Track Shoes and Rubber Pads Guide: Grousers, Fitment and Buying

Track shoes and rubber pads are the part of the undercarriage that touches the ground, and they are chosen for the ground rather than for the machine. A steel grouser shoe bites into mud, rock and spoil; a rubber pad bolts or clips onto that shoe so the same machine can cross asphalt, concrete and turf without leaving a mark. Getting the choice wrong is expensive in a specific way - the wrong shoe either fails to grip or destroys the surface the job depends on, and the wrong fastener lets a shoe come loose and take the chain with it.

Last updated: October 6, 2026

This page collects what we publish about shoes and pads: grouser profiles and what they suit, the difference between the three ways of attaching a rubber pad, the fastener rules that decide whether a shoe stays on, how to confirm fitment, and where to buy in Canada. The ranges are in track shoes and rubber pads.

Shoe or pad: the first decision

A steel track shoe is a grouser - a plate with a raised bar or cleat that bites into the ground. It is the standard fitment on dozers and on excavators working rock, mud, quarry spoil and demolition debris, because grip and wear resistance matter more than the surface. The grouser profile decides how that grip is delivered: a wide, single bar suits soft ground and flotation, a triple grouser spreads load and improves stability for lifting, and a taller, narrower profile bites harder in hard ground at the cost of marking it.

A rubber pad is an attachment - bolted, clipped or chained onto the shoe - so the machine can work on surfaces that must not be scarred. Asphalt, concrete, paving, kerbs and turf are the usual reasons. Rubber pads are also quieter and reduce vibration transmitted into the machine, which matters on street work and night jobs. The trade-off is that a pad wears faster than steel and can be torn off by rock, so it is a surface-protection choice rather than a durability upgrade.

There is a third route: swapping steel for a full rubber track, which changes the whole undercarriage rather than the shoe. Rubber track pads versus full rubber tracks sets out when each makes sense, and the same comparison from a project point of view covers the decision on a job-by-job basis.

The three ways to attach a pad

Bolt-on pads use the shoe's own bolt holes and are the most secure option, which is why they suit machines that work hard on hard surfaces. Clip-on pads are the fastest to fit and remove and are the usual choice for contractors who change configuration often - a machine that spends two days on a street and a week on a site. Chain-on pads wrap around the shoe and need no fasteners, which makes them the tool for occasional protection rather than continuous use.

The comparison comes up constantly, and it is worth having the answer before the job rather than after a pad has come off in traffic: bolt-on and clip-on pads compared and choosing between all three cover the practical differences. Fitting them yourself is a reasonable job with the right sequence: installing rubber pads on steel tracks.

Fasteners: the small parts that end jobs

Almost every field failure with a track shoe comes back to the bolts. Three rules cover most of it. Never reuse old track bolts with new shoes - a bolt that has been torqued and run has taken a set and stretched, and it will not hold the same load the second time. Use hardware of the grade the application needs, because a soft bolt stretches and a shoe works loose before anyone notices. And torque to the specification and re-check, because a loose shoe is the first step to a broken one, and a shoe that leaves the chain damages the rollers and the frame as it goes.

The reasoning behind each of those rules is set out in why old track bolts should not be reused, why bolt grade matters on shoes, how torque affects shoe bolts and the one-and-done rule for fasteners. Buy the shoe and the hardware as one order - it is the same access work either way.

Choosing the profile for the ground

Three decisions cover it. What the machine runs on most of the time: mud and muskeg, rock and quarry spoil, snow, or finished surfaces. Whether the job lifts, because stability under load favours a wider or triple-grouser shoe rather than a tall narrow one. And whether the surface has to be protected, which is what pushes the choice from grouser geometry to rubber pads.

On the ground itself, the comparisons are in how shoes behave in mud versus hard ground, triple grousers and stability for lifting and grouser profiles in muskeg. On surfaces: protecting asphalt, protecting turf, high-grip shoes for snow and winter rubber pads. On wear: extending pad life on abrasive ground, replacing pads rather than full tracks and shoes on Ontario job sites. The background on why pads exist at all is in what rubber pads are and why they matter.

Shoe width, ground pressure and the surface

Shoe width is the flotation setting for a steel undercarriage. A wider shoe spreads the machine's weight over more ground, which is what stops a machine sinking in soft soil or muskeg, and a narrower one concentrates it, which is what gives grip on hard ground. The trade works in both directions: too much width on firm ground means the shoe rolls up onto its edges as the machine turns, loading the link edges and the rollers, and too little width in soft ground means the machine digs itself in and works the chain harder to move.

Two details follow from the width decision. Extra width adds weight to the chain and undercarriage, so a machine re-shoed much wider than standard asks more of its sprocket, rollers and final drive. And grouser height goes with width rather than replacing it: a tall grouser on a wide shoe bites harder but packs with mud, while a low profile floats but slips on wet ground. For a machine used across several surfaces, the honest approach is to size for the ground it works most of the time and use pads for the occasions when the surface has to be protected.

That is where the rubber pad decision comes back in. Pads change surface behaviour without changing the undercarriage geometry, so a machine that would be over-shoed for street work can be right for both jobs with one set of shoes and one set of pads - provided the pad is matched to the shoe that is actually fitted.

Confirming fitment

Three measurements identify a shoe: width (commonly quoted in inches on Caterpillar machines and millimetres elsewhere), the bolt hole spacing and bolt size, and the grouser profile or height. A pad is then identified by the shoe it fits rather than by the machine, because one machine can be fitted with more than one shoe width.

Take all three from the shoe on the machine, and treat the part number as the confirmation rather than the start. Where a machine has been re-shoed, the numbers on the plates are the only reliable record - and if a rubber pad is being ordered, the pad must be matched to the shoe that is actually fitted, not to the model in the manual. The wider undercarriage picture, including how shoes sit alongside rollers and idlers, is in the excavator undercarriage parts guide.

FAQs

What is the difference between a track shoe and a rubber pad?

A track shoe is the steel grouser plate that contacts the ground. A rubber pad is an attachment bolted, clipped or chained onto that shoe so the machine can work on asphalt, concrete or turf without marking it.

Which attachment is best - bolt-on, clip-on or chain-on pads?

Bolt-on pads are the most secure for continuous hard-surface work, clip-on pads are the fastest to change for machines that switch between surfaces, and chain-on pads suit occasional protection where no fasteners are wanted.

Can I reuse track shoe bolts?

No. A bolt that has been torqued and run has stretched and will not hold the same load again, which is how shoes come loose. Use new hardware of the correct grade and torque it to specification.

Do rubber pads fit any track shoe?

No. A pad is matched to the specific shoe - its width, bolt spacing and profile - so the shoe on the machine has to be identified before a pad is ordered, especially on a machine that has been re-shoed.

How do I protect asphalt or turf without changing the undercarriage?

By fitting rubber pads to the existing shoes rather than changing the tracks. It is the lower-cost route to protecting a finished surface, and the pads can be removed when the machine goes back onto soft or rocky ground.