Should I Choose Tubeless Forestry Tires?

Foresters have a lot to think about—from high-powered equipment to challenging terrain to gigantic trees—so it’s easy to understand why tires often get overlooked. However, tires have been on the top of foresters’ minds recently, as more and more of them are moving away from tube-type tires in favor of tubeless. Both tube and tubeless tires operate at the same inflation pressures and share load capacities, but the repairability and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) of tubeless tires have many proactive forestry operations thinking about their tires and how to maximize their investment in them.

Primex Flotation Forestry Tires

Logging equipment operates in some of the most demanding conditions for tires—steep slopes and muddy ground make traction a challenge while sharp stumps, branches, and rocks threaten puncture at all times. Forestry tires must also contend with the heavy weight and huge horsepower of modern logging equipment, along with the task of hauling hefty loads out of the forest. For such an imposing environment, the forest floor is surprisingly sensitive and the damage done during timber harvest can last for decades. 

To deal with this conundrum, many logging operations are turning to flotation tires featuring rugged construction to stand up to extreme environments and the tough tasks required of them, while also reducing the impact logging equipment has on the forest and improving sustainability. 

Forestry and Logging Tires from Alliance and Primex

There are literally thousands of Alliance and Primex tires, in numerous sizes, for a broad spectrum of industries—from agricultural to industrial. One sector that stands out is forestry tires. From the massive and powerful equipment that forestry tires are outfitted on to the harsh, often remote locations they work in, our forestry customers put a lot of faith in our product. We’re committed to delivering the highest-performing, longest-lasting, most reliable and cost-effective tires in the industry.  

Below are few things to look for in a forestry tire and some tried-and-true tires that our forestry and logging customers have been putting through the paces over the years.

Tires For Every Aspect of a Logging Operation 

Last fall, our marketing team took a trip through Georgia and Alabama to connect with our customers about the challenges facing them and to see our Primex logging tires in action. Watching the efficiency of our host logging operations and observing the size and power of the equipment used in-person is always amazing, and while we’re proud of the work our tires do in the forest, what we really hang our hard hat on is our ability to outfit operations—in this case, timber—with tires for every step of the way.

What Loggers and Skidder Dealers Look for in a Tire 

In his years running logging crews and his family’s TigerCat dealership, Allen Coleman has come to appreciate the difference the right set of tires can make to the productivity and efficiency of a logging operation and to the performance of machines such as skidders, harvesters, and forwarders.

Coleman is seemingly involved with everything logging—from his family’s 40-plus years owning and operating Plains Logging Company in White Plains, Georgia, to the diversification of the family business in 2011 with the purchase of an equipment company now known as AllWood Equipment in Washington, Georgia. Given Coleman’s extensive experience, when he talks about logging tires, we listen.