4orce

4orce technology utilizes the same drive diameter your vehicle was designed, no matter which product line you evaluate. Minimal moving parts and fully suspended trailing axle(s) separates 4orce by speed, maintenance, fuel mileage, or overall performance. 4orce continues to evolve not limited to a diameter problem. So plug and play how you wish. 4orce climbs, pushes, pulls, and carries. 

Grouser  I  US Patent #: D473,244
Triangular hollow shape allows flexible terrain manipulation yielding both a smooth ride, and enhanced wear resistance. Each Grouser is hardware assembled to 12” 4 ply serrated belting with CNC Machined aluminum spines and two hardware bolts - Blue Loctite finish.

Grouser Stagger I  US Patent #: 6,540,310
Grouser Stagger covers pattern of which grousers are installed to the belt, where each guide row is either assembled with one, or two grousers in “every other” pattern. Grouser Stagger design allows tracks to “walk like fingers” along any terrain type, while creating “block shear” behavior to punch and hold terrain.  



Tension Device I  US Patent #: D478,026
4orce Mobility rear belting stays tensioned with a highly intelligent, simple design using spring tension through a “tension bolt” to press the bogey hub system against the install chassis. The tension device is triangular shaped to build strength under the stress of the spring load.

The Mission

4orce Mobility’s mission is to provide next generation capability to the Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) market place. The All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) was first introduced in the late 1960’s as a three-wheeled recreational vehicle. The four-wheeled (quad) ATV was introduced in the early 1980’s and gained wide market acceptance.  Early design flaws that caused significant accident and high mortality rates were corrected.  Currently, ATV unit sales have surpassed the number of motorcycles sold in the U.S.  The ATV is now recognized as a sport and serious work vehicle.  The company's unique focus concerns it’s patented track technology, allowing for the first time true all extreme terrain all weather condition capability which current AT vehicles lack.  4orce Mobility, re-launched with patented and proven technology, a family of tracked vehicles with multi-mission configurable packages and accessories is positioned to capture and dominate the work and utility segment of the OHV market.

The Problem

The all terrain vehicle segment of the powersports industry has matured.  Manufacturers now provide safe and powerful vehicles for the sportsman

 and adventurer alike. These machines have made initial inroads into the firefighting, power utility, railroad and military communities.  Early experimentation and adoption has occurred due to the versatility, relative low cost and rough terrain capability of these vehicles.  Mission descriptions and requirements include moving personnel and equipment to sites and terrain that are inaccessible to general mobility vehicles, search and rescue, back-country firefighting, maintenance and more.  The operational window for these vehicles is worldwide and requires operation (with estimated usage) on primary roads (10%), secondary roads (20%), cross-country and trails (65%), and in urban rubble (natural disaster) environments (05%).  Current tire based ATV’s can perform in some of these environments but not all.  Tire equipped machines cannot negotiate in extreme weather conditions such as snow and mud due to wheel spin.  This problem is exacerbated in steep terrain and in hill side-slope conditions.  For wheeled vehicles traversing ditches is problematic.  Turning in terrain or obstacle obstructed environments for 

the wheeled vehicle requires a relatively large space to successfully maneuver.  For a wheeled vehicle the ground contact area is relatively small, thus the ground pressure is relatively high.  This causes damage to ecologically sensitive soil and wetland areas.  ATV’s are not truly all 

terrain vehicles, nor are they capable in all conditions.  For the mission profiles above, a snowmobile is required for snow conditions but cannot be used as an ATV and vice versa.

The Solution

Terrain mobility is a vehicle's ability to traverse a section of terrain. Tracked vehicles traditionally provide greater route flexibility due to their increase in cross-country mobility performance. The primary reason for differences in mobility performance between wheeled and tracked vehicles is ground pressure. A tracked vehicle spreads the weight of the platform across the entire area of track-to-ground contact. The current 4orce tracked vehicle has approximately 5 times the contact area of a comparable all terrain wheeled vehicle.

4orce Mobility solves the problem of terrain mobility performance through its patented technology, proprietary designs and extensive history of real-world field trials.  4orce Mobility track technology has over 60,000 hours of snow proven severe service with real world users such as Aces High a contract severe terrain firefighting company under contract to the U.S. Forest Service.

4orce Mobility, after identifying the requirement for an all terrain all condition vehicle began extensive track-terrain studies.  Track designs were modeled, field-tested and repeatedly redesigned as real world results continually modified engineering hypothesis.  Terra-mechanics, the study of the   fundamental mechanical interaction problems that occur between various types of terrain and vehicles proved to be the greatest challenge for understanding and optimizing vehicle performance in snow and mud.

Next, significant material research was performed to identify the optimal material for the track grouser or cleat.  Unlike steel-cleated tracks, 4orce specially formulated urethane-cleated tracks allow operation in all types of terrain without damage to the tracks and unlike steel cleated tracks, the urethane grousers can run on dry pavement, dirt roads, mud and deep powder snow.  Over 5000 urethane formulations were reviewed before the desired material performance was identified.

4orce Mobility, recognizing a real market opportunity, and having engineered the solution, is moving rapidly into the marketplace. True all terrain mobility combined with lowered operating costs are customer requirements.  Go anywhere, anytime with mission-configurable vehicle modules are customer priorities.  Additional reconfigurable mission specific modules will evolve in time as customer requirement dictates.  4orce Mobility is ready.

Customer Return on investment for a 4orce Mobility vehicle is measured in terms of reduced fleet cost, manpower schedule savings, longer service life, reconfigurable mission modules on a common chassis, and the ability to rapidly deliver personnel and equipment to trouble-spot locations in all weather and all virtually all terrain conditions.