The potato harvest is the culminating point after several months of work. But this decisive phase is not without consequences for your soil, on which your productivity depends. A self-propelled potato harvester, with its considerable weight, can exert immense pressure on the structure of your soil, creating a high risk of compaction. This often underestimated phenomenon can have catastrophic long-term effects on your productivity, reducing soil permeability, limiting crop access to water and essential nutrients, and ending up by having an impact on your yields. Choosing the right agricultural tyre for a potato harvester is therefore not just a question of performance or durability, it’s also part of a proactive approach to protecting soil quality and health.
In this article we look at the essential criteria for selecting the best agricultural tyres for your harvesters so as to minimise their impact on the soil and guarantee your long-term potato production.
1. What impact does the potato harvesting campaign have on your soil?
Impact of the weight of the harvesters and pressure to the ground
The potato harvest puts severe strain on your soil.
The machines used are very heavy, such as the harvesters and the trailers which go back and forth, and exert significant pressure, leading to soil compaction in a large part of your field, with long-term consequences in terms of production capacity.
Self-propelled potato harvester
The negative effects of compaction in the long term
Soil compaction during potato harvesting is greater than with other types of crop and can have serious repercussions on your production capacity:
Reduction in soil porosity Compaction decreases the space between soil particles, thus reducing the roots’ capacity to spread correctly and asphyxiating biological life.
Limitation of water infiltration Compacted soil prevents water from infiltrating correctly into the deep layers of soil. This can lead to problems of drought or encourage erosion due to surface run-off.
Reduction in biological activity Compaction disturbs the living organisms in the soil, like earthworms, limiting their ability to act, which is essential for soil aeration and fertility.
Difficulty for roots to develop Compacted soil is more resistant to root penetration. The potatoes, whose tubers develop deep below, are highly sensitive to this problem which can result in smaller, less well-formed tubers developing.
Drop in yields All of these effects lead to a progressive drop in yields, because the plants have trouble getting access to the nutrients and water necessary for their growth. The soil is less conducive to better quality crop development.
2. Which agricultural tyre for a trailed in-line harvester behind the tractor?
Trailed in-line potato harvester
When the harvester is directly in line behind the tractor, you must give preference to narrow tyres to minimise damage to the tubers that you are harvesting, enabling:
A reduction of the soil footprint Narrow tyres reduce the soil footprint by passing between the potato mounds. The allow the harvester to work correctly without any resistance linked to earth compacted by wide tyres before its passage.
An increase in your yields Where large tyres drive part of the potatoes deeper into the ground by driving over them, narrow tyres allow you to harvest nearly all of your production.
Tractor with narrow tyres for an in-line harvester
Offset potato harvester
Offset harvesters collect up two or more rows of potatoes, just by the side of the tractor, which has many advantages:
Soil preservation Equipped with low-pressure tyres, the tractors only drive over areas that have already been harvested, so do not contribute to compaction, which encourages soil preservation for better crop development.
Versatility This type of set-up makes it possible to keep the wide tractor tyres for other farming tasks, which means that you don’t need to change tyres for each different activity.
Looking for tyres that are perfectly suited to an offset harvester?
Firestone’s Maxi Traction tyres are ideal for this type of machine thanks to their large soil footprint and their ability to work at a low inflation pressure.
Offset potato harvester to keep wide low-pressure tyres on the tractor
3. Which agricultural tyre for self-propelled harvesters?
Self-propelled harvesters, due to their considerable weight which can exceed 20 tonnes, or even 30 tonnes for certain harvesters when the hopper is full, pose quite a challenge in terms of soil preservation.
However, use of wide low-pressure tyres can attenuate their impact:
Wide tyres: these spread the weight over a larger area, which reduces pressure to the ground and therefore limits excessive compaction.
Tyre pressure: working with a low inflation pressure reduces compaction even further, if you tyres can handle it based on the load. You can decrease pressure to expand the contact patch with the ground lengthways.
Tyre profile: this must be adapted to this type of harvest. Wide tyres at the rear to carry the load and a narrow tyre at the front for precision steering between the rows of potatoes without damaging the crops.
