Authored by: Tractor tyre expert | 15 September 2021
Do you know that your tyres, which are your main contact with the ground, can help you make better use or your tractor’s engine power? But for this you must choose the best adapted tyres for your actual use. The tractor manufacturer equipped your tractor with an average tyre which is suitable for nearly all uses, but obviously doesn’t know your needs or your precise use and on top of this, an economic tyre was negotiated with the manufacturer to reduce the global tractor budget.
For these reasons, when it comes to renewing your tyres, you must really consider improving your equipment by choosing a set of tyres that will help you save time, preserve your soil, improve your traction capacity…
This is the first thing to take into account: what use will be made of this new set of tyres.
What is your main activity?
Choosing the tyres best adapted to your actual use will bring you better efficiency and productivity and extend their lifespan.
If you work mainly in the fields, it is highly recommended to opt for very supple tyres to optimise traction capacity while preserving your soil.
Among the different models available on the market, IF tyres meet these requirements perfectly. They have an ingenious design with reinforced sidewalls and can work at very low inflation pressure.
This means that the soil footprint is larger and that your tractor’s pulling capacity is maximised.
Firestone Maxi traction IF for use in the fields
In addition to work in the fields, you also use your tractor in the farm courtyard to manage livestock farming activities or carry out other different tasks, inside and around the buildings.
You regularly take the road, and it can be agreed that you use your tractor for a wide range of purposes.
In this case, you should choose tyres designed for multipurpose use which are suitable for use in the courtyard as well as in the fields.
The Performer EXTRA range has been developed using a new generation rubber compound which gives the tyre 20% more resistance to wear. It is equipped with Dual Angle lugs which increase traction capacity in the fields compared to a standard tyre, as well as reinforced casing to resist impacts in the farm courtyard.
This type of tyre is well suited to multipurpose use without fear or wearing too quickly.
When you work rarely in the fields, but on a range of different hard surfaces, in the farmyard for loading, numerous manoeuvres or for any type of hard labour, the best solution is to choose Utility tyres.
They have a specific tread with robust casing and very thick sidewalls which are designed to resist punctures. Their multi-layer textile structure is highly durable and resistant.
In addition to these interesting characteristics, Duraforce Utility tyres have lugs made of enriched rubber which provide extreme stability for the most delicate manoeuvres. Thanks to the arch in its tread and its thick sidewalls which are highly resistant to impacts and cuts, these tyres provide maximum lateral stability.
You can use them to carry out heavy work on land that is hard, difficult to access, with sharp stones, branches or silex…
Firestone Duraforce Utility tyre for intensive use
The markings and numbers on the tyre sidewalls contain precious information when buying a new set of tyres.
You have understood that the original tyres correspond to an average solution for everyone. When you change them, this is an opportunity to obtain more from your tractor by increasing your tyre size to be able to carry more load or to reduce inflation pressure.
Understanding the markings on your old tyres is the first step in choosing a better model.
Written only in inches, the old agricultural tyre markings are composed of a series of numbers with a letter or hyphen in the middle:
The new European ETRTO markings are easier to read and comprise a series of numbers, a slash and some letters:
Agricultural tyres can be broken down into different categories which you need to be familiar with in order to choose the model that is best suited to your use.
Radial tyres are the most common. They have supple sidewalls mounted on a flexible structure arranged radially and a reinforced tread.
Thanks to these characteristics, the tread and the sidewalls of the tyre can work independently. They are well adapted to work in the fields due to their suppleness and to driving on the road because they are less likely to overheat than other types of tyre.
To get the most from radial agricultural tyres in terms of performance, you need to adapt inflation pressure taking into account several parameters:
The diagonal structure was the norm before the invention of radial tyres. On diagonal or bias-ply agricultural tyres, overlapping layers of chords are laid diagonally across the tyre forming a thick structure. The sidewalls and the top of these tyres are interdependent.
Unlike radial tyres whose soil footprint can be very shallow due to its capacity to spread out, diagonal structure tyres have more of an in-depth impact and are therefore much less suitable for work in the fields. On the other hand, they are adapted to work on harder surfaces because their sidewalls are thicker.
IF technology (Improved Flexion) tyres are among the best on the market.
They are radial structure tyres which, thanks to their more supple yet reinforced sidewalls, can bear up to 20% more load than standard agricultural tyres taking into account the same use criteria as for the previous tyres:
With IF tyres, you no longer need to adapt inflation pressure each time you drive on different ground, in particular during trips from field to road and vice versa.
Did you know that it’s sometimes smarter to take out a loan to cover the cost of good quality tyres?
The current extremely low lending rates are an invitation to change your investment strategy and take a more industrial approach to farming.
Contrary to common belief, the very low or zero interest rate offers, with repayments spread over a long period, should be seen as an opportunity to optimise your profitability.
Without requiring any immediate cash disbursement, you can keep your investment capacity for a more powerful tractor or larger implements, and you can become more productive immediately by spreading the expense over several years, leaving the banks to bear the weight of your investment.
This alternative means that you can give up the idea of second-hand tyres for which you do not know the past history of incidents or wear which could reserve unpleasant surprises at the wrong moment.
Tyre manufacturers regularly propose interesting promotional offers to boost their sales and your bargaining power is always greater at the end of the year than at the beginning of the year because they have annual sales objectives to meet.
These promotional offers are often more interesting for top quality models and the renewal of your tyres provides an opportunity to move up the range and increase your productivity.
IF tyres will allow you to improve your tractor’s traction capacity considerably by working at low pressure, with a much larger contact patch with the ground:
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