Page "Continuous track" Paragraph 38

Tracks may be broadly categorized as " live " or " dead " track.

" Dead " track is a simple design in which each track plate is connected to the rest with hinge-type pins.

These dead tracks will lie flat if placed on the ground ; the drive sprocket pulls the track around the wheels with no assistance from the track itself.

" Live " track is slightly more complex, with each link connected to the next with a bushing that causes the track to bend slightly inward.

A length of live track left on the ground will curl upward slightly at each end.

Although the drive sprocket must still pull the track around the wheels, the track itself tends to bend inward, slightly assisting the sprocket and conforming to the wheels somewhat.