. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casting innOVatiOns
G
Ductile Iron Track Pads Are Market Leaders
rouser Products, West Fargo, N.D., supplies metal over-the- tire track for skid steer loaders produced by every major manufacturer in the market.
In the mid-1990s, the company’s tracks were in such high demand, its contracted fabrication shop could not keep up with production. The company converted the track pads and connecting linkage to ductile iron castings so the parts could be produced more consistently in higher volumes. A side benefi t was a premium- looking component at a lower cost. “The casting looks like a high-end,
fi nished product,” said Pat Nistler, general manager. “And the casting process can produce high volumes of components.
Grouser’s cast track pads became the market leader, outselling all competitors two-to-one.
Each skid steer takes 40 pads, and we supply most of the major manufacturers with their tracks. There was no way our fabricator could keep up.” Grouser was happy with the ultimate
look of the cast conversion, but the company’s original casting supplier had trouble producing enough of the product on a consistent basis without sacrifi cing the quality that Grouser expected. So it called in the help of Dotson Iron Castings, Mankato, Minn. Dotson’s operations include automatic
Dotson can cast-in different manufactur- ers’ logos onto the track pads with a quick change in tooling and no setup cost.
48 Metal Casting Design & PurChasing January/February 2010
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