Spacers Keep Skid Steers On Track

Spacers Keep Skid Steers On Track TRACTORS Skid Steer Loaders Components Plus built a business making tracks for skid steers Then the pandemic hit and limited the import of spacer rings they need to install their tracks “About half the tracks we sell require spacers for clearance ” says Rick Wilkey Components Plus “Putting tracks on a skid steer requires at least 3 in of clearance between the machine and the tire ” The company had been buying spacers from a supplier who sourced them overseas When the source dried up Components Plus went looking for an alternative “Foundries were busier than ever since COVID hit but we finally found one in Minn ” says Wilkey “They pour the blank ring castings and we machine them Now we have plenty of product ” The company puts the same care and detail into their 6 and 8-lug spacers as they do into their tracks Wilkey’s father started out making lawn mower blades using a slow heat-treating process He transferred the technique to making steel pads for Components Plus track pads and custom heat treating “We use a hot salt bath process with austempering salts to get away from quenching cracks that are too small to be seen easily but fail under stress ” says Wilkey He explains that the process allows their tracks to be half the weight and half the price of competitor tracks Other track pads are cast or poured steel with a 1/16-in hardened area on the outside The larger pads add weight to the tracks and when the hardened layer wears off they have to be replaced “Ours are thin 1/4-in plates hardened throughout to last longer ” says Wilkey Components Plus spacer sets of four range in price from $369 39 to $711 14 depending on wheel size Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Components Plus 202 Industrial Dr Columbus Wis 53925 ph 920 350-0301; www tracksplus com

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