Yokohama Off Highway Tires

Improvements Provide Huge Opportunity for Smaller Equipment The federal government recently made a historic commitment to massive infrastructure investment in the U.S. and is just beginning to spend billions of dollars to repair and improve roads, bridges, railways, and airports. These projects will put a lot of machines to work—from massive earth movers to compact loaders—in turn, the role of smaller equipment in day-to-day operations is growing. A lot is riding on equipment (and its tires) as the nation and construction businesses alike make the most of this excellent opportunity. What’s Driving the Need for Smaller Equipment? Unlike past infrastructure projects, many of which were built from the ground up in underdeveloped areas where huge earthmoving equipment could maneuver, most of today’s projects will involve repairing or replacing existing infrastructure in confined urban areas and on existing roads. A good comparison to today’s infrastructure projects is the “last mile” in tr...

Corn, Tires, and Old Adages The saying knee-high by the fourth of July was long used by farmers to judge the success of their corn crops—it means that growing conditions have been favorable, the crops are off to a good start, and big yields are expected come fall—and the adage remains popular today, despite being antiquated. Innovation in everything from seeds and treatments to equipment and tires has enabled earlier planting and faster-growing, higher-yielding corn. Origins of the Adage The roots of knee-high by the fourth of July are debatable. The Farmers Almanac is well-known for sharing old-timey wisdom and folklore and is commonly associated with the popularization of the saying. Many who date the adage to colonial times also commonly claim that the phrase is misinterpreted and that it’s not a measure of corn to a person standing in a field, but rather to that of a person on horseback. Some farmers think the idiom is a more modern invention, and date the saying to the turn of t...

Best Practices for Safer Winter Ag Tire Inspection In order to ensure everything is ready to roll in the spring, it’s common to inspect the tires of tractors, implements, and other farm equipment in the winter. Farms are filled with potential hazards and winter only ups the ante of something going sideways. Factors like short dark days, bitter cold, slick snow, and treacherous ice all pose additional challenges to farmers, tire dealers, and other ag tire personnel. Ben Franklin famously said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Follow his sage advice and take a few simple steps to improve your safety while working or visiting the farm this winter. Cold-Weather Accidents According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , there were more than 20,000 ice, sleet, and snow-related injuries in 2017 in the U.S. Whether working in the field, yard, or outbuildings, jobs on the farm are more exposed to these types of injuries compared to those in many other occupations. It’s not just...

Telehandlers Rise to New Challenges Telehandlers were developed to act as a forklift in rough terrain—a specialized tool, for a specific application, and occasional use. It didn’t take long for operators to discover just how versatile telehandlers are and for them to outgrow their original application. Telehandlers are more adaptable than forklifts and more compact and maneuverable than cranes, which has led them to be used in all manner of construction projects, including general construction, roofing, framing, masonry, demolition, commercial, retail, road, and bridgework. As the applications telehandlers are used in have grown, so have the available tire options for them. There are myriad options available for telehandlers, but selecting the right tire can have a huge impact on a machine’s performance by improving productivity, reducing downtime, and enhancing operator comfort. The right tires can even reduce tire cost per hour. The Challenge Facing Telehandler Tires Tires play a h...

Best Practices for Maintaining Solid Tires in Waste and Recycling Applications Solid tires play an important role in keeping equipment like wheel loaders and skid steers productive and efficient in waste management applications. Learning how to identify the common culprits of sub-par solid tire performance and adopting some simple best practices can pay off significantly, both for your tires and your operation. How Long do Solid Tires Last in Waste Applications? Solid tires are a popular choice for machines working in waste applications thanks to their puncture-proof performance and extended service life— solid tires can last three to five times longer than their pneumatic and foam-filled counterparts. That said, a number of factors contribute to just how long a tire will last in waste management applications, including the surface they’re used on, the duty cycle, the maintenance program, the person operating the equipment, the hazards they face, and tire selection. Although some fact...

One U.S. Farmers Feeds More than 160 People The number of people fed by a single U.S. farmer has grown steadily over the years. In the 1800s, a U.S. farmer grew enough food to feed between three and five people. According to the website Statista , the number has continued to grow over the decades:1940 ~20 1960 ~45 1980 ~100 2005 ~144 2022 ~165 While the statistic isn’t perfect, it does show a massive improvement in the efficiency and productivity of U.S. farmers. It might surprise you to learn that tires play an important role in helping farmers grow the number of people they feed. How the Number of People Fed by a Farmer Is Calculated In 2014, Bob Young, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation (which has been doing this calculation since the 1970s), explained how the number of people fed by a farmer is calculated . The number is based on a ratio—it’s calculated by taking cash receipts from farm ag products, subtracting the trade balance, and dividing the number back i...

Unlike traditional pneumatic tires which are filled with air, solid tires are made entirely from rubber, offering puncture-proof performance to skid steers operating in even the harshest terrain and drastically lowering the likelihood of downtime. The robust construction of solid skid steer tires also allows them to provide long service life—solid tires can last three to five times longer than pneumatic tires and provide better wear characteristics since many of them feature deeper tread.  We even figured out how to pack more rubber onto our  Galaxy Hulk SDS Severe Duty Solid : put it on a 16-inch rim and make up the difference with compound. That means the Hulk SDS has four times more usable rubber to the 60J line and still fits the same skid steers as the 20-inch competition. Simply put, the Hulk SDS has more rubber, lasts longer, lowers the number of time-consuming tire changeovers, and, even in high-intensity applications, delivers a low total cost of ownership (TCO). Soli...