TOUGH conditions are tough on tyres, but farmers can save money by ensuring they manage their tyres correctly.
Australian Tyre Traders, general manager marketing and sales, David Naughton, said for starters all farmers should have a tyre pressure plan.
“You shouldn’t be running one pressure on a piece of equipment for a year,” he said.
“It’s really important that farmers have a pressure plan and have the time to adjust the tyre pressure.
“If you have equipment that sometimes runs at 40 kilometres an hour, fully loaded, it needs to be at a pressure to be able to do that.
“If we reduce the load by 50 per cent and slow the speed down, it can run at a much lighter pressure.
Mr Naughton said besides reducing wear and tear there were other reasons to manage tyre pressure.
“If you adjust the pressure appropriately the footprint and penetration in the ground will be much less,” he said.
“It will be much better for the soil, there may be a better yield and your tyre will last a lot longer.”
Australian Tyre Traders is a distributor, importer and manufacturer of tyres for road and agricultural use.
“We have two ranges of agricultural tyres, both our Harvest HB45 Bias Ply range and our Harvest HR45 range,” Mr Naughton said.
“We’re the only business in Australia that specifically designs and manufacturers their tyre for Australian conditions.”
Unique conditions
Mr Naughton said Australians farmed in unique conditions that needed to be considered when purchasing tyres
“You need a product that is reliable and works a long service life,” he said.
“Tyres designed for smaller European farms are manufactured primarily for short haul and they operate a lot cooler then what we do in Australia.”
Mr Naughton said Australian purpose built tyres included an extra large heavy case with a heavier construction built from a premium core compound.
“Quite often you can visit one farm and have so many different types of soil types,” he said.
“So you need a product that is really durable.
“We are looking to have a tyre that’s designed to be capable of running with the lowest ground pressure.
“From a manufacturing perspective, it means manufacturing without cutting any corners and using premium components.
“From a technology point of view, it means looking at the best manufacturers around the world to see what works and doesn’t work.
“It’s super important we don’t cut any corners.”