Yokohama Off Highway Tires

A practical report from a Dutch bulb grower about the Alliance AGRIFLEX+ 363 and 354 tires Adriaan Van der Steen is a farmer-contractor from North Brabant in the Netherlands. Together with his brother and father, they have been running this family business for the last 10 years cultivating first year bulbs of hyacinths, lilies, tulips and some vegetables. Due to the nature of the flower business, they are operating on the machines with row crop tires. Initially, all their machines were running on the tires from an expensive premium brand but it just didn’t work well, as the wear was so high that they had to change the tires every 1,5 – 2 seasons. “We are operating on a large area split into smaller plots, sometimes 20 km away from each other, so we spend up to 60% of our time driving on the roads between the fields. That is why our previous tires hardly lasted for 2 seasons. Two years ago, we were so disappointed that I have asked my tire dealer Marius Dorst, Zuid-West Banden, for a n...

Make These Common Farm Tire Mistakes a Thing of the Past It’s not just common for people to make the same mistake over and over again, it’s science . The human brain isn’t wired to learn from errors. Rather than admitting to making a mistake, it searches for anything but itself to incriminate, then reinforces the bad behavior. This explains why we see so many farmers repeatedly making the same tire mistakes. Fortunately, it’s possible to break the cycle by looking to the future instead of dwelling on the past. Five Common Farm Tire Mistakes Stop making these five common farm tire mistakes.   1. Not Regularly Checking Inflation Pressure Whether your equipment is working on soil in the field or concrete in the yard, inflation pressure matters. Operating tires at the proper inflation pressure can provide a host of benefits, including improved performance and fuel efficiency, reduced soil compaction, longer service life, and less downtime. To get the most out of your tires, know t...

What is More Fuel-Efficient, Tires or Tracks? Tractors are the engine of a farm, pulling everything from planting implements like seeders in the spring to hauling carts during harvest in the fall. Because tractors are the primary power source on the farm, the expense of keeping them fueled is significant—most years, fuel accounts for about 5% of a farmer’s overall costs . Given the considerable expense of fuel, even small differences can result in large returns—which begs the question, what is more fuel-efficient: tires or tracks? NTTL 2012 Study   The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Tractor Test Lab (NTTL) has made the most notable comparison of the fuel efficiency of wheeled tractors vs. tractors equipped with tracks. In 2012, they studied the fuel consumption of two tractors—a Case Steiger 600 and Case Steiger 600 QuadTrac—in a variety of field conditions and load scenarios.   On the Road  On hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete, tires far surpass tracks i...

  Compact Tractor Tires to Keep You from Falling Behind This Autumn yohta-blog.yokohama-oht.com Compact Tractors for Fall Cleanup Versatility is the reason why compact tractors are the backbone of many landscape operations and small acreages. These workhorses are able to tackle a wide variety of autumn applications thanks in part to their ability to work with a number of attachments, whether a front-end loader for moving firewood or a tow-behind vacuum for collecting leaves. In the end, a compact tractor can save landscape business owners and hobby farmers a considerable amount of time and effort in the fall (and throughout the year). Five Fall-Friendly Compact Tractor Attachments    Leaf Baggers/Vacuums/Sweepers Raking and bagging leaves can take a substantial amount of manual labor, especially if you’re maintaining a large piece—or multiple pieces—of property. There are a handful of attachments that can help with leaf collection, from baggers to vacuums to sweepe...

Signs That It’s Time for New Tires Farmers depend heavily on tractors, and how well those tractors perform depends largely on their tires. Tires past their prime no longer efficiently transfer a tractor’s power to the ground and fail to provide adequate traction, which can reduce productivity and add fuel costs. Operating a tractor with tires in need of replacement is also a recipe for costly and frustrating downtime. There’s no standard rule for when it’s time to replace the tires on your tractor, but there are some tell-tale signs that it’s time for new tires. Tire Damage Punctures are one of the most common causes of tire damage, and there are numerous ways that tractor tires are subjected to puncture damage—for example, spear-like stubble, unseen fence posts, and stray nails. While tires can withstand a lot of abuse, older tires simply have less rubber than newer ones, and rubber is the first line of defense against punctures. If a cut, tear, or puncture exposes the body plies or b...