I'm in the process of building a tracked snowblower using a 53hp VW
Beetle engine and transmission. In order to slow down the speed from the
output from the tranny I want to use a double reduction chain drive.
Hopefully this will propel the vehicle at a decent slow speed in either
first or second gear. I know some of you are going to say why not use a
hydrostatic drive. One reason is size for this vehicle would dictate a
rather large drive which would probably be cost prohibitive. Also I have
a majority of the material already for the chain drive. Perhaps in the
future I might be able to get a hydrostatic drive from a farm vehicle,
such as a haybine at an auction, but for now it'll be chain drive. If
anybody gets the Farm Show Magazine, there is a picture of a homebuilt
tracked vehicle by a guy up in Minnesota by the name of Larry Brown.
This is close to what I would like to build. I already have the frame
welded together. Next step is to build the tracks.

So here's my question, what size chain should be used for the given hp
and application? Seems like motorcycles use quite a large chain to drive
the rear wheel, would that size be about right?

Regards,
Bernd