INDUSTRY PEOPLE
Shaw Tracks supply HXRT rubber tracks for Hitachi, Komatsu, Cat, Bobcat, Airman, IHI, Kubota, Takeuchi, Kobelco, Sumitomo and Case
excavators.
‘I don’t know, Paul’,” says Gary. But Paul had a plan for him.
If you’re doing roading or footpath work, you’re far better
off with rubber.”
Paul suggested Gary get into rubber tracks. It was a genius
idea. The roading projects going on in this country alone
“It’s a funny business, one day you won’t get a call, and
would be enough to keep any tracks business
the next you’ll get two or three. It’s good to
afloat, let alone the booming construction “It’s good to get it stable,
get it stable, but it’s also season-dependent,
but it’s also season-
and agriculture industries.
so the winter months can get a bit, quieter,
dependent, so the winter
“So the next thing you know here I am, months are much quieter.” although not always.”
into rubber tracks. I built a shed on-site to
It stands to reason that Shaw Tracks has
accommodate all the stock.”
survived the ebbs and flows of the market thus far.
“They are your standard tracks for diggers and excavators.
Government statistics show that industries that are
There’s around 30-40 tonnes on-site. I’ve also branched
dependent on the use of diggers and excavators, such
out into undercarriage parts, idlers, rollers and sprockets,
as mining, agriculture, forestry and construction, have
and I also source steel tracks.”
an average 36% survival rate over a ten-year period, the
“Steel tracks are more for demolition. You can’t go much
over eight tonne with rubber, after that you’ve really got
to go to steel, but the trouble with steel tracks is that they
can cause damage to the surface whereas rubber doesn’t.
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CAM November 2018
highest survival rate in that same period of any industry.
In others words, it’s those industries that will survive
even the highs and lows of international economic
trends. Those industries propel the rubber track industry.
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