw but am pretty impressed with the a20 considering mine was free and relatively beat up.

RMKdude · Apr 12, 2010

I have only ridden a powerclaw a handful of times but currently i ride an 07 M8 with an A 20 in climb. It seems like the A 20 performs quite well in everything but bottomless fluff, it definately likes to try and find the bottom of whatever is there, but my tips are still very hooked. Coming down hills is not as bad as everyone said, you just have to keep the track turning and it is not too bad.

In hardpack watchout... it is hard to stop that thing from going up hills

And with no snow flap that track throws a massive roost!!! lets just say i ride in the back of our group.

Regardless I am going to buy the stock challenger off of the cat and see how that goes. but all in all i am fairly pleased with the a 20. In my opinion based on what little i have rode a powerclaw it would not be worth the 500-700 bucks to get one.

just my .02

Stack · Apr 12, 2010

I dunno, I have limited time on the Powerclaw 153 with my 10' M8, but overall I give the slight edge to the A20 in fluffy off trail riding. The only area where I did not like the A20 was on a hard packed trail or the wet heavy spring snow. I never flipped my A20 around, so I have no comparison there.

I think the Powerclaw is leaps and bounds better than the Challenger on our M6 141, and I think that is the direction I am going this summer on that sled.

I was part of a minority that really liked the A20, it performed a bit better in the fluff than the PC, but since I do have to ride a fair amount of trails time to time I tend to lean twords the PC.

polemite.productions · Apr 12, 2010

RMKdude said:
..... In my opinion based on what little i have rode a powerclaw it would not be worth the 500-700 bucks to get one.

just my .02

i've ridden my pc almost every week since november of this season, and that is the same opinion i am coming up with. probably not worth it to change from pc to a20 if you already have one, but for anyone looking to "upgrade" to a pc, or replace a worn out one, should probably consider that the a20 is way cheaper and delivers the same or better performance, depending on what your snow conditions are normally like.

aksnopro · Apr 12, 2010

i replaced the track on my 08 m8 added a power claw, and i went from bearly beating my buddys rev in hillclimbs to strait stomping him.

i was missing a couple lugs on my old track but you couldnt pay me to switch back!

the part i love about the power claw is when it lays over it never stops grabbing folds over nicely and doesnt just "spin out" when laid on its side..

(i also had a two wheel kit on my 08)

never swapped the track around and with my front shock set really light and the rear at 120 psi this thing climbs out of holes my old track would spin out on.

im only 140 pounds with gear on, so maybe this stops it from trenching so much

-Aksnopro

polemite.productions · Apr 12, 2010

aksnopro said:
i replaced the track on my 08 m8 added a power claw, and i went from bearly beating my buddys rev in hillclimbs to strait stomping him.

i was missing a couple lugs on my old track but you couldnt pay me to switch back!

the part i love about the power claw is when it lays over it never stops grabbing folds over nicely and doesnt just "spin out" when laid on its side..

(i also had a two wheel kit on my 08)

never swapped the track around and with my front shock set really light and the rear at 120 psi this thing climbs out of holes my old track would spin out on.

im only 140 pounds with gear on, so maybe this stops it from trenching so much

-Aksnopro

unless someone went out of their way to put an a20 on your sled, i doubt you had one to compare to the pc. if it was the same challenger track that was on my brother's 07, i have no doubt that the pc was a huge improvement. with my m7 motor stock, and the a20 in hillclimb, i would routinely spank my bro's m8 with the challenger when the snow got deep.

AaronBND · Apr 12, 2010

I was saying 2 days after I put my PC on this last fall that it wasn't all that great. Where I really notice it is when you carve hard to the right or left. First couple times I thought I broke a belt I was getting so much track spin. I think it totally depends what you ride though. If you work all week and are a weekend warrior, it is probably an ok track for all conditions. If you go up the day after the storms like we do, I say the A20 and the Extreme do a much better job in the deep powder. Actually, I would trade someone straight-up for an Extreme at this point.

Aaron

aksnopro · Apr 12, 2010

my bad got confused for some reason i thought my 08 m8 came with a attack 20. the 06 m7 came with it didnt it? i remember people flipping that track to climb mode too?

polemite.productions said:
unless someone went out of their way to put an a20 on your sled, i doubt you had one to compare to the pc. if it was the same challenger track that was on my brother's 07, i have no doubt that the pc was a huge improvement. with my m7 motor stock, and the a20 in hillclimb, i would routinely spank my bro's m8 with the challenger when the snow got deep.

polemite.productions · Apr 13, 2010

yeah, the 06 m7 should have had it.

thanks to Aaronbnd, as well. you and kelsey just helped me confirm that its not just me, or my sled.

fast eddie · Apr 13, 2010

polemite.productions said:
this season i went from the attack 20 to the power claw. overall, the pc works quite well for me. we didn't get too many days of bottomless powder to test it out in, however this past weekend was the deepest snow of the year. it was heavy spring snow, but i'd still call it powder. on friday it was still very fresh. not settled at all. it seemed to me that i was getting lots of track spin, but not much forward motion. i had to turn out pretty low on so pretty mellow hillclimbs. lower than some sleds that i think i should have been pulling on. especially since their skids were packed with snow, and my wasn't (thanks ezryde)

by the following evening, the snow had settled a bit and i was noticing a huge improvement in traction. however, i would say that the playing field had just been leveled with the other sleds. i had no significant gain over most of them. except when the hills were bumpy. (thanks ezryde)

now when i think back to when i had the attack 20 on (in hillclimb position), i seem to remember being untouchable in unsettled snow. and that was before the rkt bb. its been quite a while since i rode my a20, and even longer since it was in good condition. but has anyone else been getting the impression that the a20 hooks up better than the pc in the deep snow?

to be honest, i was wondering about this track from the start because the paddles are shaped the same as the a20 when it was in the powder position, and we all know that the a20 didn't work well at all unless you turned it to hillclimb.

Polymite I,m not trying to interupt your topic,but I,m tryind to send you pm, but your box is full. Thanks if you could help me out

Power Claw vs. Attack 20. honest opinions?

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