Managing your agricultural tyres at the right time

PLANTING PERIOD: How to optimise your traction

For jobs such as tilling and decompacting, you need optimal traction from your agricultural vehicles. Which is logical: the attachment in the ground behind your tractor generates serious resistance, so you need to up the power – especially if your soils are loose or very wet.
To get traction by making the most of your tractor tyres, MICHELIN has calculated the ideal slip rate: between 10% and 15%.
But above all, here are three key rules to optimise your traction:
- Check your tractor tyres are in good condition.
- Check their pressure is correct.
- Ballast them if necessary.

SOIL FERTILISATION PERIOD: Radial or bias technology for your tractor tyres?

It’s important to understand the difference between these two technologies, which involve the tyre’s “skeleton”. This can play a role when you come to fertilise your fields.
Radial technology offers a 30% wider footprint than bias technology. And the wider your footprint, the more traction you get, the more respect your soils get, the lower your fuel consumption, the higher your productivity… and you’ll be more comfortable too.

• BIAS (OR DIAGONAL) TECHNOLOGY > invented in 1800 > a simple stack of fabric layers > very rounded crown > small footprint.
• RADIAL TECHNOLOGY > invented by Michelin in 1946 > fabric or metal layers, with added “belt" layers > flatter crown > large footprint.

HARVESTING PERIOD: : How to store your tractor and trailer tyres harvest-ready?

Before you begin harvesting, be sure to check the pressure of the tyres on your vehicles. A pressure error can mean lower load capacity. It can also cause increased compaction of your soils, and even premature wear of your tyres.
To find out the correct pressure for each tyre, refer to the manufacturer’s technical documentation.

POST-HARVEST: How to store your tractor and trailer tyres when harvesting is over

Once harvesting is over, try to store your tyres as best you can. If they spend winter in poor conditions, they may deteriorate over time.
So that your tyres are operational when the next crop cycle begins, bear in mind these four tips:
- Clean your tyres with a pressure washer.
- Store them out of direct light, in a dry and well-ventilated place.
- Keep them away from solvents, oils and sharp objects.
- Store them away from heat sources such as welding sets and barbecues.
One last piece of advice: to avoid bouncing on the road when you resume using your tyres, take the greatest possible load off your axles and slightly increase your tyre pressure.

TRANSPORTING CROPS: Why your tyres show uneven Wear, and how to check they’re correctly aligned

Your agricultural tyres may display uneven wear. The main causes of this are under-inflating or over-inflating, and poor alignment.

You can do some checks yourself to see if there’s uneven wear:
- Standing back slightly, observe your tyres and their lugs.
- Check if the tyres are upright.
- Check the left and right tyre pressure.
- Using a ruler, check if your toe-in / toe-out is correct.

If there’s a clear problem, get a professional to look at your tyres.