What’s up with the colorful rubber tracks?

Typically a rubber track appears to black much like a skid steer tire or even a truck tire. There are always variations in the darkness, but this isn’t a technical document so we won’t get too deep into the exact color of a standard track. Suffice it to say, it’s usually black.

We are starting to see colorful tracks pop up in the market more frequently than in the past. It’s not for decoration, or customizing your track loader to have brand matching tracks. Yes, there is a manufacturer making tracks bright orange to match their machines, but that is not the focus. These are non-marking tracks that are made form synthetic compounds. There are situations where leaving a black streak on the surface is not acceptable. This concept has been around for decades in the forklift tire market. There are plenty of forklifts running white, or gray tires. When the tires spin or slide they leave more of a powder or light marking as opposed to a black streak that is difficult to clean up. Many warehouses such as in the food industry for example, require non-marking tires.

Recently the demand for non-marking rubber tracks has increased considerably due to the advancements in the machinery itself. Now that we have cranes and lifts and machinery of all sorts that can perform very useful tasks inside of stadiums and large offices, there is higher demand for non-marking tracks. Some contractors that are frequently on residential driveways or frequently work on sidewalks are now looking to leave no trail behind them. The cost of a non-marking track is typically about 35% higher than a standard track so we don’t stock them in a wide variety of sizes, but we can custom order them for you in any size that you need. Let us know if you need a non-marking track and we can get them on order for you.