QUESTION
What is the correct way to handle loose Large AG Tires, what equipment is required, what are the most vulnerable portions of tire prone to damage, and which specific handling techniques should be avoided?
AG TIRE TALK KEY TAKEAWAYS
YOKOHAMA TWS: “Using the wrong equipment can damage a tire that could be worth thousands of dollars.”
YOKOHAMA OFF-HIGHWAY TIRES AMERICA: “The bead is the most vulnerable part of an agricultural tire. A single nick can render a tire useless, making careful handling essential.”
MICHELIN AG: “My personal favorite and recommended method for moving Ag tires is the use of a tire grabber or tire clamp.”
BKT: “When possible, use flat textile straps or a clamp (instead of forks) when moving and loading large tires.”
MAXAM: “In the handling of Ag tires, the following areas are critically important during any tire service: Bead Area, Sidewall Area, and Inner Liner.”
Yokohama TWS
Chris Neidert: AG Marketing, Training & Development Manager for Trelleborg & Mitas Tires – North America
As AG Equipment gets bigger, so do the tires. To safely handle large ag tires takes special equipment and good operator training- let’s look at some equipment.
Squeeze Lift
This is a typical “Squeeze Lift” that is used by most companies that handle large tires. Just as the term reads, the machine “squeezes” the object being picked up. In this case, it will be tires. Operating a squeeze lift forklift involves using clamps to grip and lift loads, like a regular forklift but with the clamps squeezing the load from the sides for safe movement and virtually no chance to damage the tires.
Squeeze Lift
Torpedo Forklift
Here is what is called a “torpedo forklift”. The term refers to a forklift attachment, specifically a long tube, designed to handle and transport tires. These attachments, mounted to the end of the forklift forks, allow for efficient handling and loading of tires.
Torpedo Forklift
Improper Handling
Using a traditional forklift is not a good choice when handling large ag tires. Using the wrong equipment can damage a tire that could be worth thousands of dollars. Using improper equipment can not only be costly, but because the damaged tire will need to be replaced, delivery delays may ensue, or the tire that is needed may not be available.
Below is a traditional forklift with traditional forks. Those fork edges can damage the bead and sidewall of a tire. It is strongly recommended to not use this equipment as it has a high chance of damaging the sidewall and/or the bead area of the tire. This damage most likely will render the tire unusable.
Improper Equipment
TIRE DAMAGE Using Improper Equipment
Best Shipping Methods
Finally, let’s talk about shipping. Most times, ag tires can be shipped on pallets. This will help make sure the tires are not damaged by the trucking company forklift per our examples above.
We show a couple of examples with tires on pallets and tires loaded loose on a trailer. If shipping on a trailer, make sure the tires are securely fastened with strong straps.
We do not recommend shipping tires loose or laying on the ground. Forklift damage will most likely occur.
Summary
Ag tires can be expensive, sometimes costing over $10,000- make sure you have the correct equipment to move the tires around your warehouse. When shipping tires, protect that investment by shipping on strong pallets or ship securely on a flat bead trailer.
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America Inc.
James Crouch: National Product Manager for Agriculture, responsible for Alliance & Galaxy Brands.
Large agricultural tires are more than merely big in size—they also represent a significant investment for both dealers and end users. However, this investment is easily lost due to improper handling and storage, leading to costly waste and sustainability concerns.
Precautions When Handling Ag Tires
The bead is the most vulnerable part of an agricultural tire. A single nick can render a tire useless, making careful handling essential. One of the most common causes of bead damage is improper forklift use. You won’t find a piece of equipment with standard pallet-type forks at any Alliance factory or warehouse. Traditional forks have sharp edges designed for wooden pallets, but when used to move tires, they can slice through the bead, ruining the tire before it even gets mounted.
Many try to avoid the potential damage done by pallet forks by hanging tires from the forks with chains, ropes, or hooks. Unfortunately, these can also damage a tire’s bead by concentrating the entire weight of the tire—in some cases more than 700 pounds—on a single spot.
The Right Equipment for Handling Farm Tires
Every farmer understands the need to have the right tool for the job. Tire squeezers (also sometimes called tire clamps) are the industry standard for moving tires. Tire squeezers are attachments that fit onto forklifts, skid steers, tractors, and crane trucks to grip the outside of the tire (along the tread) and avoid contact with the less resilient bead area.
