What the Test Proved
HiQual S'Wave retained nearly twice the lug depth of Camso Zig Zag at 300+ machine hours.
Both brands ran on a single New Holland skid steer, alternating left/right tracks across rotations.
Concrete, 3" rock spin pad, and ¾" rock 8-pattern course — the worst-case wear conditions in the field.
Compound certified by ARDL (Akron Rubber Development Lab) — the independent gold standard for rubber testing.
SEE OUR FIELD TEST IN ACTION
Every loop on the SRJ Field Test Track puts both brands through the same brutal sequence: a hard transit run, two-and-a-quarter turns on a concrete circle, full-throttle spinning on a 3" rock pad, and an 8-pattern abrasion course over ¾" rock. This is how we know what wears out — and what doesn't.
One Cycle — Five Sections
Every loop is exactly 1,172 ft (357 m). Each brand runs the same loop, the same number of times, on the same machine — under the same operator on the same day.
The Wear Curve, Side by Side
We pulled both tracks every ~60 hours, measured every lug at four positions (R04, L04, R24, L24, R38, L38, R52, L52), and averaged the readings. Here's what 800+ recorded data points look like.
The Test, Captured
Both tracks ran together on the same machine, on the same day, in the same conditions. The visible wear difference is real — and matches our gauge data to the millimeter.
No Lab Tricks.
Just Real Hours.
Most rubber-track manufacturers publish lab numbers — Shore-A hardness, tensile, abrasion-cup readings — and stop there. Lab numbers tell you what the rubber compound can do. They don't tell you what happens on a real machine, on a real jobsite, after 300 hours of skid-steering on 3-inch crushed rock.
So SRJ built its own field test track. It sits behind our Schaumburg headquarters and runs five surfaces in a single 1,172-foot loop: open transit, concrete circle, spinning pad, 8-pattern abrasion course, and return transit. We pull samples every ~60 hours, measure every lug at eight positions, and publish the raw data.
We also send compound samples to ARDL — the Akron Rubber Development Lab — for independent third-party certification. ARDL has been the rubber industry's neutral test authority since 1928. We don't pick the testers and we don't preview their reports.
THE LUG SHAPE IS THE WHOLE GAME.
HiQual's S'Wave pattern (U.S. Patent 7,533,945 B2) is engineered to distribute load across the rubber-to-rock contact face instead of concentrating it on lug edges. Less edge concentration means less chunking, less premature wear, and a longer service life under abrasive load.
The compound is just as important. Our base rubber is engineered for the Charpy-impact and Brinell-hardness windows we publish — and certified by ARDL before it ever ships.
READY TO STOP REPLACING TRACKS EVERY SEASON?
Tell us your machine make, model, and track size — we'll quote an OEM-fit HiQual S'Wave set, ship from our Austin or Dallas depot, and back every track with a 2-year limited warranty.