Tracks vs. Tires for Skid Steers

Tracks generally outperform tires on soft, wet, or uneven ground because they spread weight over a larger area and grip better in poor traction conditions. Tires generally outperform tracks on hard, flat surfaces, cost less to buy and maintain, and travel faster. Neither is universally better — the right choice depends on the ground the machine spends most of its time on, and on what a replacement set actually costs for the machine class in question. This guide covers the trade-offs and works through that cost comparison using observed listing data rather than a general rule of thumb.

Ground pressure and flotation

A tracked machine spreads its weight over a much larger footprint than the same machine on tires, which lowers ground pressure and reduces sinking or rutting on soft, wet, or loose ground. This is the single biggest reason contractors choose tracks — landscaping, wet-site grading, and similar soft-ground work where a wheeled machine would sink, rut, or lose traction. Reducing tire width (or fitting a narrower track) shrinks the ground contact area and raises ground pressure roughly in proportion — going from a 450mm track to a 320mm track on the same machine noticeably increases pressure per square inch even though nothing else about the machine changed.

Traction

Tracks generally provide more consistent traction across a wider range of surfaces — mud, loose soil, and uneven terrain — because more of the track's surface stays in contact with the ground at all times. Tires can outperform tracks on hard, dry surfaces, where a smaller, higher-pressure contact patch and tread-compound grip work in their favor, and on paved or hard surfaces tires generally cause less surface disturbance.

Speed

Wheeled machines are almost always faster than tracked machines of the same size and class. For work that involves a lot of travel distance across a site, or road/lot travel between job locations, tires have a clear speed advantage that no track setup closes.

Ride and operator comfort

Pneumatic tires generally give a smoother ride than tracks, since the tire's air cushion absorbs bumps that a rigid track undercarriage transmits more directly to the cab. Over a full shift on rough ground, that's a real fatigue difference, not just a comfort one.

Cost: what a replacement set actually runs

This is the piece the forum threads and seller pages both skip — forums argue the trade-offs from memory and don't cite numbers, and seller pages only show their own catalog, never a cross-seller picture. Below is a real comparison for one common machine class, computed from trackfitment's own listing data rather than asserted.

Method: For the 320x86x50 track-size family — the fitment shared by the Case TR270/TR310, John Deere 317G, and Takeuchi TL6R compact track loaders — 15 priced listings across 6 sellers (as of the 2026-08-19 capture; 19 rows total, 4 quote-gated) give a per-track price range of $885–$1,025, median $950/track. A full 2-track set at the median works out to roughly $1,900. For a comparably classed wheeled machine (Bobcat S650 / S630, which run 12-16.5 or 10-16.5 tires), multi-seller listings for standard-duty pneumatic sets of 4 range $499–$599 (10-16.5) and $549–$1,645 (12-16.5), with two independent sellers (monstertires.com, forklifttire.com) both landing in the same several-hundred-dollar band for standard-duty pneumatic sets.

A standard-duty tire set for this machine class runs roughly a third the price of a track set, and that gap widens further once solid or flat-proof tires are excluded from the tire side and premium track lines are excluded from the track side — this comparison uses standard-duty listings on both sides to keep it apples-to-apples. Two caveats worth stating plainly: prices move with steel and rubber input costs and this is a single-day capture, not a running index; and this reflects one popular mid-size CTL/skid-steer class — smaller or larger machines shift both numbers, sometimes by a lot, so treat the ratio (roughly 3x) as more durable than the absolute dollars.

Wear economics: cost per operating hour

Purchase price alone understates the comparison, because tracks and tires don't wear out at the same rate, and neither wears out on a fixed schedule — see the companion guide on how long rubber tracks last for the full list of factors. Lifespan is commonly cited in the range of under 1,000 to well over 3,000 operating hours for rubber tracks, depending overwhelmingly on surface (abrasive surfaces like concrete and gravel wear tracks fastest) and operator habits (tight pivot turns scrub track material away far faster than straight-line travel). Tire life is not tracked in this dataset with the same rigor and varies at least as much with surface and load, so this site does not publish a comparable tire-hour figure — treat the following as a bounding exercise, not a precise verdict, and note this is mechanical reasoning applied to the observed price data, not a sourced figure:

• At the median track-set price (~$1,900) and a commonly cited mid-range lifespan of ~2,000 hours, the reasoned cost works out to roughly $0.95/hour in track material alone.
• At the low end of commonly cited lifespan (~1,000 hours, abrasive-surface/aggressive-use case), the same set reasons out to roughly $1.90/hour.
• At the high end (~3,000 hours, soft-ground/gentle-use case), it reasons out to roughly $0.63/hour.

