We continue our coverage at NAFB with Global Field Engineering Manager for Firestone Ag, Greg Jones.
Q: First off, harvest wrapping up. A lot of guys are slowing down. They’re cleaning the equipment; they’re getting ready to put stuff away. Got to inspect those tires and make sure there’s no damage, right?
GJ: This is a good time of year. I mean, when you get ready to put things up for harvest, it’s a good opportunity, inspect your tires, see if there’s any damage to them. This is a good opportunity to make things that you need to change out or possibility order tires. It’s a good opportunity just to see these things and get a good eye for what needs to be taken care of before the next harvest season.
Q: And I think about this, too, with winter storage, what kind of tire pressure you have in winter, putting stuff away and then getting into the spring making sure that you’re ready to go when you need to be ready to go. Maybe you have to put some new tires on now, things like that. There’s a lot of different things to kind of take into account, a lot of different aspects of the tire itself that folks need to really pay attention to, right?
GJ: When you think about winter, you think about the tires, and you can think about from the standpoint how they’re going to be stored.
You don’t want to really store these things in cold, hard ground, in water or places where it can freeze. Because if you’re going to be using this and you could be using it, because there are people that use their tractors year-round. They have to go out there and you give hay to cattle and stuff like that, keep mindful of the air pressure, because as the weather gets colder, the temperatures drop. As the temperature drops, the pressures drop. So you need to keep an eye on your air pressure.
You don’t want to damage the tires. But then also some of these implements that you’re talking about storing, if you could store them inside or the tractors inside, just store in areas where they can not be in harsh elements, that can also help the tires. And then you have to keep in mind, if you’re out there using your tractor, that stubble’s really hard this time of year when it gets cold. It gets very, very hard and it can cause damage to your tires. So these are all things you need to think about.
Q: Why is it important to choose the right tire for the job specifically? Let’s talk about that. Lean in there a little bit. I know Firestone Ag, you guys have a lot of great tire products for every application. But why is it important to make sure you choose the right tire?
GJ: Well, as you know, a lot of farmers have to use their equipment for multiple things. But if you can figure out what you’re going to be using that piece of equipment for, maybe it’s going to be for planting or it’s going to be for harvest or something like that. There are tires that are specifically made for harvest. There are tires that are specifically made for planting. There are ones that basically give you the best ride. Comfort is also something we talk about, but specifically traction. Because if you get the right tire in the right situation, then you’re optimizing that footprint. Optimizing the footprint just means you’re giving that most contact area against the sole. If you’re doing that, then you’re basically going to be saving time, you’re going to save money.
How are you going to do that? Save fuel? You’re not slipping. So if you’re not slipping, you got the best footprint. That’s how you get the best tire. And choosing a radial tire versus a bias tire, these all go into decisions.
Q: As the farmer, if folks want to learn more, I know at Firestone Ag you guys have a lot of resources available, a lot of great tires, of course, et cetera. How could folks get more information? What’s the best way?
GJ: Well, we also teach Firestone Universities. We teach field clinics where we’ll go out and work with farmers. The Firestone Universities are more for dealers, teaching dealers how to use our product. But you can also go to firestoneag.com, which is a good resource where you can get a lot of information from the inflation calculator to our product line and basically just a lot of tools out there that you can use.