Tire Squeezer
Mounting large agricultural tires requires the proper equipment. It’s nearly impossible to install a large farm tire by yourself. Consequently, most service trucks are equipped with booms for lifting. These booms should use attachments like clamps that grip the outside of the tire or wide lifting tools that distribute the weight of heavy tires evenly over a large area to protect the bead and avoid hooks and chains that put too much pressure on a single point, risking bead deformation.
A Sustainability Concern
A tire with a damaged bead is ruined. More than merely a financial loss, it’s also terrible for sustainability. Once a tire is rendered unusable, the resources invested in its production are wasted. Alliance makes minimizing waste a priority at every step of production—it’s good for the planet and it’s one way we’re able to keep the performance of our tires high and their cost low.
The use of proper handling and mounting equipment can help both dealers and farmers protect their investment in large agricultural tires—saving money, avoiding unnecessary waste, and supporting sustainability.
Michelin Ag
David Graden: Global Account Manager – Agriculture
Michelin Ag tires are an expensive investment for farmers and their machine’s efficiency. Proper handling of these large Ag tires is essential to ensure safety and prevent damage. Handling these tires correctly requires the right equipment and techniques to protect both personnel and the tire’s structural integrity.
When moving large Ag tires, it is best to use specialized tire handling equipment such as tire handlers, lifting straps, tire grabbers and boom attachments designed specifically for tire movement.
Additionally, palletizing Ag tires rather than standing them upright enhances stability and reduces the risk of tipping or falling during shipment. Palletizing them also allows you to remove them from shipments much easier and safer than rolling them off the back of the truck. If tires must be moved manually, however, using proper lifting techniques and multiple personnel can help prevent injuries and/or tire damage.
Throughout my years in the Ag tire industry, I have seen my fair share of tire damages and bodily injury due to improper handling. Whereas we will often work with a tire dealer on specific situations, unfortunately, shipping damage isn’t a warrantable condition nor are we able to repair a broken femur and rib cage. The bead area and sidewalls tend to be the most vulnerable and frequently damaged by traditional forks of a forklift. The tread and sidewalls often get damaged by dragging the tire over a raised nail head or metal corner. Improper storage can also cause difficulties in mounting these tires, when damaged by improper lifting or storage.
My personal favorite and recommended method for moving Ag tires is the use of a tire grabber or tire clamp. Each of these attachments can be used on a forklift or skid steer. When mounting a tire or tire/wheel to a machine, I recommend using a heavy-duty strap(s) or tire handler and boom system. These methods will ensure safety of the tire technician and prevent damage to your tires, ensuring tire quality and longevity in the field.
BKT USA, Inc.
Dave Paulk: Manager Field Technical Services
Handling large agricultural tires can be a challenge without the right equipment. They are heavy, large, and expensive. They are built strong to handle the everyday stresses of farming but aren’t as strong as a bulletproof tire. Using the wrong things to lift and move them can easily damage them. The proper equipment for the task of handling loose large Ag tires must be used.
3 specific areas of the tire can be damaged and may be irreparable. If repairable, it could still lead to a shortened tire life.
The bead area of the tire can be damaged with chains, forks (forklift), hooks, cables, or ropes. The bead of the tire is interwoven with steel strands covered by a layer of rubber. The layer of rubber on the bead bundle is a covering and protection for the steel bead. If this layer of rubber is torn, the bead won’t properly bead seat to the rim. Air from the tire will leak around the bead flange. This also allows air and moisture to get to the steel in the bead. This weakens the bead area, and it could eventually fail.
If the bead is kinked, this weakens the bead and a couple of things can happen. If the bead is kinked (bent), there is a possibility that it can blow over the rim when airing up the tire. This will destroy the tire and could hurt the person airing it up. Although the beads on most large Ag and OTR tires are strong, kinking the bead can cause the bead to break when mounting or airing up the tire. Kinking the bead weakens the bead bundle to the point where it may fail and break. Bead kinks are unrepairable.
The sidewall can be punctured or cut by using a forklift (forks) or hooks. A section repair may repair the tire where it can be used, but the tire loses its integrity and flexibility. The tire must be put in a position where it isn’t heavily stressed.
The inner liner can be damaged using forks or hooks. With a damaged inner liner, air retention is lost. This can cause a multitude of problems such as separations in the tire. If the inner liner is damaged in the middle of the tire, it sometimes can be repaired, depending on the size of the cut. If it is damaged in the sidewall or shoulder of the tire, the repair probably won’t work because of the flex in the tire. The flex will roll the patch off.