Tires wear on a different curve — gradual tread loss rather than the cut/crack/cord-exposure failure modes that end a track's life — and get cheaper to replace individually rather than as a forced full-set swap in most cases. The upshot is not "tracks are more expensive per hour" as a blanket claim; it's that track economics are far more sensitive to surface and operating habits than tire economics are, which is exactly why the "how to decide" section below leads with surface, not price.

Surface damage

Tracks distribute weight more evenly and are gentler on finished or sensitive surfaces like turf, since they don't concentrate load the way a tire's smaller contact patch can. This matters for landscaping and turf-sensitive work where surface damage is a real cost. On hard surfaces like concrete, certain track compounds and tread patterns can still mark or damage the surface — see the companion guide on tracks for concrete work for that specific consideration.

Resale considerations

Tracked machines often hold value differently than wheeled machines depending on regional demand and application. Resale patterns vary by market and aren't something this reference site tracks or predicts. If resale value is a purchasing factor, checking current regional demand for tracked vs. wheeled machines with a dealer is more reliable than a general rule.

Over-the-tire tracks: the hybrid path

A machine that only occasionally needs track-like flotation doesn't have to choose permanently between the two. Over-the-tire (OTT) tracks fit over a wheeled machine's existing tires, lowering ground pressure and improving mud/snow/loose-ground traction without swapping the undercarriage. They're driven by the tire's own rotation rather than a dedicated sprocket, so they don't match a true track undercarriage on abrasive-surface durability or continuous-duty rating, but for a wheeled fleet that needs occasional flotation — a wet week, a soft-ground job, a rental going out for one project — OTT tracks avoid committing to either side of this comparison.

When each wins

How to decide

Match the choice to where the machine actually works most of the time, not to a single worst-case job. A machine doing the bulk of its hours on soft, wet, or turf-sensitive ground earns back the added track cost through capability tires don't have there. A machine mostly on hard, flat surfaces, or one that covers a lot of travel distance, is usually better served by tires — and a machine that only occasionally needs flotation is often best served by neither commitment, using OTT tracks for the specific jobs that call for it instead.

FAQ

Are tracks always better than tires on a skid steer? No. Tracks have a clear advantage on soft, wet, or uneven ground because of lower ground pressure and more consistent traction, but tires are faster, cheaper to buy and replace, and cause less wear on hard, flat, or paved surfaces. The right answer depends on the machine's actual working surface, not a fixed ranking.

How much more do tracks cost than tires? For a common mid-size CTL/skid-steer class (320x86x50 tracks vs. 10-16.5/12-16.5 tires), a standard-duty replacement track set runs roughly three times the price of a standard-duty replacement tire set based on 2026-08-19 listing data — around $1,900 for tracks versus $500–$650 for tires. Exact figures vary by machine size, tread/tire pattern, and brand.

Can I put tracks on a wheeled skid steer? Converting a wheeled machine to a permanent track undercarriage is a major undercarriage swap, not something covered by this guide. Over-the-tire (OTT) tracks are the practical middle path — they fit over the existing tires for occasional flotation without a permanent conversion. See the OTT tracks guide.

Do tracks or tires last longer? It depends on surface and use, not on tracks versus tires as categories. Rubber track life is commonly cited from under 1,000 to over 3,000 operating hours depending mostly on surface abrasiveness and operator habits like sharp pivot turns — see the track lifespan guide for the full breakdown. This site does not publish a directly comparable tire-hour figure.

Are tracks worth it for occasional soft-ground work? Usually not as a full undercarriage commitment. If soft-ground or wet-ground work is occasional rather than the majority of the machine's hours, over-the-tire tracks typically deliver most of the flotation benefit without the cost of a dedicated tracked machine.