What an agricultural tire has to do
A farm tire carries a heavy machine over soft ground without destroying either. That is a different job from a highway tire, and it pulls in two directions at once: enough grip and flotation to work the field, enough road manners to get there.
The machine decides most of it. A tractor pulling tillage wants traction under load. A sprayer wants to carry weight on narrow rubber without tearing up a growing crop. A combine carries enormous weight on the front axle at harvest. A grain cart is at its heaviest exactly when the ground is at its softest. Each is a different tire, and the same farm usually needs several of them.
Equipment Purcell supplies tires for
- Tractors, from utility machines to high horsepower row crop
- Combines and harvesters
- Sprayers, including narrow row configurations
- Tillage, planting and seeding implements
- Grain carts, trailers and wagons
- Irrigation equipment, which sits still most of the year and then has to move
For tracked machines, see tracks. For loaders and heavy equipment working the yard, see OTR tires.
What to tell the store
Ag sizes are varied and the right answer depends on the work rather than the brochure. Have this ready:
- The size from the sidewall, exactly as it reads.
- The machine, by make and model.
- The job. Tillage, spraying, harvest, hauling, road work between fields.
- The ground. Heavy clay, sand, stubble, rock, irrigated.
- How much road. A machine that spends hours on asphalt wears differently from one that never leaves the field.
- What failed last time. Sidewall damage, lug wear, punctures and separation each point somewhere different.
Purcell works with 14 tire brands across the business, listed on the brands page. Stock and sizes vary by location, so confirm availability before you plan a change.
Retreading agricultural casings
Six of Purcell's seven retread plants list agricultural casings among the tires they retread or repair. For large ag tires this is worth asking about every time: the casing is the expensive structure, it accumulates hours rather than miles, and a sound one can carry new tread rather than being scrapped.
Casings are collected at the store you deal with and retreaded at a plant in Phoenix, Denver, Boise, Cleveland, Portland or Salt Lake City. See retreading for how the program works.
Timing
Ag tire work belongs between seasons. The machine is standing anyway, the size is easier to get hold of before everyone needs it, and nothing is waiting on the field. The farms that get the worst of it are the ones calling during harvest about a tire they knew was marginal in March.