Every minute in the field counts, and durable tires are the key to keeping up.  Firestone Ag Tire expert Bill Durivage said tire technology and design boost durability, allowing you to cover more ground with fewer replacements and greater reliability.

 

“Tire integrity, longevity, and durability, all that starts with our lab and our engineering. Tires should help maximize the performance of your equipment and need to protect your soil," Durivage said.  "So, with Firestone, we have the Farm Tire Test Center in Columbiana, Ohio, at Harvey Firestone’s original family farm. It's a facility dedicated exclusively to testing farm tires for North American farmers.  So, we have Bridgestone and Firestone engineers who collaborate on a global scale to do research, test the rubber compounds, and develop new tread designs specifically for farm applications. We use in-the-field data and our tire engineering expertise, and we combine those to advance our innovative tire solutions.  So, we have in-house computer experts that virtually design models of the tires first, and then they optimize that to maximize the performance before we develop experimental tires that are then tested at Columbiana and then put out into real-world conditions.”

 

Proper tire tread design, he stressed, can have a big impact on a tire’s wear life.

 

“There are three main parts of the tread design that impact the wear life. There's the tread pattern itself, in the skid-depth of that tread pattern. The design of the lugs, and the arrangement of those lugs affect how the wear impacts the tire over time," Durivage  said.  "The overall lug volume, so typically, a larger lug or having more tread rubber translates to better durability and longevity. Tires with larger lugs are more resistant to abrasion, and having a rear surface area of that lug on the top, when it is in contact with the road surface, equally distributes that weight and reduces localized pressures, which then can lead to faster tread deterioration, so having a wider lug is going to be better for wear. And then the tread compound itself. We develop ag tread compounds that are formulated to deliver long, lasting wear life, enhance the durability of the product, but also protect from stubble damage.”

 

Durivage added farmers can take steps to extend the wear life of their tires.

 

“The main thing is maintaining proper inflation pressure. Having the correct inflation pressure helps them maintain traction in the field but also protects their durability and prevents irregular tire wear they experience on the road," he said.  "Just having regular tire pressure checks and maintenance. Do a quick 15-minute check to ensure your tires are in good shape, and you avoid any kind of downtime in the field. We also have a seven-step checklist on our Firestone Ag website. Prepare your equipment before going into the field and when in doubt, you can always contact your locally-certified Firestone Ag tire dealer or get with our Firestone field engineering team, or on our website at FirestoneAg.com to get more information.”

 

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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