Steel & Rubber Tracks

Equipment operators depend on durable steel and rubber tracks to keep their dozers, loaders, excavators, and other heavy machinery moving. Because track-type undercarriage parts take a beating, it is important to have a reliable supplier for affordable and convenient parts.

Our steel and rubber tracks are designed for durability and performance that increases your efficiency and saves operators money. DMC Wear Parts carries a large variety of parts and sizes (for all types of equipment), for nearly every manufacturer. Plus, we can ship most parts the next day with 12 warehouse locations around the USA.

Download Rubber & Steel Tracks Brochure

Track Types

DMC Wear Parts offers a wide selection of track types, making it easy to pick the best steel or rubber replacement parts for your equipment.

Steel Tracks

DMC Wear Parts offers high-quality steel options for equipment from nearly all manufacturers. Our steel replacement tracks are tested to withstand even the most intense applications across the construction, road maintenance, landscaping, forestry, and agricultural industries.

Rubber Tracks

DMC Wear Parts offers high-quality rubber options for mini-excavators, loaders, skid steers, and other heavy machinery from most manufacturers. Our extensive inventory of rubber tracks includes many models, tread patterns, and styles. Below are three of our specialty rubber types:

  • Zig Zag All Season Rubber – Designed for CTL Machines operating on snow/ice or difficult sloped and hillside applications
  • Smooth Paver – Designed for use on hard surfaces with high heat potential and heavy loads
  • Turf Friendly Rubber – Designed for CTL Machines that are operating on gentle surfaces

Download Rubber & Steel Tracks Brochure

D8N DZ201 equipment tracks and undercarriage

Choosing Steel or Rubber

It is important to select the right type of track for your equipment. When deciding it is best to consider the job environment, surface material, weather, cost, and lifetime value. Below are the strengths and weaknesses of rubber vs. steel.

  • Steel tracks are the better choice when working on rough and jagged rock underfoot surfaces due to the increased durability over the rubber ones. On the other hand, rubber is more effective when operating on gentle surfaces that can be easily scarred by heavy steel-tracked equipment.
  • Rubber provides an advantage when it comes to maneuverability and speed. However, many rubber treads do not provide the same level of traction as steel.
  • When taking weather into account, there are many more limitations with rubber tracks compared to steel. Rubber is more affected by temperature, as heat and cold can make the material more malleable or brittle, respectively. Also, the increased traction and weight of steel can be beneficial when operating in wet and muddy conditions.
  • Steel tracks have a much longer wear life than rubber. Plus, when a link in the steel track wears or breaks it can be replaced without having to change out the entire undercarriage. But, this is balanced with the higher upfront cost of steel compared to the less expensive per track option of rubber.
  • Finally, rubber reduces the overall wear on the machine and undercarriage parts by reducing the vibration and shock associated with steel. This provides a benefit to the machine’s operator as well as the undercarriage’s rollers, idlers, and sprockets.

As you can see, both options have plenty of advantages and are balanced with disadvantages. There are certain situations that call for steel tracks and others that call for rubber tracks. Therefore, it is important for operators to evaluate their solution based on the environment, job, and overall long-term costs.

Tracks vs. Tires

rubber track products

While there is a situational debate of the different materials, there is much less debate for tracks vs. tires on heavy machinery. Most heavy-machinery and large equipment use a crawling movement rather than driving on tires because of the physics of weight distribution. When the weight is distributed more evenly across a greater surface area it increases stability. Because tracks provide more surface area than tires, they are more stable and less likely to fall over or cause a balance issue while operating. Tire-equipped machines have their weight dispersed on just a very small point, the tires. This can lead to issues with tires sinking into the ground for wet or soft surfaces. But, tires do provide an advantage when it comes to machine movement speed, but that is rarely a primary factor for worksites.

 

Contact DMC Wear Parts For Ordering

With over 20 years of experience, we understand the needs of operators and can help you get the best rubber or steel track for your specific environment, application, or worksite. Let us put our knowledge to work for you with parts for progress!

Quick & Free Quotes

(605) 840-8082

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Tracks For Different Equipment Types

DMC Wear Parts large inventory allows us to offer our customers an option for almost any type of equipment. We carry parts in stock for the following types of equipment:

  • Mini-excavators & Excavators
  • Rubber tracked mini-loaders
  • Trenchers & directional boring equipment
  • Tracked construction equipment
  • Small to mid-sized cranes
  • Skid steer Over the tire track systems
  • Asphalt pavers & profilers
  • Haulers and dumpers
  • Carriers & utility equipment
  • Aerial lifts
  • Cranes
  • Road machinery
  • Street pavers
  • Profilers

Don’t worry if your machine is not on this list, we carry more specialty equipment parts to make sure that operators in the construction, forestry, agricultural, and landscaping industries can get their jobs done.

excavator and dozer with steel track tread marks on dirt

Manufacturers & Brands

Our rubber and steel tracks are designed as replacements for most major manufacturers. Below is a list of some of the popular manufacturers of equipment that match our offerings. If you don’t see an equipment manufacturer on this list, please send us a message or give us a call, because we likely still have the right part for you.

  • Gehl
  • IHI
  • John Deere
  • Kobelco
  • Kubota
  • New Holland
  • Takeuchi
  • Volvo
  • Yanmar
  • And many more…
DMC Wear Parts
(605) 840-8082
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