Tires Improve Rental Skid Steer Performance and Profits 

With the ability to perform a variety of tasks—from leveling ground to clearing debris and moving materials—skid steers have become a fixture on construction sites and a prominent piece of equipment for rental companies. The best asset of skid steers, their versatility, makes tire selection a challenge for those managing rental fleets. Without knowledge of the applications that machines are used for, it’s difficult to equip them with tires that meet both the customer’s expectations and those of the rental company.
 
Galaxy Mighty Trac ND tiresGalaxy Mighty Trac ND tires on a Bobcat skid steer


Skid Steer Tires Matter


Tires are typically the most expensive consumable item on a skid steer—they can represent up to 30% of the operating and maintenance costs in the rental industry. This means that selecting a tire that delivers long service life and a low total cost of ownership (TCO) can have a big impact on profitability. 

Tires can also have an outsized role in customer satisfaction. Rental customers expect machines to work and are doubly damaged by downtime, as they could end up paying for inoperable machinery while simultaneously falling behind schedule. While downtime happens, it’s not just your tires that get damaged if it becomes a frequent occurrence—so will your rental company’s reputation. 
  

Tire Needs of Rental Skid Steers 


From roadwork on abrasive asphalt to moving materials around muddy construction sites, knowing the terrain and application customers are using a rental skid steer for is a bit of a guessing game. Something that’s not a mystery is the list of qualities rental customers expect in a tire:

  • Puncture protection 
  • Ride comfort 
  • Sidewall strength 
  • Stability 
  • Traction   

Conversely, rental companies know exactly what they’re looking for in a tire: long service life and a high return on investment. They also prioritize the factors that add up to long-lasting and profitable tires, such as good heat dissipation, robust carcass, and cut and chip resistance that facilitate it.  

Keep Track of Tires 

One of the simplest and most effective steps rental companies can take toward maximizing their investment in skid steer tires is to track the applications and conditions the machines are used in. A quick customer survey is one method to gauge how customers are using skid steers. 

Another tried and true practice for tracking skid steer use is to inspect the tires when machines are returned. For example:

  • Skid steers that frequently come back with muddy tires are good candidates for tires with traditional R-4 bar-lug patterns, like the Galaxy Beefy Baby III.
  • Skid steers commonly returned with tires showing abrasive wear from working on hard surfaces can benefit from block-treaded L-4 tires, like our Galaxy Hulk. 
  • Skid steers that arrive back with cuts or chunking may profit from a switch to solid tires; Galaxy offers solid versions of both the Beefy Baby and Hulk. 

In the end, the more information a rental company can gather on how its skid steers are used, the terrain they work in, how long they’re operated for, and what tires last the longest, the shrewder tire decisions they can make.

An All-Around Skid Steer Tire 


Whether your rental company doesn’t have the bandwidth to track tires or finds that they’re being used in a variety of applications, other options are available. Tires like our Galaxy Mighty Trac ND are specifically designed with industries like the rental market in mind and deliver the performance and uptime to keep customers happy and the low TCO needed to keep margins healthy.   

Galaxy Mighty Trac ND 


The Galaxy Mighty Trac ND features a non-directional, siped block tread design and balanced 52:48 rubber-to-void ratio, which allows it to excel in a wide range of conditions—whether on soft or hard surfaces. With sipes in every tread block, the Mighty Trac ND is more than just a multi-application tire, it’s an all-season skid steer tire that’s as adept in a snowy parking lot as it is on a sandy construction site. 

Because skid steers often spend as much time traveling in reverse as they do moving forward, the Galaxy Mighty Trac ND’s non-directional tread pattern provides superb traction no matter which way the machine is moving—something rental customers are sure to appreciate. The other aspect rental houses really appreciate about a non-directional tread pattern is they can have assemblies created with rims and have to maintain one option for all four wheel positions, rather than maintaining one for lefts and rights, which is needed with directional patterns. 

Traction in all conditions, all seasons, and all directions make the Galaxy Mighty Trac ND a favorite of rental company customers, and rental companies appreciate the Mighty Trac ND’s special tread compound, robust sidewalls, and strong casing. All of this adds up to a tire that delivers the performance rental customers demand and the long service life rental companies require. 

Learn More About Our Galaxy Mighty Trac ND

Contact your local Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America, Inc. dealer or rep to learn how our numerous skid steer tire options can help your rental company improve customer satisfaction and its bottom line.