Imagine you’ve just bought a nice pair of hiking boots. They’re sturdy, they’re comfortable, and they’re designed to take a beating. But just how many treks can you go on before they start letting in water or the soles wear through? Well, it all depends on how often you hike, the ruggedness of the trails, and how well you look after your boots. The same goes for the rubber tracks on an excavator.
Rubber tracks on an excavator last typically between 1,200 to 2,000 operational hours. But let’s put that into years, because that’s a bit more relatable. If your excavator is working a standard full-time schedule, that’s about 40 hours a week, without too much overtime. In that case, you might expect the tracks to be in good shape for anything from a year and a half to around two and a half years.
However, just like your hiking boots would wear out faster if you’re trekking every day or scrambling over rough, rocky terrain, excavator tracks wear down more quickly based on how hard the machine is being worked. If they’re being used on abrasive surfaces like gravel, or they’re carrying heavy loads, then they might fall towards the lower end of that lifespan estimate.
On the flip side, if your excavator is working part-time, or it’s roaming gentle landscapes like soft soil or sod, or you’re particularly diligent with maintenance—keeping the tracks clean, ensuring no small rocks are caught in there, maintaining the right tension—then you could be looking at the higher end of that estimate, maybe even more.
Another consideration is the climate. Extreme heat can make rubber soft and more prone to damage, while extreme cold can make it brittle and crack. So, if you’re working indoors or in milder climates, the tracks could outlast those used in harsher conditions.
To put it simply, imagine those rubber tracks are your hiking boots. With care and the right kind of use, you can get plenty of good years out of them—usually between 1.5 to 2.5 years before you need to think about replacing them. Just like your boots, it all comes down to where you go, how often you go there, and how you look after them once you’re back home.
Fulian Operation Team
2024.6.18
