Farm equipment tyre maintenance will save money

Among the most pressing challenges facing farmers is the constant pressure on margins.

Many factors affecting agricultural productivity are beyond the farmer’s control – fuel prices, market fluctuations, unfavourable weather conditions, etc – so it makes sense not to neglect things they can do something about.

One that is important, but frequently misunderstood, is tyres, says Stephan van Staden, National Agricultural specialist at Bridgestone, manufacturer of specialised agricultural tyres.

“Farmers are generally open to innovation because they know they need all the help they can get.

“Clearly, that’s the right approach but they must also be careful not to ignore the large gains that they can obtain from managing their tyres,” he says.

“In particular, maintaining proper tyre pressures and setting up ballast can save an enormous amount of money and increase productivity.”

Van Staden explains that tyres account for 20 to 40% of horsepower loss and thus optimising their efficacy through correct pressure and ballast will reduce that percentage.

The key is to ensure the optimal amount of tyre surface engages with the field surface – an optimal footprint will maximise a tractor’s efficiency while minimising fuel use. It will also prolong tyre life. Achieving the optimal tyre footprint means calculating the lowest tyre inflation needed to carry the load.

Of course, part of the load will be the ballast needed to give the tractor the necessary weight for a particular job.

Another advantage of the lowest practical tyre inflation is that soil compaction is minimised, thus contributing to the overall health of the soil.

“It’s important to understand that there is no ‘best tyre pressure’ for a tractor – it must be calculated according to the load it is carrying in each case,” he explains.

“The benefits can be quite extraordinary.”

He adds that fuel has now become the second largest input cost to farmers, so any consistent saving of fuel costs is highly advantageous.

In order to set up a tractor correctly, the first step is to ensure tyres of the correct size are fitted. Then it is necessary to determine the correct weight split between front and rear, and then the amount of weight on each tyre.

Ballast may need to be added depending on what equipment the tractor is pulling and this will affect the weight split.

While hydroinflation has been traditionally used for ballasting and is cheap, it has a number of disadvantages. The modern trend is to rely on dry weights.

Hydroinflation is, in any event, not suitable for radial tyres, which are increasingly being used in agriculture because they offer a six to 14% performance improvement over cross-ply tyres. – Own Correspondent