No two pieces of farm equipment are the same. Matching the right tires to your sprayers and tractors ensures proper flotation, good traction, and ideal load carrying capacity.
Therefore, the requirements for both sprayer tires and tractor tires vary, whether for row crop applications or high speed farm work. Each radial ag tire is designed with proper tread design, optimized load rating, and flotation technology.
Importance of Ag Tire Lug Design
Tractors and self-propelled or towed sprayers, the common element inherent to both is the requirement of roading the equipment from operation to operation.
The agriculture tire market is constantly driven by necessity and evolving needs from farm equipment. To match, the tire industry constantly creates new kinds of specialty tires for such demands. For example, the evolution of farm tires to the 45° lug design, became an industry pillar in both North America and Europe as different tires changed for sprayers, tractors, and more.
Differences Between Sprayer and Tractor Tires
If you compare tractor or harvester designed tires to sprayer tires, there are some crucial farming application points to keep in mind:
- Self-propelled sprayers will operate both slow speeds and high speeds for travel on the farmland and on the road.
- Due to heavy tank Loads in cyclic spraying operations, tires must be rated for heavy axle loads in terms of load index or load per tire.
- As row crop sprayers operate when crops are in full bloom and therefore require high crop clearance, the resulting tire sidewall or tire air chamber is smaller which demands stronger materials and rubber compound designed for high air pressures.
- Since sprayers are roaded so often, sprayer tires have more lugs per tire to reduce the lug to void ratio increasing the amount of rubber contacting the surface ensuring improved stability and a higher speed rating.
Since key product requirements are very different for tractors, harvesters, and floaters vs sprayers, the different tread design, load ratings and speed ratings show how different they must be depending on the farm application:
- R1 – Standard Tread Depth A8 = 25 mph Transport Speed
- R1W – Wet Traction (+20% Deeper) B = 30 mph Transport Speed
- R2 – Super Deep Tread Depth (+40% Deeper ) D = 40 mph Transport Speed
| Platform | Tread Type | Lug to Void Ratio | Speed Requirement | Load Capacity |
| MFWD Tractor | R1-R1W-R2 | Standard | A8/B evolving to D | Based on Axle Load |
| 4WD Tractor | R1-R1W-R2 | Standard | A8/B evolving to D | Based on Axle Load |
| Harvester | R1-R1W-R2 | Standard | A8/B evolving to D | Based on Axle Load |
| Floater | R1-R1W | Standard | D Rated | Based on Axle Load & Speed |
| Self-Propelled Sprayer | R1 | Smaller Void/p Lugs | D Rated | Based on Axle Load & Speed |
At high speeds, the shallower R1 tire ensures a more uniform distribution of load per lug, especially on high clearance self-propelled sprayers. As lug design is a crucial part of ag tire design, how do row crop tires optimize flotation and crop yield?
VF Technology and Improved Flotation
VF tires can carry 40% more load at standard air pressures.
In the below example, we demonstrate the load carrying capacity of a standard MAXAM tire at a 380/90R46 tire size versus a VF MAXAM tire at a 380/90R46 tire size.
- Standard Tire: 380/90R46 AGRIXTRA N rated at 159A8/B can carry:
- 25/30 mph with a maximum load of 9645 Lbs. at 58 PSI.
- VF Tire: 380/90R46 AGRIXTRA N rated at 173D can carry:
- 40 mph with a maximum load of 14330 Lbs. at 64 PSI.
- At almost the same inflation pressure the VF tire carries +4600 Lbs
- VF Tire is 10 mph faster than the standard tire.
For a standard tire to carry the 14,000 lbs, you would need to increase the air pressure and slow down the equipment below 30 mph to meet the load carrying capacity. In a towed application any sprayer tire must have proper tire inflation.
The better the air pressure management, the better the tire performance, limiting soil compaction, offering a smoother ride, and reducing rolling resistance.
MAXAM Tire is more than just a tire manufacturer, we’re your partner in all that agriculture throws your way. We pride ourselves in delivering excellent ag tires, leading insights from inside the tire industry, and a warranty that supports our farmers and growers season after season.
Download our warranty below, or scroll on for more tools, tips, and ag tire information.
[DOWNLOAD WARRANTY]
