Stunning find on Kubota 161 BUT is rubber ok..?

[atgreene]

I have had two excavators, one with rubber, the second with rubber then changed to steel tracks.

I work my machines commercially and take them everywhere, here's my thoughts:

Steel works better for traction, except on snow or ice, then the rubber is slightly better.
Steel drives rocks down and brings fines to the surface.
Steel rides very rough and is loud.
Rubber lasts me about 800-1000 hours in heavy use (I do a lot of road grading/ repair, constant undercarriage movement).
Steel is harder to come by and MUCH harder to put on when they come off.

Currently my steel tracks are worn-out, badly. I priced rubber tracks for my Takeuchi through Cat, $675.00 no shipping with steel cords etc... All the other tracks I have priced are around $1200 +-. Looks like I will try thier tracks and see. There are no aftermarket steel tracks available for my machine so I'm going back to rubber. For that price i can plan to buy a track a year and have a spare.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Cooter 32k and working to get half the new tracks paid for. So max 33.5/34k out the door with just 600hrs.

I got mine with 70 hours, angle blade, cab heat air and radio, quick attach, hyd thumb and 3 buckets with 70 hours 18 months ago for 40k.
My machine now has over 500 hours and the tracks still look new other than a few small cuts.

 

[nobull1]

Currently my steel tracks are worn-out, badly. .

What is worn out on your steel tracks and how many hours?

 

[atgreene]

The pins and bushings have excessive wear allowing the pads to turn and walk off the idler wheels.