If you are on your way to the moon, do not buy Trail Grabbers!  Fast-Trac is the only brand people have not complained to me about at snowmobile shows over the years. Bergstrom Skegs does not have a financial interest in Fast-Trac.

Snowmobile Equipment Guide - 1999 (page 54)
Studs... "In the past few years, we've used standard push-through studs from Woody's, Saber, Roetin, Fastrac and Liberty/Stud Boy and found the differences between equal amounts of equal length carbide tipped studs to be minimal..."

Ouch! Isn't that a kick in the head?  Notice: these are the traction companies that spend advertising money with them.

Excerpt from letter sent to MnUSA - August 3, 1998.
"I recently saw one of the new Master Traction plastic studs (Trail Tamer is the new name) and was not impressed after a couple of simple tests.  First, I held the stud firmly against a flat piece of UHMW polyethylene.  Then, I tried to slide the stud along the UHMW which was easy.  There were no scratches made on the UHMW, indicating it did not penetrate.  Next, I did the same test using an 80 degree carbide stud, which put a groove in the UHMW.  This test shows that the carbide will work on ice and the plastic will not."

"To check the durability of the plastic stud, I rubbed one point on cement for 2-3 inches.  Approximately 1/8 inch of plastic wore off, indicating they will not get a 500 pound sled, with a rider, across many road crossings."

"At $2.30 each, they are more expensive than regular studs and almost 3 times as expensive as my Trail Grabbers..."

KARE 11 Television News in Minneapolis/St. Paul
In a news report about Trail Tamers, KARE 11, reported: At 25 mph, a bare snowmobile track takes a little over 120 feet to stop... while with Trail Tamers, it took over 600 feet to stop.  NOT GOOD!

SuperTrax, Page 13
Want to dramatically reduce inside lift on your Ski-doo?
We discovered this almost by accident (cough!).  You see, most, if not all Quebec snowmobilers do not run studs.  Hard to believe, isn't it?  If you ride your Ski-doo without studs you'll be amazed at how level the sled will corner.

Ski Doo - Competition Bulletin - September 27, 1994

WARNING : Installation of track studs is not a safe practice recommended by Bombardier, and we strongly suggest not to alter the track configuration or design. 

... One must also consider the adequacy of stud retention, short and long term, accidental body or vehicle contact and under certain conditions, greater stopping distances. One should also consider greater strain on the drive components and reduction in track strength to name a few.

Studs add rigidity to tracks.