Project Description: The Soucy Tracks prevent tractors from sinking into the mud and snow, which greatly reduces time and money wasted on freeing the equipment if it gets stuck and lessens the risk of damaging the tractor during maintenance operations. No changes to the tractor are needed to install the tracks; the system will not interfere with the tractor’s key components, tires can be put back on at any time, and the tractor retains its resale value. Currently the district has to buy or rent dozers in order to push or blow snowbanks far enough back from the road edge to provide snow storage and reduce ground drifting.

Purpose: These tracks can be installed on smaller units that would normally require a larger wheeled tractor. The smaller units are less expensive, consume less fuel and are lighter, leaving less of an impact on the environment. These tracks could also reduce the risk of getting stuck, reducing costly towing bills. These tracks are very user-friendly, cost-effective, and provide a safer option. The tracks allow a currently owned tractor to be used to push snow rather than a dozer, which supports the concept of "total fleet management" by eliminating the need to own or rent a dozer to perform this work.

Test Procedure: For a period of 18 months, the district evaluated the Soucy Tracks on their performance in the field, determining their effectiveness on a tractor already owned by the district rather than buying or renting a dozer to perform the work. The district also analyzed the cost savings to see if the tractor with tracks is as effective as a dozer to perform the same work.

Conclusions: Placing the Soucy Tracks on an individual tractor did improve winter maintenance operations efficiency. We could blow trouble spots without getting our equipment stuck, preventing the tractor from needing to be pulled out and risking equipment damage and/or costly wrecker bills and downtime. The tractor was equipped with a blade on the front, which allowed it to push back drifts with a blower on the back. Before, the district had to rent dozers to perform this work. The tractor with tracks let us stay ahead of trouble spots, saved us money, increased our efficiency and improved driver safety by reducing drifts on the roadway.

Recommended For Implementation:     Yes     No
These tracks can be installed on smaller units that would normally require a larger wheeled tractor. The smaller units were less expensive, had lower fuel consumption, and were lighter, leaving less of an impact on the environment. In addition, the tracks were very user-friendly, cost-effective, and a safer option. Finally, the tracks allowed us to use a currently owned tractor to push snow, eliminating the need to own or rent a dozer to perform this work.