
As Temperatures Drop, Remember Your Tires
Winter is coming with colder temperatures, wet or icy ground, and snow in some areas too. However, work still needs to be done. Greg Jones, a Firestone Ag Tire expert, talks about how cold temperatures and winter weather impact equipment tires.
“Inflation pressure and temperature are directly related, and how they're related is that higher temperatures mean higher pressure and lower temperatures mean low pressure," he noted. "So in the winter time, when you have those cooler temperatures outside, just know that the pressure inside your tires is naturally going to be less. Think about the elasticity. I can use a really simple illustration. When you take a rubber band, you stretch it, and you let go. Being elastic, it returns to its natural shape. If you put the rubber band in the freezer and let it get really, really cold, you do the same thing and stretch it, then it will not return to its natural shape. So you kind of get the illustration of how rubber works, so you know, in the cooler temperatures, that's what's happening with the tire.”
Jones added there are several, simple steps farmers can take to maintain those ag tires during the winter months.
“If you can store your equipment inside, that's great because leaving tires outside can allow those tires to get really, really cold, and from the standpoint of the pressures can be really, really low," Jones said. "So, you do need to check your air pressure daily or weekly or just before you use your equipment to make sure that that pressure is going to be able to do what you need to do. Because I do understand, even in the wintertime, people are pushing snow. They're getting out to feed their cattle. They have to use the equipment during the wintertime, so maybe checking the pressures before you use it and just knowing that you get the right pressure for what you're about to do is going to be key.”
He added it’s important to optimize those tires for efficient winter use.
“Just understanding ag tires are great for fields and dirt, but when you get into the ice and snow, it may be necessary to add weight to your equipment to get that stability, and it also may be necessary to add tire chains," Jones continued. "We do know that people do that in situations where they're pushing snow and they're in these icy conditions, so you have to use chains. You need to reach out to your local dealer to ensure you have the right chain for your tires and to make sure it's installed correctly. But those are also some ideas that you can have for being able to manipulate your equipment when you're in icy snow-type conditions.
“If you want any more tips on tires of winter, you can go to FirestoneAg.com or visit your certified Firestone Ag dealer. Either one of those will be two good resources for being able to understand our products. We do have an inflation calculator out there. We've got a lot of tips and tools all on that website. If you know your equipment, the weight per axle, then you can go out and put that in along with your tire size and get the proper inflation pressure.”
If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com
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