Why the Biggest Tire Isn't Always the Best Tire 

The trend for agricultural machinery to become increasingly large and powerful might lead farmers to believe that bigger is always better. Though larger machines frequently lead to increases in overall productivity, having the biggest tires may, in fact, reduce the efficiency of your farm equipment. Recently, I helped a customer dispel the mistaken belief that “bigger is better” by outfitting their tractor with the tire size they needed to optimize performance and avoid the other pitfalls that could arise out of “over-tiring” your equipment.

As of Jan 1, 2021, Alliance Tire Group and Alliance Tire Americas, Inc. changed their names to Yokohama Off-Highway Tires and Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America, Inc respectively. The Alliance, Galaxy and Primex brands and product names remain unchanged. Product information is available at www.yokohama-oht.com.

The Alliance Agristar 374, a new R-2 radial tire for muddy rice and sugar cane fields from the Alliance Tire Group, combines deep-lug traction with excellent roadability. With its unique tread bar design—more than 3 inches deep—the new tire features a pair of "step" reinforcements to reduce lug movement and heat buildup while delivering the tractor's torque to soft ground. This stable footprint exerts great traction in mud and even, long-lasting performance on the road. The Alliance Agristar 374 lug also features a flat tread profile, as well as a wide nose that creates a dense center line to keep the tire steady and smooth on the road while minimizing irregular tread wear from pavement.

How to Select the Right Tractor Tire

In my role as the National Agriculture Product Manager, one of the most frequent questions I receive is how to pick the perfect set of tires for a tractor. With so many different technologies, tread patterns, and features available on today’s tires, in addition to a whole host of other variables, it’s easy to see how customers can get bogged down when searching through a company’s catalog. However, over the years, I’ve developed a simple process for finding just the right tractor tire for you.

Learning an Unplanned Lesson About Tire Inflation 

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” - Robert Burns

I’ve always liked this quote and can’t help but think of farmers when I hear it. With so many decisions needing to be made throughout the year, even the best-prepared farmers can watch their plans unravel as factors outside of their control—such as tariffs, insects, drought, flood, fuel, labor, and breakdowns—conspire against them. With so many elements that farmers can’t control, it’s important to seek out advantages with the ones they can, such as tires.

Since the development and introduction of IF, then VF, tire technology nearly a decade ago, more and more farmers have been using them as a way to offset withering profits caused by low commodity prices and increasing input costs. Farmers fighting against tighter profit margins can increase their yields with high-tech tires like our AgriFlex line of IF/VF tires, and now the question begs to be asked: are IF/VF the future of farm tires?