Neil from Messick's here to discuss excavator tracks with you today. You've got a lot of options here when it comes to tracks for your machine; steel or rubber or OEM or aftermarket our parts department deals and all of these. When you start with the fundamentals of is a steel track or a rubber track better for your machine, a lot of pros and cons to talk through. We're going to spend some time on that today.
On its surface, this seems like a pretty simple question, but when we start working through all the different pros and cons and benefits to these two different track systems, you'll be surprised how many things that there are to consider. If we start with a very simple one and the most obvious of them is durability, if you go through and you say, what is going to be more durable, a steel or a rubber track, unsurprisingly, you're going to know that the steel track is going to be the more durable system.
If you're looking for something purely for longevity, you're not concerned about any other aspect of your machine, the steel track is going to be the way to go. It's simply going to hold up a little bit better. Obviously, steel versus rubber, it's not going to tear, but there's also some long-term replaceability considerations. If you damage a link on a steel track somehow, it's very possible to go over, unbolt that link, replace it with a new one, and preserve the rest of the track system.
The rubber track though, however, is not the same way. There is a steel belting that runs in a loop inside of these tracks. If you manage to gouge it to the point that you get into the belting and you break that structural stability inside the track, the whole thing needs to be thrown away and replaced at a much greater cost than simply replacing a link in a steel track.
Another longevity issue to consider is track wear. We've talked about track damage to this point, but tracks do wear and both steel and rubber tracks wear. You will wear off the cleats on a steel track as you're driving it around. You're also going to wear off the rubber pads on a rubber track as you drive. You will go through generally about two sets of rubber tracks to one set of steel in roughly equivalent applications.
Most of that wear comes from turning, where you've got the tracks on asphalt or in stone and you're sliding the machine back and forth. The tracks are wearing as you drive and the steel ones will simply outlast it. There are, however, though, some great advantages to the rubber track when it comes to that maneuverability.
Another track consideration can be weight. A steel track system is going to weigh several hundred pounds more than the rubber track equivalent. Weight can be both a good and a bad thing in excavators. If you're doing purely dirt digging work, that weight can help you keep that machine planted, maybe be able to crane a little bit more, but that weight can be a real negative if you then need to trailer that machine around, and it's a added load for you.
Maybe pushes you up into the next weight class of trailer, potentially, depending on how your machine and trailer combination work out. Keep that in mind. Several hundred pounds more machine weight in a steel track machine compared to rubber. Our final steel track benefit comes down to traction. By and large, a steel track is going to have better traction than what a rubber track equivalent does.
There is huge amount of variation out here. We can find steel and rubber tracks in all kinds of different cleat patterns depending on what your application is that might make one maybe a little bit better than another. At the end of the day, if you look at the way that the weight from the machine is transferred down to the ground, a steel track tends to apply that weight more consistently across the track with fewer point loads on it than what a rubber track does. The rubber track's going to be more flexible and your ground pressure is, say, a little bit higher underneath the bogie rollers and a little bit lower in some of those gaps.
The pressure isn't applied quite as evenly across that tractive surface as you're going to find on a steel track. You've got to make a generalization. The steel track is going to have a little bit more traction than what the rubber one does. While steel tracks have their benefits, there's also a long list of benefits to the rubber track as well. We're going to start upfront with the cost. A set of rubber tracks is overall less expensive than what a set of steel tracks is going to be, and that's in the purchase price of the track, but the cost difference doesn't stop there. There's also a significant difference in the operational cost and the wear and tear that the undercarriage of the machine is going to take.
The steel track is a lot harder on the drive components and the undercarriage of the machine compared to the rubber track. You're going to have a difference not just in the cost of the track itself, but also in the long-term operational cost of your machine, and you're going to save some money over the long haul running the rubber track. If you spend hours up here in the cab, you know that operator comfort matters when it comes to an excavator. There is some significant difference between your track selection and what the machine is going to be like to operate.
We've all heard the rattling of a steel track machine as it drives around. That adds noise inside the cab. It also adds a lot of vibration. The rubber track is going to absorb the bumps, the noise from the ground a lot better, a lot less of it is transferred up into the machine compared to the steel track. As far as the operator is concerned, your experience up here in the cab is always going to be a little bit nicer with a rubber track.
Our final and largest factor to consider when choosing your tracks is going to be the surface damage that these things cause. A rubber track is much easier on the ground. The asphalt, the concrete, your trailer tears things up a lot less than what a steel track is going to, to the extent that it almost makes steel track machines unusable to a lot of contractors. Here in our area finding a steel track machine is definitely the exception. Virtually every machine that we sell is going to go out with rubber tracks on. You do have those applications where this steel track is going to make more sense.
The case of this unit here is going up to a northern area here around us where shale is a lot more common and the contractor that's going to be running this machine has had problems with that shale ripping up his rubber tracks. There is definitely a place out there in the market for steel tracks, very common on large equipment when you're not worried about trailering concerns or the damage to the ground. In many mid-size excavators like this KX080, you're going to find rubber being the predominant option that's out there. If you are not sure what option is right for you, more than likely the right choice is going to be the rubber track.
If you're shopping for a piece of equipment, we can help. If you have parts or service needs for a machine you've already got, if you need tracks for an excavator, our parts department deals in all different lines of OEM tracks and a long, long list of aftermarket companies. If you're looking for a little bit of cost savings or maybe a unique tread pattern, we've got a lot of people here who can help you out. We're available at 800-222-3373 or check us out at at messicks.com.
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