Tyres replacement

After almost 7,000 working hours on our John Deere 5720, it's time to change the front tyres. All these working hours were not carried out with the Continental tyres that you see in the pictures, because it worked a lot with narrow tyres in the parallel tasks related to garlic crop. John Deere’s main dedication was garlic crop until 2014 when we stopped sowing them and since then we have dedicated it to olive groves and as a second cereal tractor working mainly with the front loader. 

Therefore, we needed to update the front tyres as one of them, which we already vulcanised in January, after breaking on one sidewall. The another tyre would still have more hours of use, but ideally both tyres should be changed to have similar traction on both front wheels. Even with the front loader works, the tyre has to work with quite a lot of weight so the right tyre was showing more and more problems every day.  The choice was easy: Vredestein Traxion 85. 

A year ago we removed and replaced all four tyres on our Deutz-Fahr M600 Agrotron and the choice was Vredestein Tranxion 65 (you can see our video about that). At that time we were considering other options and brands, but after the whole year and about 700 working hours, we think the choice was the right one. So, if something works, it's best not to change it. We will keep you posted on how the new tyres are working. 

We visited the Vredestein website and were surprised by the large catalogue of agricultural tyres that the Dutch manufacturer offers, covering tractors, trailers, harvesters, implements, telehandlers and loaders, ATVs, etc. If we focus on tractors, the variety is quite complete: 

• Faktor F: low cost front tyre. 13 sizes. 
• Faktor-S: for light tractors. 16 sizes. 
• Lug Ring: front tyre for field and road. 7 sizes. 
• Multi Rill and Multi Rill+: front tyre for grass and cultivation. 24 sizes. 
• Traxion 65: Maximum productivity for modern tractors. 19 sizes. 
• Traxion 70 and Traxion+ 70: Maximum productivity for modern tractors. 40 sizes. 
• Traxion 85 and Traxion 85 II: Standard tyre for medium class tractors. 27 sizes. 
• Traxion XXL: tyre for high horsepower tractors. 17 sizes. 
• Traxion Optimall: new generation VF tyre. 21 sizes.  

Our conclusion is clear, we have choose Vredestein because their quality and their variety. What do you think of these tyres? Do you know them? Have you used them?

Versión en español.

The Traxion concept

A few months ago we decided to change the tyres on our tractor. The front wheels were ready to be replaced after almost 5,000 working hours. Our choice was easy: Vredestein Traxion 65 tyres. A part from that, we wanted to change to wider tyres in order to have less soil compaction and we also had to replace the rear tyres, which were half used. Obviously, it also implied to update the rims. “Pinchazos Vargas” did it without any problems as for them it is their everyday job. So, we move from 480/70R24 and 520/70R38 to 540/65R24 and 600/65R38. Without water in the tyres (previously there was water in the front tyres), the tractor weighs about 500 kg less and we have improved traction. The most recommended pressures for these tyres are 1.3 bar for the front and 1.5 bar for the rear.

The first feelings we had when replaced the tyres were covered by silence and comfort. Silence because the noise on the road has decreased significantly and comfort because the tractor is much smoother at high speeds. They are undoubtedly features that the Vredestein tyre guarantees. Vredestein offers a high quality tyre that usually has higher load and speed coefficients than other tyres for the same size. 

We would like to tell you a little bit about the Traxion concept, which it is also explained in our video, so the main features that differentiate it would be:

• Special tread lug design with traction zone on the sides (transverse lugs) and comfort zone in the centre (longitudinal lugs). 
• Maximum service life because the contact area with the ground is extra large in the centre.
• Excellent self-cleaning properties due to the very large lateral lug spacing. This also results in maximum traction.
• Larger footprints because the tread width is usually very wide.

Finally, in the 600 hours of work, in mixed transport and field tasks done with these tyres, the sensations have been very positive, the wear suffered is minimal and the ride is much more comfortable... we will continue to comment as we do more working hours with the tyres.

Versión en español.