Narrow tyres at the front of a self-propelled harvester
4. Good practices for soil preservation during potato harvesting
1. Choose tyres suitable for this type of harvest
Tyre equipment plays a decisive role in soil preservation.
Low-pressure tyres, such as IF (Improved Flexion) tyres, are particularly well suited to agricultural work involving heavy machinery.
These tyres spread the load over a larger area, thus reducing compaction.
2. Working with optimal soil conditions
The moment you choose to carry out the harvest has a direct impact on the state of the soil.
It is advisable to work when the soil is sufficiently dry to cope with the toing and froing of machinery without becoming excessively misshapen.
The advantages of working on dry soil:
Reduced risk of compaction.
Less slip.
Better quality work.
3. Consciously reduce the load
The load weighing on the axles of agricultural machines is a major factor in soil compaction.
For example, for a large 26 tonne self-propelled harvester, the tare weight distribution will be 7,000 kg on the front axle and 19,000 kg on the rear axle, to which the weight of the front hopper during operations must be added.
By consciously reducing the weight of the hopper, it is possible to reduce the pressure exerted on the ground and as such limit compaction.
To reduce the load:
Do not systematically fill up the hopper to the brim.
Unload more frequently
4. Empty at the edge of the field
To limit the repeated coming and going of tractors and trailers over the field, we recommend that you empty the hopper at the edge of the plot.
This reduces the number of passages and therefore limits compaction.
The benefits of this practice?
Fewer passages,
Less compaction,
Better soil protection.
Unloading the potato harvester at the edge of the field
5. Two agricultural tyre ranges are suitable for potato farming
For this type of crop, two ranges of tyres stand out due to their special features: the Maxi Traction Harvest tyre to equip the rear of self-propelled harvesters and the Performer 95 Row Crop tyre to steer the front of the machine.
Maxi Traction Harvest: an excellent choice for soil preservation
Designed to cope with variable loads while minimising the impact to the ground, Maxi Traction Harvest tyres are perfect for intensive harvesting operations.
A large soil footprint: their design makes it possible to spread the weight of the machine over a large area, thus preserving the soil.
Sturdiness and durability: the reinforced casing and high quality materials used for the production of these tyres mean that they can cope with the variable loads linked to filling the hopper, while working at a low inflation pressure, even in the harshest conditions.
Dual angle lugs: its lugs provide exceptional adherence, even on wet ground, while minimising the damage caused to crops.
Maxi Traction Harvest tyres allow you to lower the inflation pressure despite the weight of the potato harvester
Performer 95 Row Crop: an ultra-resistant tyre
Firestone’s Performer 95 tyres offer a unique combination of performance and crop care.
Narrow profile: their narrow profile allows them to travel between the rows of potatoes without damaging the tubers, thus reducing harvesting losses, whether for the tractor with a trailed harvester or the front wheels of a self-propelled harvester.
Steel belt: this feature reinforces the structure of the tyre, allowing it to carry heavy loads while retaining a high level of flexibility.
High load capacity: Performer 95 tyres are capable of carrying heavy loads, which is always necessary for the front axle of a self-propelled harvester.
Performer 95 tyres are ideal for the front wheels of a potato harvester
CONCLUSION
Potato harvesting operations may have negative consequences on soil structure if they are not carried out with care.
The choice of tyres for harvesting machines is decisive in minimising the impact of these operations on the fertility of your soil.
At Firestone, we have a wide range of tyres suitable for harvesting. Among them, the Maxi Traction Harvest tyre and the Performer 95 Row Crop tyre stand out due to their specific design which allows them to protect the soil while optimising machine performance.
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With Firestone, you have the guarantee of tractor tyres that deliver a real advantage, and that in choosing our brand, you can work worry-free.
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This information is intended only to make you aware of the technical and functional aspects of agricultural tires and their use. It does not allow you to make a judgment or a definitive conclusion on a given problem. Only your agricultural tire expert is able to make a technical assessment and take a final decision, case by case.
