Cultivating the land is not an easy task, but without it there would be no harvest. Fortunately, nowadays the farmer is helped by sophisticated and modern machines, equipped with an air-conditioned cabin, wide tine or disc harrows, or multi-furrow plows. However, no equipment can move without proper tyres. Agricultural tyres are like good rubber boots. Only those are proven, which will not get wet after a whole day in the mud and the foot will remain dry will work. This is also the case with tyres. A tractor without proven rubber will not be able to work the soil, which in many cases presents a lot of resistance. Brand manufacturers of this type of tyres are aware of the challenges and improve their technologies every year.
Choice of tyres
Before the field work season, many farmers have to invest in new tyres for their machines. What to consider when choosing? This is determined by the intended use of the machine, its age and the budget we have. But how do you find trustworthy tyres in this flood of offers? Well, here the key is quality and credibility. Not beautiful descriptions in advertising leaflets, but the market experience of producers and investing in quality.
That is why experienced farmers invest in tyres from recognized European, American or Japanese manufacturers. The general rule is that we use radial tyres for newer and more powerful machines – as recommended by the machine manufacturer, and diagonal tyres for weaker or older machines. This choice is already imposed on us by the machine at our disposal.
Radial and diagonal tyres have a different structure of internal layers, which translates into their properties.
Diagonal tyres
Historically, they are the first type of tyres that were common in the 1980s, both in agriculture, transport and on the passenger car market. Since then, diagonal tyres are still used in agriculture and forestry. Especially when farms have machines from the 90s with rims adapted to diagonal tyres. The vast majority of them also need inner tubes. Their main advantage is puncture resistance and purchase costs. Diagonal tyres are further developed in European factories because they are still in demand, especially in forestry machines, and in agriculture for weaker tractors and smaller machines with appropriately adapted rims.
Radial tyres
Radial tyres, in turn, are appreciated by users of newer and more powerful machines. Their basic advantages are a larger contact surface with the soil and the possibility of working with reduced pressure in the wheel – which increases the efficiency of driving in the field and causes less soil compaction during field work. The degree of soil compaction over which the machine moves is particularly important for operators of heavy agricultural machinery.
Safe operation with reduced pressure ensuring greater work efficiency and lower ground pressure is possible only with modern tyres adapted to such characteristics – i.e. with radial tyres adapted to work at low pressure. Switching to this type of tyre also allows you to reduce fuel consumption by 3-12%, which significantly reduces the operating costs of the vehicle.
IF and VF tyres
Over the past few years, agricultural tire manufacturers have successfully introduced two new categories of radial tyres to the market, namely IF and VF tires. They are characterized by greater flexibility of the sidewalls than standard tyres of the same size. Such tyres can carry up to 20% and up to 40% more load, respectively – i.e. the tractor can be additionally loaded without the need to increase the tyre pressure and without adversely affecting driving comfort and grip. The selection of the right pressure for these tyres is made on the basis of the current wheel load – it is a lot easier for the user, because it allows you to avoid the inconvenient necessity to change the pressure after finishing work in the field and before going on a paved road, on which the tractor moves with a much larger speed. Tyres made with these technologies minimize soil compaction, which helps to increase the amount of harvested crop.
The advantages of VF tyres are that they can be used with constant pressure regardless of speed, and in addition, they provide a greater tire footprint – which reduces soil compaction and plant damage than comparable standard radial tyres, and also increases the mobility of the vehicle on difficult or wet terrain.
Off-road durability
Agricultural tyres are as complicated as they are on cars. In both cases, the working conditions are extreme. The difference is the ground they have to face on a daily basis and the rotational speed.
– Mud, sand, clay, water – these are just some of the obstacles faced by the farmer and his machine on a daily basis. Without a proper tread pattern, it will not be able to cultivate the soil and therefore will not produce a crop. For this reason, the equipment must not be unreliable, and the tyres must be durable. Nobody wants a tyre to burst when it is least expected – points out Piotr Sarnecki, General Director of the Polish Tyre Industry Association (PTIA).
For this reason, the strong sidewalls and the tread pattern must not only be reinforced, but also properly designed. Experience in this field is paramount. Proven and branded tyres are a guarantee of reliability, quality and durability. These are the most important elements in our daily work – where we rely so much on machines operating in difficult conditions.
Choosing high-quality new tyres produced in Europe, the USA or Japan is also buying time. Time that in the event of failure of poor-quality replacements will be lost for repair. It is also money that will have to be invested in a visit to the mobile service and the repair itself.
– The related losses are disproportionate to the price of high-quality tyres – which, apart from greater durability, also improves the economy of the farm. Such tyres mean lower fuel consumption, because the drive power is better transferred to the ground, there is no slippage and they do not compact the soil so much – stresses Sarnecki.
Fix it, but be smart
Choosing new and branded products means the possibility of repairing them. In the case of tyres for agricultural machinery, similarly to, for example, tyres for heavy vehicles, they are able to be repaired. The difference, however, is that in products for agricultural machinery, the side wall is the most vulnerable to damage. Experience with passenger cars suggests that such a tyre is ready to be thrown away. In the case of tyres for agricultural equipment, they can still be repaired without losing their properties – as long as they have a high-quality carcass. For this purpose, a mixture is used, which in an unvulcanised form is applied to the place of the repaired tyre damage and the purpose of which is to rebuild the protective rubber coating and stabilize the edge of the damage. It is possible, of course, after heating in specialized vulcanization devices. Another element used in the repair process is an appropriate insert recreating the strength of the tyre carcass in the place of damage. It may be one that vulcanizes chemically, commonly referred to as "cold", or one that requires high temperature and pressure, known as "hot".
– Repairing agricultural tyres is a difficult and complicated process, but it can be done with good tyres from proven manufacturers. Large possibilities of repairing damage and the specificity of agricultural tyres' operation – i.e. the terrain – allow users of these tyres to save often significant amounts that they do not have to spend on buying new tyres – explains Ryszard Marcinkowski, one of the bests experts in Poland.
However, it must be clearly stated that service and service are not equal. That is why it is worth choosing proven places with an established reputation.
– The difference in the price of the service between the best and worst service will not refund losses caused by another failure and downtime of the machine. If the work is done professionally, the equipment with the repaired tyre comes back into service – ads Marcinkowski.
Source: Polish Tyre Industry Association