JM, I seem to recall you mentioned once some material that could be laid on steel decks and ramps to reduce slipping steel-on-steel. Some kind of white material like a carpet? Do you think it's worth it vs. say a cheap strip of old carpet?

American have cancelled our flights JM and I'm trying to figure out when the next sensible time to come out (taking into account my kid and her friends spring breaks etc. overlapping now that they've been moved - San Jose school district is apparently in May now) so I don't really know what our plans are at this stage.
But conveyor belting eh? Do you think regular quarry belting would be as good? I'm thinking of the trailer ramps - once it's on the wooden deck, it's golden.

Ok sounds good fellas. Norm, it's only for the D2 so light-weight. How's the Bones East practice going - doing it by conference call? : )

225? Wow, pays to be retired : ) I got in precisely twelve, and they were with my son so I didn't get to let 'er rip. Oh well, there's always next season I suppose. I was thinking of picking up the D2 to bring it home to work on but the trailer's not registered and the ground's too wet so it'll have to wait. I have a full set of new D3 rollers to fit and will follow the process that the guy that posted on General Gear's website used - basically add a 1" strip to the underside of the track frame to account for the smaller roller diameter. I have the new rails, so that leaves the idlers, and one sprocket that needs a new spline section. The pinion is working well now - might need one or two more fine tunings to get it perfect for both warm and cold weather and then I no longer need to think about it. Well, not strictly true. The pinion housing moves a little in the bell-housing, so I'm thinking of wrapping some shim material around it for a tight fit, or lay down a bead and turn it down to 002 or 3 (per my scientific eyeball estimation).

Forgot to add for Dan - we have three decent ones: Bristol which is the larger one close to Rochester but tends to be packed and is as expensive as get out, Ellicott Valley closer to Buffalo which is nicely resort-y like Mont Tremblant in Quebec, and the one we go to which is Hunt Hollow, a private field - smaller but perfect for kids, and it has some decent steep and icy challenging stuff - 45mins from my house. I know Norm has Greek Peak south of Syracuse (never been there) but not familiar with anything else within an hour of there. And they're not major mountains : ) - 1200' if you're lucky but us elderly gentlemen don't mind the smaller hills.....