Our recommendation at BKT is always to use the right equipment to handle large-size, loose Ag tires.
When possible, use flat textile straps or a clamp (instead of forks) when moving and loading large tires. These protect the bead package, sidewalls, and inner liners of tires by not placing stress on small areas of tires.
Tires are expensive to replace. Having to replace or repair tires because of damaging them is a direct expense to a business. Using the right things will pay for itself in the long term and minimize headaches.
Maxam Tire International
Greg W. Gilland: Vice President Global Agriculture
In the specialty tire world, the handling rules or practices are universal. Whether bias ply or radial tires, damage issues affect tires the same regardless of their casing construction. In some cases, poor maintenance practices or improper handling can damage the tires beyond repair and render them unusable.
As part of the evolution of technology for the service of larger tires, the tire industry adopted special equipment to ensure the proper handling and safe mounting of these products. Listed below are some examples of various tools now commonly used in the handling or fitting of specialty tires:
- Forklift with straps or handling hooks
- Service truck with a tire boom equipped with sling or tire handling clamp
- Overhead cranes with textile straps
For example, the size and weight of the Ag tire determines the lifting equipment required to securely demount the existing tire or the seat of the replacement tire.
In the handling of Ag tires, the areas below are critically important during any tire service or tire fitment:
- Bead Area: The center circle or open gap where the rim or wheel seats the tire on the equipment. Any damage in this area leads to shorter tire life and air leakage that could lead to both poor sitting and subsequent premature failure.
- Sidewall Area: Avoid any penetration or cuts which can be piercing or easily cut the rubber if mishandled.
- Inner Liner or Inner Tire Chamber Area: The Inner liner or “Butyl” line is the only layer of “impermeable” rubber that can be pierced or cut easily if mishandled, leading to air loss and early removal from service.
Specific tools to avoid in the handling of Agricultural tires include:
- Use of open forks from a forklift
- Use of chains on the forks of a forklift
- Use of metal hooks to lift the tires on a handling boom or forklift
- The use of metal slings, metal cables, or metal cords can damage the tire beads or tire tread area
Any of the above tools can lead to the tearing of the rubber with unrepairable damage both impacting the cosmetic finish and integrity of the tire casing. Avoid dragging the tires by pulling the tire on its side and pulling the tires across the ground from the tread or bead area.
MAXAM recommends the following steps to ensure the proper handling of Agricultural tires, especially larger or heavier width tires that have steel belts in their tread construction:
- Use of a smooth clamp and/or nonmetallic slings that can handle the tire tread area with ease on the sidewall.
- Use of a boom attachment on a forklift with non-metallic straps to handle through the tire’s center when moving or handling the tires
- Use only flat textile slings or straps and secure through the tire center or the tire tread area
- If using a tire hand forklift or boom truck use the tire hands or clamps to handle the tires from the tread area only.
- Wherever possible it is recommended that tires be stored vertically on their tread and preferably under a roof or cover to reduce any ozone deterioration and/or dirt or sand contamination.
There are various types of tools and straps available to the tire industry to help in the handling and maintenance of Ag tires. The above MAXAM recommendations are a working list of suggestions and best practices to ensure that our Ag tires can deliver the best possible performance, value, and service upon fitment. MAXAM also recommends the following steps beyond the service and fitment of the tires to form part of the normal maintenance of all Agricultural tires:
- Inflate tires to the correct cold inflation pressure based on the axle position, number of tires, axle load and required work speed.
- Ensure the right cold inflation air pressure is utilized based on the axle configuration, position, and weight distribution to minimize ground compaction and deliver the best possible service life.
- The right inflation air pressure will improve tire wear and reduced sidewall deflection giving the optimum tire gross flat plate or footprint allowing improved fuel efficiency with reduced tire slip.
- The right air pressure will also ensure greater productivity in the field as the tire’s footprint and traction will be fully optimized.
- As a result of both the correct cold air inflation pressure and a secure fitment, greater crop yields can be achieved by reducing soil compaction and delivering the best tire footprint.
Proper handling, mounting, fitment and maintenance will ensure the optimal value and service of MAXAM Agricultural Tires.
All information is provided in this blog solely to provoke thought. All deductions made from information on this site must be confirmed by Certified Ag Tire Dealer & Tire Manufacturer before use. Ag Tire Talk does not recommend anyone conduct tire service work with exception of Certified Ag Tire Dealer Professionals.